The Dodgers have long been known as a franchise rich in pitching history and tradition, especially since their move to Los Angeles. One reason for this has of course been Dodger Stadium, which has played as a pitcher's park for the bulk of it's history (although in the last few years, not so much). There have also been some very good pitchers in Dodger blue as well.
Although wins are certainly not the best measuring stick for starting pitchers, a long-standing mark of excellence for starting pitchers has been the 20-win season. For the Dodgers, can you guess how many 20-win seasons they have had in the last 30 years?
From 1979 to 2008, the Dodgers, a team as rich in pitching tradition and history as any other franchise, have had a grand total of three 20-win seasons from their starters:
| Pitcher | Year | Wins | Losses |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 1986 | 21 | 11 |
| Orel Hershiser | 1988 | 23 | 8 |
| Ramon Martinez | 1990 | 20 | 6 |
That figure seems astonishingly low to me. I decided to see how the Dodgers fared compared to other teams in this department, and I was even more surprised to find that three isn't such a bad total after all. In the last 30 years, there have been only 110 20-win seasons, an average of 3.67 per team.
| 20-Win Seasons From 1979-2008 | |
| Team | # of 20-Win Seasons |
| Braves | 10 |
| Yankees | 9 |
| Athletics | 9 |
| Red Sox | 8 |
| Astros | 7 |
| Blue Jays | 7 |
| Cardinals | 6 |
| D-Backs | 5 |
| White Sox | 5 |
| Twins | 5 |
| Orioles | 4 |
| Royals | 4 |
| Dodgers | 3 |
| Mets | 3 |
| Giants | 3 |
| Tigers | 3 |
| Mariners | 3 |
| Cubs | 2 |
| Reds | 2 |
| Phillies | 2 |
| Pirates | 2 |
| Rangers | 2 |
| Marlins | 1 |
| Brewers | 1 |
| Angels | 1 |
| Indians | 1 |
| Padres | 0 |
| Nationals/Expos | 0 |
| Rays | 0 |
| Rockies | 0 |
| Total 20-Win Seasons* | 110 |
*There were two 20-win seasons involving multiple teams. In 1984, Rick Sutcliffe won 20 games for the Indians and Cubs (along with the NL Cy Young Award). In 2002, Bartolo Colon won 20 games for the Indians and Expos. What is it with the Indians trading away these 20-game winners midseason? Actually, I'm pretty sure Cleveland liked the return of the Colon trade. Anyway, I didn't count those seasons in the table above.
Outside of the Rockies and Rays, with zero 20-game winners in their short history, only 6 teams have had a longer 20-game winner drought than the Dodgers:
| Last 20-Win Season | |||
| Team | Year | Pitcher | W-L |
| Dodgers | 1990 | Ramon Martinez | 20-6 |
| Reds | 1988 | Danny Jackson | 23-8 |
| Brewers | 1986 | Teddy Higuera | 20-11 |
| Orioles | 1984 | Mike Boddicker | 20-11 |
| Phillies | 1982 | Steve Carlton | 23-11 |
| Nats/Expos | 1978 | Ross Grimsley | 20-11 |
| Padres | 1978 | Gaylord Perry | 21-6 |
That's 18 seasons for the Dodgers without a 20-game winner. In fact, the Dodgers haven't even had a 19-game winner in that span. The closest they've come to the magical 20-win plateau was a pair of 18-win seasons in 1999 (Kevin Brown) and 2000 (Chan Ho Park).
Winning 20 games is a lot harder to do these days. Look at the decline in 20-win seasons by decade in MLB:
| 20-Win Seasons By Decade | |||
| Decade | 20-Win Seasons | Team Seasons | % Per Team Season |
| 1960-1969 | 73 | 198 | 36.9% |
| 1970-1979 | 96 | 246 | 39.0% |
| 1980-1989 | 37 | 260 | 14.2% |
| 1990-1999 | 34 | 278 | 12.2% |
| 2000-2008 | 34 | 270 | 12.6% |
There just aren't that many 20-win seasons to go around anymore. Who will be the next Dodger to reach the 20-win barrier? My gut says Billingsley, provided of course he takes Bill Plaschke's advice and raises his machismo. Kershaw is another possibility, but the soon-to-be 21-year old has enough expectations already.