Spud Chandler
Chandler owns the highest winning percentage (.717) of any pitcher with 100 decisions in baseball history — a mark that screams dominance but whispers longevity concerns. His late start and World War II interruption compressed an elite career into just 11 seasons, but what he accomplished in that window was extraordinary.
The 1943 MVP award tells the story: a 20-4 record with a microscopic 1.64 ERA that led the Yankees to another pennant. That 214 ERA+ represents one of the most dominant pitching seasons ever recorded. Chandler's career 135 ERA+ over 1,485 innings proves this wasn't a fluke — he was consistently elite when healthy.
His .717 winning percentage benefits from playing for powerful Yankees teams, but you don't post a 2.84 ERA across a decade without exceptional stuff. Chandler maximized his prime years with surgical precision, making every start count in an era when that mattered most.
Career · Hitting
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | NYY | 12 | 30 | 0 | 6 | .133 | — | — |
| 1938 | NYY | 23 | 69 | 3 | 4 | .203 | — | — |
| 1939 | NYY | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 | .400 | — | — |
| 1940 | NYY | 27 | 60 | 2 | 7 | .150 | — | — |
| 1941 | NYY | 28 | 60 | 0 | 4 | .183 | — | — |
| 1942 | NYY | 24 | 71 | 0 | 5 | .211 | — | — |
| 1943 | NYY | 30 | 97 | 2 | 7 | .258 | — | — |
| 1944 | NYY | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| 1945 | NYY | 4 | 12 | 0 | 4 | .333 | — | — |
| 1946 | NYY | 34 | 94 | 0 | 3 | .149 | — | — |
| 1947 | NYY | 17 | 49 | 2 | 4 | .245 | — | — |
| Career | 211 | 548 | 9 | 45 | .201 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | NYY | 12 | 82.3 | 7 | 4 | 2.84 | 153 | 31 | 1.202 |
| 1938 | NYY | 23 | 172.0 | 14 | 5 | 4.03 | 108 | 36 | 1.337 |
| 1939 | NYY | 11 | 19.0 | 3 | 0 | 2.84 | 151 | 4 | 1.842 |
| 1940 | NYY | 27 | 172.0 | 8 | 7 | 4.60 | 92 | 56 | 1.419 |
| 1941 | NYY | 28 | 163.7 | 10 | 4 | 3.19 | 124 | 60 | 1.259 |
| 1942 | NYY | 24 | 200.7 | 16 | 5 | 2.38 | 150 | 74 | 1.246 |
| 1943 | NYY | 30 | 253.0 | 20 | 4 | 1.64 | 214 | 134 | 0.992 |
| 1944 | NYY | 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 79 | 1 | 1.167 |
| 1945 | NYY | 4 | 31.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.65 | 79 | 12 | 1.194 |
| 1946 | NYY | 34 | 257.3 | 20 | 8 | 2.10 | 171 | 138 | 1.127 |
| 1947 | NYY | 17 | 128.0 | 9 | 5 | 2.46 | 161 | 68 | 1.102 |
| Career | 211 | 1485.0 | 109 | 43 | — | — | 614 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.