Stewart won at least 20 Games in those years (1987-90), and twice led the American League in Innings Pitched. Stewart became Oakland's ace, and he did his role to keep hitters at bay while the potent A's offense went to town. He helped the A's win three straight Pennants (1988-90), and he was the MVP in their 1989 World Series Championship. In the 87-90 run, Stewart finished in the top four in Cy Young voting, and his stare was known throughout the country. He signed with Toronto in 1993, and won a second World Series Ring, and returned for one final season in 1995 to close out his career.
We initially thought that the rank of Stewart would be higher, but despite his vast amount of Wins (and signature Wins), and his traditional numbers, his highest finish in bWAR was sixth, and was only in the top ten in WHIP once. In terms of bWAR, Stewart is not in the top fifty all-time in franchise history, and we have to take that into account as we look at advanced metrics, traditional metrics, and intangibles, which include playoff performance. That vaulted Stewart into our top thirty despite sabremetricians who would say otherwise.
As an Athletic, Stewart went 119-78 with 1,152 Strikeouts and was named to the first class of the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018. The team would retire his number 34 in 2022.
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