The highest relative SO/H ratios for guys with 100+ IP, 1900-2021

This is a follow up to my last post. But in this case a pitcher's SO/H ratio is compared to the league average. Data in this case is from the Lee Sinins Complete Baseball Encyclopedia.

I called up two sets of pitchers. One was the top 200 in relative SO/9IP ratio. That is, each pitcher's SO/9IP ratio was divided by the league average. The other set was the top 200 in relative H/9IP. I figured that the highest relative SO/H ratios would come from pitchers in these two groups.

The table below shows all the pitchers whose SO/H ratio was at least 3.00 times as high as the league average.

Pitcher	YEAR	IP	SO/H	Lg SO/H	Rel. SO/H
Bob Feller	1937	149	1.29	0.36	3.58
Pedro Martinez	2000	217	2.22	0.62	3.57
Rube Waddell	1902	276.1	0.94	0.26	3.55
Goose Gossage	1977	133	1.94	0.56	3.43
Dazzy Vance	1924	308.1	1.10	0.33	3.35
Bruce Sutter	1977	107.1	1.87	0.57	3.26
Mitch Williams	1987	108.2	2.05	0.63	3.23
Johnny Vander Meer	1941	226	1.17	0.37	3.19
J.R. Richard	1980	113.2	1.83	0.58	3.18
Bruce Sutter	1979	101.1	1.64	0.52	3.16
Dazzy Vance	1925	265.1	0.89	0.28	3.16
Pedro Martinez	1999	213.1	1.96	0.63	3.13
Nolan Ryan	1976	284.1	1.69	0.54	3.12
Tom Hall	1970	155	1.96	0.63	3.10
Mariano Rivera	1996	107.2	1.78	0.58	3.05
Mark Littell	1977	104.2	1.45	0.48	3.05
Lefty Grove	1926	258	0.85	0.28	3.03
Herb Score	1956	249	1.62	0.54	3.02
Nolan Ryan	1977	299	1.72	0.57	3.00

 

Most of these guys came up on both lists. For some reason, their relative SO/H ratios were just very slightly different on the two different lists. Feller was just a bit ahead of Martinez in both cases.

In 1937, Feller had 9.04 SO/9IP and allowed 7.01 H/9IP for a ratio of about 1.29. The league average SO/9IP was 3.63 while for H/9IP it was 10.02 for a league average ratio of .36. Then 1.29/.36 = 3.58. So Feller's relative SO/H ratio in 1937 was 3.58.

What about Spencer Strider, who had the highest non-relative SO/H ratio ever in a season of 2.35 last year? What is his relative ratio?

The league average SO/H ratio in the NL in 2022 was 1.03. So then 2.35/1.03 = 2.28. Strider's relative ratio is far below the guys in the table here. On the best SO/9IP list, that would be just 104th. On the best relative H/9IP list it was 78th.