Tandem of the Future:
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Matos and Leonard are only 25 and 23 years old respectively. Season 16 is their third season together as team mates, but already they have made a name for themselves. Matos is already one of the best pitchers in the league. He is the front runner to win his second Cy Young Award and was just named to his second All Star team. Leonard was just named to his first. In their first two seasons together, they have combined to go 62-36, with a 3.65 ERA. They are leading their Whiskey Jacks to being one of the top teams in the AL. The Jacks have been built to end the Revolution's dominance over the Satchel Paige League, and if they're successful it'll be, in large part, due to the arms of Matos and Leonard. It'll also add to their young, but growing legacy.
5)
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All Star: Lambert (3), Sanchez (2)
Cy Young: none
Reg Season: 150-72, 2.81 ERA
Postseason: 11-10, 2.42 ERA
Lambert and Sanchez have kept the Titans right at the top of the NL for many seasons. During their 6 seasons together, the Titans have made it into the postseason 5 times. In 3 of those trips, they made it to at least the NLCS. The Titans also have the distinction of being the one team to cause a blemish on the Revolution's reign over the SPL. With Sanchez and Lambert leading the way, the Titans upset their dynastic foes from Baltimore in seven games to win the WS in Season 12. These two pitchers were historically good during that postseason run. In their 9 starts, they combined to go 6-0 (3 wins for each) with an ERA of 1.57! It was a postseason run of dominance that isn't likely to be duplicated any time soon. Lambert's in particular, who had an ERA of under 1.00. As with many of the players on our list, these two dominate Milwaukee's record books, with Lambert ranking 1st and Sanchez 3rd in every major pitching statistical category, except career ERA... in which they are #1 and #2. Although Lambert will soon start to wind down his career, Sanchez is still in his prime. He should have broken all of Lambert's records by the time he retires, assuming he stays with the franchise for most of his career. They still have a few seasons together in which to add to their legacy together and a solid team around them as well. Don't be surprised to find more hardware from this pair by the time their story ends.
4)
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All Star: Telemaco (5), Spence (3)
Cy Young: Telemaco (3)
Reg Season: 247-172, 3.02 ERA
Postseason: 16-13, 3.87 ERA
Telemaco's early career was plagued by unstable organizations, bad management and bad teams. When he was acquired by the current Chicago franchise (then in Rochester), everything changed. He was teamed up with rookie former #1 overall pick, Wayne Spence. When the team moved to Chicago, even though Telemaco was already 31, it was like a second career had begun. Over the next 5 seasons, he went 81-47 with a 2.76 ERA; and picked up 3 Cy Youngs for his troubles. The two have combined to lead the Gray Stockings to the playoffs 7 consecutive seasons, every season since the move to Chicago. They have never won the division though, always getting caught behind Pittsburgh's HoF laden teams. Despite Telemaco clearly being past his prime, they have led the Gray Stockings to surprising back-to-back NL Pennants. While Telemaco has been the stud during the regular season, they seem to switch roles during the playoffs. Spence is 12-4 in his career during the playoffs. During Season 15, the Gray Sox rode Spence all the way to the World Series. He started 7 of the teams' 19 playoff games, going 4-2. Although they remain team mates, their time together as a dominant duo is over. Spence, at the end of his prime, has taken Telemaco's role as staff ace. Telemaco, at the very end of his career, is now in the bullpen for the remainder of his time until retirement. Still, they hope the team can pull off one more magical run to the World Series, this time bringing home the hardware. It would be the last feather in the cap of one of the most accomplished pitchers in SPL's history.
