[1] In Major League Baseball, the trend throughout the 1960s was of increased pitching dominance, caused by enforcing a larger strike zone (top of armpit to bottom of knee) beginning in 1963.
The delicate balance of power between offense and defense reached its greatest tilt in favor of the pitcher by 1968.
During what later became known as "the year of the pitcher",[2] Bob Gibson of the Cardinals led the National League with 268 strikeouts, but also setting a modern earned run average record of 1.12 (a record regarded to be unbreakable today) and a still-standing World Series record of 17 strikeouts in Game 1, while their World Series opponent Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers won 31 regular season games, the only player to reach the 30 win milestone since Dizzy Dean in 1934.
Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants led the National League with 26 wins and 30 complete games.
The 472 runs they allowed remains the lowest total ever recorded by any major league team in a 162-game season.