Today’s entry in our MLB Monday miniseries takes on the 1971 Baltimore Orioles, famously the last MLB team ever to have four 20-game winners. While the 1920 Chicago White Sox also pulled off the feat, that team’s achievement was overshadowed by the Black Sox scandal—and the fact those Pale Hose did not win the pennant. However, the 1971 Orioles were the defending World Series champions, and they would return to the World Series in 1971, as well. On with the show!

WHO: The four aces who each won 20 games were Jim Palmer (4.4 WAR); Dave McNally (3.3); Pat Dobson (2.5); and Mike Cuellar (2.4). They combined for an 81-31 record and a 2.89 ERA on a team that won 101 games during the regular season. Interestingly, none of them won the Cy Young, and we agreed with the voters for this season. We would point out the lower-than-expected WAR marks, too, as despite piling up the victories, there were many other factors to success.

WHAT: McNally won 21 games and topped the league with an .808 win percentage. The other three aces each won 20 games apiece, with Palmer being the last of the quartet to earn a 20th win, in Game 155 on September 26. Coincidentally, the Baltimore Orioles only played 158 games due to circumstance, perhaps robbing each starter of an additional start. However, the team cruised to the AL East Division crown by 12 games over the Detroit Tigers, so it really became moot.

WHERE: The franchise was founded in 1901 as the original Milwaukee Brewers, playing one season in the newly formed American League before moving to St. Louis in 1902 and becoming the Browns. It was not until 1944 that the team made it to the World Series by winning its first-ever pennant. Alas, that would be the only time the franchise reached the postseason before moving to Baltimore and becoming the Orioles before the 1954 season, changing the team’s fortunes.

WHEN: Baltimore won its third consecutive AL pennant in 1971, after losing the World Series in 1969. Overall, from 1966-1974, the Orioles made it to the postseason six times and won two World Series. This, then, was the middle of a golden era for the franchise which had suffered for so long in St. Louis. Baltimore swept the Oakland Athletics, another vagabond franchise, in the AL Champion Series and entered the World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates as favorites to repeat.

WHY: This was the first time since 1920 that a team had fielded four 20-game winners. Any 51-year gap for a “major” statistical achievement earns some level of notoriety, so this is why the ’71 Orioles get remembered so often. The fact Baltimore ended up losing the World Series to the Pirates probably adds to the “footnote” designation for the achievement, as perhaps if the Orioles had won the World Series with these four aces, the legend would be better known.

The four starters posted a 6-3 record in the postseason, which is obviously good, and the team ERA in 10 games ended up being 2.56 overall. It was the offense that failed these Orioles in October—not the pitching staff. Interestingly, Cuellar lost two postseason matchups despite posting a 2.74 ERA over 23 IP in the process. His 1.043 WHIP was the best among the four pitchers in the playoffs, as well. Dobson only got one start, and his 4.05 ERA and 2.550 WHIP were not good.

Yet he didn’t earn a win or suffer a defeat. As noted elsewhere, the Baltimore club took a 2-0 lead at home in the Series, before losing the next three games on the road and forcing a Game 7 with a Game 6 win in 10 innings. Cuellar lost a 2-1 decision in Game 7 at home, as the Orioles hitters managed just a .205 batting average in the Fall Classic and scored just eight runs in the final five contests. Losing one-run games twice in the World Series really ended up hurting the Orioles.

What happened to these star pitchers after the end of the season? Palmer was the youngest, and he would go on to have a Hall of Fame career through 1984; McNally made a third All-Star team in 1972, but he was finished after the 1975 season at age 32. Oddly, Dobson led the AL in losses in 1972 before pitching for three other teams by the end of his career in 1977, while Cuellar won 22 games for Baltimore in 1974 and ended his career at age 40 in 1977 with the California Angels.

And that’s wrap on the Four Aces of the 1971 Baltimore Orioles.