In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he faces the first opposing batter. If a player is listed in the starting lineup as the team's pitcher, but is replaced before facing an opposing batter, the player is credited with a game pitched but not a game started; there have been instances in major league history in which a starting pitcher was removed before his first pitch due to an injury, perhaps suffered while batting or running the bases during the top half of the first inning.
The all-time leader for games started is Cy Young with 815 over a 22-year career. The current leader among active players is Jamie Moyer. The players with the most starts in a single season are Pud Galvin and Will White, each with 75 games started .
Famous quotes containing the words games and/or started:
“Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
“According to Father’s lexicon people who started on a job and didn’t stay at it for 50 years were “quitters.” If you stayed 20 years and then shifted to more congenial work you were a “drifter.””
—Richard Bissell (1913–1977)