As far as pitchers for a single season not in the Hall here is how I see it.
2) McClain in 68 with 31-6, an ERA of below 2.00 & 280 SO's
3) Guidry in 78 with 25-3, an ERA of 1.74 & 248 SO's
4) Gooden in 85 with 24-4 an ERA of 1.53 & 268 SO's
But I think the greatest single season for a pitcher not in the Hall was by
Smokey Joe Wood led the Redsox to the pennant in 1912 with a record of
34-5, ERA 1.91, SO's 258. He also won 3 games in a 7 Game World series.
Joe Wood was 22 yrs old. At 26 his pitching career was over with a sore arm
other wise he was a sure fire Hall of Famer. Wood was a great athlete and came back as an outfielder with Cleveland and in 1918 led the Indians in HR's & RBI's quite a feat with Tris Speaker on the team. His career BA was .283 as a pitcher 115-57 .669