3)
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All Star: Solano (3), Espinosa (2)
Cy Young: Solano (2)
Reg Season: 171-50, 2.85 ERA
Postseason: 18-7, 2.80 ERA
On a team and a dynasty that has built its legend around a prolific offense, Solano and Espinosa have been the anchor of the team. When Baltimore's first tandem of Gongora and Villareal was broken up at the end of Season 10, fans were certainly perplexed. When these two were brought in to take their place, Espinosa as a rookie called up from the minors and Solano as a huge free agent signing away from AL rival St. Louis, it all made sense. The teams' record of success since these two have teamed up is quite impressive to say the least. They have won the AL East every season. They have won three AL Pennants and two World Series titles. They are one of the few duos who have both proven to be equally effective big-game pitchers, as both have actually pitched better in the playoffs than during the regular season. When they were first put together, Solano was 30 years old and in his prime with 4 Cy Youngs and 2 World Series rings to his name and already a sure-fire HOFer. He was the ace of the team and a valuable mentor to the young, 20-year old, hard throwing rookie from the Domincan, Espinosa. Over the last two seasons, their roles have slowly changed. Espinosa is now clearly in his prime and an ace pitcher in his own right. While Solano has quietly assumed the role grizzled old warrior and #2 pitcher to Espinosa's #1. Their goal is to cement the Revolution's legacy in the history of the SPL as the greatest dynasty ever. They have a few season's left together before Solano will likely ride off into the sunset.
2)
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All Star: Solano (5), Castillo (5)
Cy Young: Solano (3), Castillo (2)
Reg Season: 202-33, 2.53 ERA
Postseason: 17-8, 2.78 ERA
Lets start by saying that this duo could easily be #1. During their five seasons together, their reign of dominance was unparalleled. Just say these numbers out loud. Five seasons, ten All Star appearances. Five seasons, five Cy Young awards. Five seasons, 202 wins! They averaged over 40 wins per season between them. The two of them just took turns trading the AL Cy Young award between them while they were together. They also started a tradition in St. Louis. They established the 'Redbird Way', the tradition of winning and contending season, after season, after season. They won their division every year, and took the Redbirds to at least the NLCS in four of their five seasons. They won two AL Pennants and one World Series title. It took the Pittsbugh team that would eventually win three consecutive WS titles to take out the Redbirds in a grueling seven game WS in Season 6, otherwise they would have likely won another title. Solano, of course, moved on to Baltimore where he continued to pile up rings and make a case for himself as the best pitcher in SPL history. Castillo went on to two more All Star seasons in Jackson, and is now winding down his career in Richmond.
1)*
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All Star: Armas (9), Brownson (9)
Cy Young: Armas (3), Brownson (1)
Reg Season: 416-117, 2.56 ERA
Postseason: 25-17, 3.38 ERA
Why the *? Because this particular duo has an advantage. This particular duo isn't really a duo; its actually a trio. Ramon Yamamoto could easily take the place of either Brownson or Armas without much debate.Yamamoto is a 7x All Star and 2x Cy Young winner... and he didn't make the list. None of the other duos had a third multiple time Cy Young Award winner to pick on their poor opponents. Yamamoto went 188-47, with a 2.41 ERA. He was also the best postseason pitcher of the three, going 13-4 with a 2.52 ERA... and he didn't make the list. But for fun, for just a minute, lets pretend it was a list of trios. Then these three have combined for 17 All Star nods, 6 Cy Youngs, a regular season record of 604-164 (quick match tells me that they averaged over 60 wins per seasons between them) with a 2.51 ERA. During the playoffs, the three combined to go 38-10, with a 3.11 ERA. Wow. But back to the list. The duo list. And its not fair to penalize the greatest pitching staff in the history of the SPL simply because they happened to be blessed with an extra HoF pitcher. So instead, we put an *. Regardless of how many really good pitchers they have, there is little argument that during their era, they established Pittsburgh as the most successful, storied franchise in the history of the Satchel Paige League. Since they were put together, Pittsburgh has won 10 straight division titles (despite playing in what has become one of the deepest divisions in the NL), been to at least the NLCS in seven seasons. They have won 5 NL Pennants and 5 World Series Titles, including 3 straight from Seasons 6-8. Just to further add to their legacy, two of the teams they defeated in the Fall Classic were the Revolution in Season 8 (which was led by this list's #8 best pitching tandem) and the Redbirds in Season 6 (which was led by this list's #2 best pitching tandem). Although Pittsburgh's Big Three isn't as young as it used to be, at 32, 32 and 35; they may still have enough left to add some more history to their franchise and to their HoF resumes.
