CLEVELAND, Ohio — The recent passing of 1976 National League Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones sparked a fascinating conversation on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast about just how dramatically the definition of elite pitching has changed in baseball.

Jones, a San Diego Padres legend who died earlier this week, represents a pitching approach that has essentially vanished from the modern game – one where contact was encouraged rather than avoided, complete games were expected, and a pitcher’s physical frame didn’t conform to today’s prototype.

“Twenty-two wins, 14 losses, 2.74 ERA, started a league leading 40 games that year and threw 25 complete games. Twenty-five complete games! He pitched 315 1/3 innings, and he only struck out 93 batters total that season,” said Joe Noga, cleveland

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