Chicago Cubs: Ranking the Top 10 single-season pitching performances

Chicago Cubs: Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown – 1906

Our first of many star pitchers takes us back long ago, over 100 years in fact, to the era of Mordecai Brown. In a different era of baseball, one modern baseball fans can only dream about, one man stood above the rest. Brown dominated in almost unbelievable fashion, helping the club to a World Series appearance.

Teams played 155 games in 1906, and for the Cubs, it was a year never to forget. The club finished 116-36, with Brown leading the charge as the team’s top starting pitcher.

Overall, Brown finished his campaign 26-6 with a 1.04 ERA across 36 games, including 32 starts. Including his ERA, Brown set career-bests in five categories: ERA, ERA+, shutouts, FIP and WHIP.

One impressive stat that, to this day, gets overlooked was the right-hander’s ability to keep the ball in the yard across the year. In the 277 1/3 innings he registered, Brown allowed a single home run. A different era, of course, but that hardly matters when you consider that type of ratio.

Regarding overall production, Brown finished in the top ten in WAR for all players and third overall in pitcher WAR. Brown also led the league in each of Adjusted Pitcher Runs and Adjusted Pitcher Wins.

Across three games Brown started in the 1906 World Series, he finished with a respectable 3.66 ERA, two complete games, and a shutout. It remains as one of the best seasons ever by a Cubs pitcher.