Cleveland Indians: Where Will Corey Kluber’s World Series Performance Rank?
The World Series is especially conducive to outstanding pitching performances. And over the years, we’ve seen plenty of them. Corey Kluber has emerged as the pitching star of this year’s series with two wins in Games 1 and 4. Among other outstanding pitching efforts, where should Corey Kluber be ranked?
With no argument due from anyone, Corey Kluber had the best three innings ever pitched to start a World Series game when he struck out eight of the first nine hitters he faced in Game 1 against the Cubs the other night. And it wasn’t just the number of strikeouts. It was the way he did it with sheer dominance and determination. Have a look…
But before we take a look at where Corey Kluber might be ranked overall, let’s take a step back and consider the competition he faces.
The most recent, and one that must be ranked on anyone’s list, is the 2014 “One Man Show” (ESPN) put on by Madison Bumgarner. He won Game 1 with seven innings of one-run ball and then came back in Game 4 to toss a shutout. Then, to top it off, he pitched five innings of spotless baseball to earn a save in Game 7. Holy cow!
Another one of note has to be that of Bob Gibson whose line for the 1967 World Series reads:
Game 1: 2-1 CG victory, six hits, 10 strikeouts.
Game 4: 6-0 CG victory, five hits, six strikeouts.
Game 7: 7-2 CG victory, three hits, 10 strikeouts. And he hit a home run to boot.
And then, you have to include the unforgettable Sandy Koufax who made headlines and became an even bigger hero to Jewish fans when he decided to sit out Game 1 in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for those of Jewish faith. This meant Don Drysdale, and not Koufax, would be lined up to potentially start three times. Koufax actually lost Game 2 as he gave up two runs, one earned, in six innings. He pitched a four-hit shutout and struck out 10 in Game 5.
Then as the story goes, manager Walter Alston didn’t tell Drysdale or Koufax who would be starting Game 7. The Dodgers’ tradition was that the starting pitcher didn’t shave the day he started. Both showed up unshaven, expecting to start. The ball was in Koufax’s locker. He pitched a three-hit shutout on two days’ rest, once again striking out 10 while throwing 132 pitches.
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What you’re noticing though is the common thread of pitching in three-game sets. As things stand now, Corey Kluber will in all likelihood be “cheated” out of a third start by virtue of the fact that the Indians need only to win one in the next two games to close out the Cubs before Kluber’s next scheduled start.
If it happens that the Cubs win the next two, then of course Kluber would get a chance to join the immortals by dominating once again in the seventh and decisive game of the series.
More than likely though, Kluber’s performance in Game 1 will be enough to qualify him in the discussion for best single game performance by a pitcher in a World Series.
His competition there, for instance, would be the 10 innings of shutout baseball (box score here) pitched by Jack Morris when he squared off against future Hall of Famer John Smoltz in 1991. Or the indisputable number one choice of Don Larsen‘s perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.
Next: Dan Otero's Path to World Series
Wherever he ends up, though, it can be said that Corey Kluber has had one helluva postseason. Get a load of this line: 4-1, 0.89 ERA, 35 strikeouts in 31 innings, and a 0.99 WHIP. And if the Indians do wind up taking the title home, he’s a lock for the series MVP award. Not too shabby for a kid who was the 134th pick in the 2007 draft from Birmingham, Alabama.