Pitcher Bucky Walters had a great career and was one of the premier pitchers of the early 1940s.
Walters made his debut in 1934 and would spend 16 seasons in the big leagues. In 1936 he would pitch 258 innings, and while he was relatively effective (107 ERA+), he would go 11-21 and lead the league in losses. The next season he was not quite as good, with a 92 ERA+ over 246.1 innings, but would go 14-15 and be selected to his first All-Star team. Baseball is weird.
In 1939 Walters would have a breakout season, leading the league in wins (27), ERA (2.29), innings (319), strikeouts (137), and ERA+ (170). He was selected for his second All-Star team and won the NL MVP award.
From 1939-1946 Walters was simply amazing, going 141-90 with a 135 ERA+. During this run, he would average 254 innings (and lead the league three times with 300+ innings campaigns) and had three 20-win seasons. He was selected to five All-Star teams, snagged one MVP award, and earned Top 5 MVP votes in two other seasons. Finally, he was the ace of the 1940 Cincinnati Reds and would win two games on the way to the Championship win.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | IP | H | BB | SO | ERA+ | WHIP | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 25 | PHI | NL | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 384 | 1.429 | |
| 1935 | 26 | PHI | NL | 9 | 9 | 4.17 | 24 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 151.0 | 168 | 68 | 40 | 109 | 1.563 | |
| 1936 | 27 | PHI | NL | 11 | 21 | 4.26 | 40 | 33 | 3 | 15 | 258.0 | 284 | 115 | 66 | 107 | 1.547 | |
| 1937 | 28 | PHI | NL | 14 | 15 | 4.75 | 37 | 34 | 1 | 15 | 246.1 | 292 | 86 | 87 | 92 | 1.535 | AS |
| 1938 | 29 | TOT | NL | 15 | 14 | 4.20 | 39 | 34 | 3 | 20 | 251.0 | 259 | 108 | 93 | 90 | 1.462 | |
| 1939 | 30 | CIN | NL | 27 | 11 | 2.29 | 39 | 36 | 2 | 31 | 319.0 | 250 | 109 | 137 | 170 | 1.125 | AS,MVP-1 |
| 1940 | 31 | CIN | NL | 22 | 10 | 2.48 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 29 | 305.0 | 241 | 92 | 115 | 154 | 1.092 | AS,MVP-3 |
| 1941 | 32 | CIN | NL | 19 | 15 | 2.83 | 37 | 35 | 2 | 27 | 302.0 | 292 | 88 | 129 | 127 | 1.258 | AS,MVP-28 |
| 1942 | 33 | CIN | NL | 15 | 14 | 2.66 | 34 | 32 | 1 | 21 | 253.2 | 223 | 73 | 109 | 123 | 1.167 | AS |
| 1943 | 34 | CIN | NL | 15 | 15 | 3.54 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 21 | 246.1 | 244 | 109 | 80 | 94 | 1.433 | MVP-32 |
| 1944 | 35 | CIN | NL | 23 | 8 | 2.40 | 34 | 32 | 2 | 27 | 285.0 | 233 | 87 | 77 | 146 | 1.123 | AS,MVP-5 |
| 1945 | 36 | CIN | NL | 10 | 10 | 2.68 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 12 | 168.0 | 166 | 51 | 45 | 141 | 1.292 | |
| 1946 | 37 | CIN | NL | 10 | 7 | 2.56 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 151.1 | 146 | 64 | 60 | 131 | 1.388 | |
| 1947 | 38 | CIN | NL | 8 | 8 | 5.75 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 122.0 | 137 | 49 | 43 | 72 | 1.525 | |
| 1948 | 39 | CIN | NL | 0 | 3 | 4.63 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 35.0 | 42 | 18 | 19 | 86 | 1.714 | |
| 1950 | 41 | BSN | NL | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 94 | 1.750 | |
| 16 Y | 16 Y | 16 Y | 16 Y | 198 | 160 | 3.30 | 428 | 398 | 18 | 242 | 3104.2 | 2990 | 1121 | 1107 | 116 | 1.324 | |
| 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 16 | 13 | 3.30 | 35 | 33 | 1 | 20 | 256 | 246 | 92 | 91 | 116 | 1.324 | |
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | IP | H | BB | SO | ERA+ | WHIP | Awards |