R.A. Dickey’s Streak Ends, Looking Back at Doc’s
By Mike Silva ~ April 19th, 2012. Filed under: New York Mets.
The Braves ended R.A. Dickey’s streak of 14-consecutive quality starts that fell just short of Dwight Gooden’s team record set in 1985. Ironically, it was the Braves that ended Doc’s on July 4th of that season. That was the infamous 19 inning game that ended at 4:00 AM.
Dickey’s streak has been over two seasons, as it started on July 25th against Cincinnati. For as impressive as it is, Gooden’s was truly amazing.
During his streak, Dickey pitched into the 8th inning only once and never struck out more than 7 batters.
Take a look at Gooden’s early season 1985 Quality Start streak.
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Apr 14 | NYM | CIN | W,4-0 | SHO | W(1-0) | 4 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Apr 19 | NYM | @ | PHI | W,1-0 | GS-8 | W(2-0) | 4 | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Apr 24 | NYM | @ | STL | L,1-5 | GS-7 | L(2-1) | 4 | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Apr 30 | NYM | HOU | W,4-1 | CG | W(3-1) | 5 | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |
| May | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||
| 6 | May 5 | NYM | @ | CIN | W,3-2 | GS-7 | W(4-1) | 4 | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | May 10 | NYM | PHI | W,5-0 | SHO | W(5-1) | 4 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | May 15 | NYM | @ | HOU | W,5-3 | GS-7 | W(6-1) | 4 | 6.1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | May 20 | NYM | SDP | L,0-2 | GS-8 | L(6-2) | 4 | 8.0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | May 25 | NYM | LAD | L,2-6 | GS-7 | L(6-3) | 4 | 7.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11 | May 30 | NYM | @ | SFG | W,2-1 | CG | W(7-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| June | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||
| 12 | Jun 4 | NYM | @ | LAD | W,4-1 | CG | W(8-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | Jun 9(1) | NYM | STL | W,6-1 | GS-8 | W(9-3) | 4 | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Jun 14 | NYM | @ | MON | L,4-5 | GS-8 | 4 | 8.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | |
| 15 | Jun 19 | NYM | CHC | W,1-0 | SHO | W(10-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Jun 25 | NYM | @ | CHC | W,3-2 | CG | W(11-3) | 5 | 9.0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Jun 30 | NYM | @ | STL | L,1-2 | GS-8 | 4 | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| July | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||
| 18 | Jul 4 | NYM | @ | ATL | W,16-13 | GS-3 | 3 | 2.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| September/October | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||
| NYM | 276.2 | 198 | 51 | 47 | 69 | 268 | 13 | 2 | ||||||||
Want to know what is even more impressive from that season? Gooden’s run late in the year when they were in a dead hit with the Cardinals
After that wacky Atlanta game this was Gooden’s gamelogs the rest of the season:
| Rk | Gcar | Gtm | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||||
| 19 | 50 | 81 | Jul 9 | NYM | @ | CIN | W,11-2 | GS-8 | W(12-3) | 4 | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 51 | 86 | Jul 14 | NYM | @ | HOU | W,1-0 | SHO | W(13-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | 52 | 89 | Jul 20 | NYM | ATL | W,16-4 | GS-6 | W(14-3) | 5 | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 22 | 53 | 94 | Jul 25 | NYM | HOU | W,6-3 | CG | W(15-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| 23 | 54 | 99 | Jul 30 | NYM | MON | W,2-0 | SHO | W(16-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| August | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||||
| 24 | 55 | 103 | Aug 4 | NYM | @ | CHC | W,4-1 | CG | W(17-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | 56 | 107 | Aug 10 | NYM | CHC | W,8-3 | CG | W(18-3) | 5 | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | 57 | 112 | Aug 15 | NYM | PHI | W,10-7 | GS-5 | 4 | 5.0 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 58 | 117 | Aug 20 | NYM | SFG | W,3-0 | SHO | W(19-3) | 4 | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | 59 | 123 | Aug 25 | NYM | SDP | W,9-3 | GS-6 | W(20-3) | 4 | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | 60 | 128 | Aug 31 | NYM | @ | SFG | L,2-3 | GS-6 | L(20-4) | 5 | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| September/October | Tm | Opp | Rslt | Inngs | Dec | DR | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | HBP | ||||
| 30 | 61 | 133 | Sep 6 | NYM | @ | LAD | W,2-0 | GS-9 | 5 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | 62 | 137 | Sep 11 | NYM | STL | L,0-1 | GS-9 | 4 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 32 | 63 | 143 | Sep 16 | NYM | PHI | W,9-0 | SHO | W(21-4) | 4 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | 64 | 148 | Sep 21 | NYM | PIT | W,12-1 | GS-8 | W(22-4) | 4 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | 65 | 153 | Sep 26 | NYM | @ | CHC | W,3-0 | SHO | W(23-4) | 4 | 9.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | 66 | 158 | Oct 2 | NYM | @ | STL | W,5-2 | CG | W(24-4) | 5 | 9.0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
His September was amazing. He went 9 innings in 5 of 6 starts and posted a 0.34 ERA.
Dickey’s streak is a model of consistency in today’s game; Gooden’s was one of dominance.
According to Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement, Gooden’s ’85 season performance is only behind Walter Johnson (1912-1913), Steve Carlton (1972) and Bob Gibson (1968). Yes, it was better than anything that Sandy Koufax produced.
| Rk | Player | WAR | Year | Age | Tm | G | GS | CG | SHO | W | L | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | HR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Johnson | 12.4 | 1913 | 25 | WSH | 48 | 36 | 29 | 11 | 36 | 7 | 2 | 346.0 | 232 | 44 | 38 | 243 | 1.14 | 259 | 9 |
| 2 | Steve Carlton | 12.2 | 1972 | 27 | PHI | 41 | 41 | 30 | 8 | 27 | 10 | 0 | 346.1 | 257 | 76 | 87 | 310 | 1.97 | 182 | 17 |
| 3 | Bob Gibson | 11.9 | 1968 | 32 | STL | 34 | 34 | 28 | 13 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 304.2 | 198 | 38 | 62 | 268 | 1.12 | 258 | 11 |
| 4 | Walter Johnson | 11.8 | 1912 | 24 | WSH | 50 | 37 | 34 | 7 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 369.0 | 259 | 57 | 76 | 303 | 1.39 | 243 | 2 |
| 5 | Dwight Gooden | 11.7 | 1985 | 20 | NYM | 35 | 35 | 16 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 276.2 | 198 | 47 | 69 | 268 | 1.53 | 229 | 13 |
