In baseball, a complete game (denoted by CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game himself, without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A complete game can be either a win or a loss. As demonstrated by the charts below, in the late 1800s, it was common for most good pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were expected to complete games they start and to be relieved was seen by many as a mark of failure. As the 20th century went on, complete games became less and less common, to the point where a good pitcher typically achieves only 1 or 2 complete games a season today. To put this in perspective, as recently as 15-20 years ago, 10-15 complete games a year by a star pitcher was not unheard of, and in 1980, Oakland Athletics pitcher Rick Langford threw 22 conse