Interestingly, the top 4 Cy vote-getters that season all seem essentially done– Gagne, Schmidt, Prior, and Russ Ortiz.

Not only was Prior clutching his shoulder, he went back and pitched 2 2/3rds more innings afterward, and only /then/ missed starts. I strongly suspect that Prior initially pitched through an injury there, which set him up for future damage exacerbated by overuse.

I’ve had this theory that the demise of Prior wasn’t Dusty’s fault, but his own inability to cope with injury. Specifically, down the stretch in 2003, he collided with Marcus Giles on the base paths and sustained some type of injury from that, but the specifics escape my memory. Of course, the Cubs went deep into the postseason that year, and he continued to pitch without any extended time of rest. It would seem to me that someone with “perfect” mechanics who had never sustained an injury would have some trouble recovering from that.

And yes, Alex Gonzales should be the new Leon Durham.