20 Wins Club American League Pitchers 1926

20 Wins Club : 1926 - 1950

Twenty wins in a single season is a truly a magical plateau. Jim Bouton wrote in his classic book Ball Four, "If you had a pill that would guarantee a pitcher twenty wins, but might take five years off his life, he'd take it."

Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the pitchers from 1926 through 1950 who are members of the American League 20 Wins Club. Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"After that game (losing 1-0) I went in and tore the clubhouse up. Wrecked the place. Tore those stall lockers off the wall, giving Al Simmons (who had taken the day off) hell all the while." - Lefty Grove

Twenty Wins Club '1926 to 1950' In Chronological Order
Name	Team	Wins	Losses	Year	Top 25
George Uhle⁽³⁾	Cleveland	27	11	1926	Top 25
Herb Pennock⁽²⁾	New York	23	11	1926	Top 25
Waite Hoyt⁽¹⁾	New York	22	7	1927	Top 25
Ted Lyons⁽²⁾	Chicago	22	14
Lefty Grove⁽¹⁾	Philadelphia	20	13
Lefty Grove⁽²⁾	Philadelphia	24	8	1928	Top 25
George Pipgras⁽¹⁾	New York	24	13
Waite Hoyt⁽²⁾	New York	23	7
Alvin Crowder⁽¹⁾	St. Louis	21	5
Dolly Gray⁽¹⁾	St. Louis	20	12
George Earnshaw⁽¹⁾	Philadelphia	24	8	1929	Top 25
Wes Ferrell⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	21	10
Lefty Grove⁽³⁾	Philadelphia	20	6
Lefty Grove⁽⁴⁾	Philadelphia	28	5	1930	Top 25
Wes Ferrell⁽²⁾	Cleveland	25	13
George Earnshaw⁽²⁾	Philadelphia	22	13
Ted Lyons⁽³⁾	Chicago	22	15
Lefty Stewart⁽¹⁾	St. Louis	20	12
Lefty Grove⁽⁵⁾	Philadelphia	31	4	1931	Top 25
Wes Ferrell⁽³⁾	Cleveland	22	12
George Earnshaw⁽³⁾	Philadelphia	21	7
Lefty Gomez⁽¹⁾	New York	21	9
Rube Walberg⁽¹⁾	Philadelphia	20	12
Alvin Crowder⁽²⁾	Washington	26	13	1932	Top 25
Lefty Grove⁽⁶⁾	Philadelphia	25	10
Lefty Gomez⁽²⁾	New York	24	7
Wes Ferrell⁽⁴⁾	Cleveland	23	13
Monte Weaver⁽¹⁾	Washington	22	10
Alvin Crowder⁽³⁾	Washington	24	15	1933	Top 25
Lefty Grove⁽⁷⁾	Philadelphia	24	8
Earl Whitehill⁽¹⁾	Washington	22	8
Lefty Gomez⁽³⁾	New York	26	5	1934	Top 25
Schoolboy Rowe⁽¹⁾	Detroit	24	8
Tommy Bridges⁽¹⁾	Detroit	22	11
Mel Harder⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	20	12
Wes Ferrell⁽⁵⁾	Boston	25	14	1935	Top 25
Mel Harder⁽²⁾	Cleveland	22	11
Tommy Bridges⁽²⁾	Detroit	21	10
Lefty Grove⁽⁸⁾	Boston	20	12
Tommy Bridges⁽³⁾	Detroit	23	11	1936	Top 25
Vern Kennedy⁽¹⁾	Chicago	21	9
Johnny Allen⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	20	10
Wes Ferrell⁽⁶⁾	Boston	20	15
Red Ruffing⁽¹⁾	New York	20	12
Lefty Gomez⁽⁴⁾	New York	21	11	1937	Top 25
Red Ruffing⁽²⁾	New York	20	7	1937	Top 25
Red Ruffing⁽³⁾	New York	21	7	1938	Top 25
Bobo Newsom⁽¹⁾	St. Louis	20	16	1938	Top 25
Bob Feller⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	24	9	1939	Top 25
Red Ruffing⁽⁴⁾	New York	21	7
Bobo Newsom⁽²⁾	St. Louis⁽³⁾& Detroit⁽¹⁷⁾	20	11
Dutch Leonard⁽¹⁾	Washington	20	8
Bob Feller⁽²⁾	Cleveland	27	11	1940	Top 25
Bobo Newsom⁽³⁾	Detroit	21	5	1940	Top 25
Bob Feller⁽³⁾	Cleveland	25	13	1941	Top 25
Thornton Lee⁽¹⁾	Chicago	22	11	1941	Top 25
Tex Hughson⁽¹⁾	Boston	22	6	1942	Top 25
Tiny Bonham⁽¹⁾	New York	21	5	1942	Top 25
Spud Chandler⁽¹⁾	New York	20	4	1943	Top 25
Dizzy Trout⁽¹⁾	Detroit	20	12	1943	Top 25
Hal Newhouser⁽¹⁾	Detroit	29	9	1944	Top 25
Dizzy Trout⁽²⁾	Detroit	27	14	1944	Top 25
Hal Newhouser⁽²⁾	Detroit	25	9	1945	Top 25
* Hank Borowy⁽¹⁾	New York ⁽¹⁰⁾ & Chicago ^{(N.L. 11)}	21	7
Dave Ferriss⁽¹⁾	Boston	21	10
Roger Wolff⁽¹⁾	Washington	20	10
Bob Feller⁽⁴⁾	Cleveland	26	15	1946	Top 25
Hal Newhouser⁽³⁾	Detroit	26	9
Dave Ferriss⁽²⁾	Boston	25	6
Spud Chandler⁽²⁾	New York	20	8
Tex Hughson⁽²⁾	Boston	20	11
Bob Feller⁽⁵⁾	Cleveland	20	11	1947	Top 25
Hal Newhouser⁽⁴⁾	Detroit	21	12	1948	Top 25
Gene Bearden⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	20	7
Bob Lemon⁽¹⁾	Cleveland	20	14
Mel Parnell⁽¹⁾	Boston	25	7	1949	Top 25
Ellis Kinder⁽¹⁾	Boston	23	6
Bob Lemon⁽²⁾	Cleveland	22	10
Vic Raschi⁽¹⁾	New York	21	10
Alex Kellner⁽¹⁾	Philadelphia	20	12
Bob Lemon⁽³⁾	Cleveland	23	11	1950	Top 25
Vic Raschi⁽²⁾	New York	21	8	1950	Top 25
Name	Team	Wins	Losses	Year	Top 25
*Twenty Wins Club \| = Two Leagues**

Best earned run average by an American League twenty game winner? Walter Johnson who won thirty-six games in 1913 and had an ERA of 1.14.

Worst earned run average by an American League twenty game winner? Bobo Newsom who won twenty games in 1938 and had an ERA of 5.08.

Did you know that the American League twenty game winners with the most losses during the same season are Bill Dinneen (1902) and George Mullin (1905) with twenty-one each?

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