Supporting evidence also shows that John was an effective pitcher. He had winning streaks of 14 and 17 games, and at one point held the NL record consecutive scoreless inning streak with 44. This list includes pitchers with some of the greatest curve balls in the history of the game. Adams was perhaps the most extreme control pitcher in the history of the game. This was a formula we have only recently seen again with the deep bullpens of many championship teams. It is not a stretch to believe he would have won thirty games the year he was forced to sit out in protest of the reserve clause. Honorable mentions: Graig Nettles, Ken Boyer, Sal Bando (Adrin Beltr not yet eligible). I found some interesting threads that could be followed up. 2.21 career ERA. Honorable mention: Andy Pettitte, Mark Buehrle, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Mickey Lolich, Jimmy Key (CC Sabathia not yet eligible). Their careers ranged from 1,900+ IP to 2,500 IP. Miranda Remaklus. John then went to LA to join Don Sutton on another team with a pitching rich tradition. SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, Ranking Greatest Relief Pitchers Ever, Part II (#11-50), Power Ranking MLB's Greatest Relief Pitchers Ever, Part II (#11-50), SwartzSports 50 Predictions for the 2022 NFL Season, 2022 SwartzSports First Round Mock Draft (with trades), Ranking the 50 Best Players Not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Assigning Grades to Key Members of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles: Part I (Offense), Handing Out Major Awards for 2021 NFL Season, Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part V: #50-1), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part III: #150-101), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part II: #200-151), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part I: #235-201), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part IV: #100-51), Ranking the 10 Greatest Relief Pitchers in Baseball History. In the '30s he pitched with Schoolboy Rowe, and later with Bobo Newsome. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Warnekes career backed up into WWII. The process of selection and voting for the HOF has been uneven at best. 1) Bert Blyleven (1970-1992) (287-250; 3.31 ERA; ERA+ 118; 60 SHO; 4970/ 4632 H/ 8.4 H/9; 3701 K/ 1322 BB/ 2.80 K/BB ratio; 1.198 WHIP). 2 Curt Schilling 4.9 . Awards. He sustained his excellence late into his career. Even though others have won Cy Young awards (and even regular season MVPs), Rivera was as close as youll find to a perfect closer, and he did this all with just the legendary cutter. He was perhaps the best lefty in NL history to that date, however, not winning quite as many games as Eppa Rixey. His WHIP of 1.09 is remarkable, as are his 44 shutouts. When you compare Chapman to all-time relievers, his relatively low numbers of innings pale in comparison to others. Initials. Many thanks to him. Tom Brady lost three Super Bowls. Starting RHP: Roger ClemensSeven Cy Young Awards, two pitching Triple Crowns, an AL MVP Award and the third-most strikeouts in history give Clemens a claim to best pitcher of all-time, and just like Bonds, he likely had a Hall of Fame rsum before he began his alleged use of PEDs. Walters spent his developing years struggling in Philadelphias bandbox of a stadium. That leaves an even matchup between McRae and Don Baylor on the outside looking in. I think the voting has become somewhat skewed in recent years in regards to starting pitching; too many of the voters expect no less than 300 wins. And Muhammad Ali lost five fights. Tommy was pitching in October for six consecutive seasons, posting a 6-3 mark with a 2.65 ERA over 88 innings. 7) Tommy Bridges (1930-1946) (194-138; 3.57 ERA; ERA+ 126; 33 SHO; 2,826 IP/ 2,675 H/ 8.5 H/9; 1,674 K/ 1,192 BB/ 1.40 ratio; 1.368 WHIP). Reulbach had arguably a more impressive career than any of them. So 2009 was perhaps Ichiro's best year, in terms of bonding with his teammates. Wagner has rapidly gained BBWAA support in recent years, rising to 68.1% in 2023, which gives him a good shot to crack the 75% mark over his two remaining ballots. Relief LHP: Billy Wagner Among all Live Ball Era pitchers with at least 750 innings, Wagner is the very best in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9) and WHIP (0.998) while also ranking behind only Mariano Rivera in ERA+ (187) and owning the sixth-highest save total in history (422). I put Ferrell and Reuschel in the survey partly in tribute to my friend and fellow baseball researcher Adam Darowski, who has advocated heavily for their induction in recent years, though each has a nuanced case that could be overlooked in a quick survey. That's the type of respect he garnered. Everything is in line, but hes been overlooked by the veterans committee. Answer (1 of 5): I honestly think that some manager should try it. His ERA is outstanding, his K/BB ratio is excellent, and he has enough wins and shutouts. "With pick #132, @Brian59044 selects the first real relief pitcher of the draft, Phoenix Sanders. Why were pitchers like Pennock, Chesbro, and McGinnity going in before greats like Mordecai Brown and Kid Nichols? Freehan enjoyed a longer career because of Munsons unfortunate passing at age 32, and thus he finished with more hits, homers, RBIs and Gold Glove Awards. Career: 16 years (1995-2010) Teams: Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves. Fingers career ERA+ of 120 is lower than youd expect (24th among 30 closers with at least 300+ saves). Its hard not to wonder whether Santana would be making a steady year-by-year improvement in the voting totals now if he had rightfully taken home the 2005 AL Cy Young Award that went to Bartolo Colon instead. 7 Noodles Hahn 4.4 His career postseason record shows a heightened excellence when the games really counted against the best competition. His ERA of 1.97 in 55 gave him an ERA less than half that of the league (ERA+ 201). Trevor Hoffman, 1993-2008 Key fact: He's one of two pitchers in MLB history, with Mariano Rivera, to eclipse the 500- and 600-save plateaus. 9) Will White (1877-1886) (229-166; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 120; 36 SHO; 3,542 IP/ 3,440 H/ H/9 8.7; 1041 K/ 496 BB; 2.10 ratio; 1.111 WHIP). His 1,804 Ks were a high number for the era. He was less than stellar in the World Series though, famously giving up Kirk Gibsons home run and allowing a 5.79 ERA in six career Fall Classic appearances. 1. All are in or will be in their respective sports Hall of Fame. The 38 voters who gave Roger Clemens a ranking of 10 ranked Curt Schilling top, at 3.63 on average, followed by Tommy John at 4.18, and Luis Tiant at 4.24. But Trevor Hoffman may have the most unique path, going from a failed minor league shortstop to one of the all-time great closers. Stats: 652 saves, 2.21 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 4.10 K:BB, 205 ERA+. He went on to tally 324 saves over a 13-year career, good for 20th on the all-time list, putting him squarely in the Hall of Very Good category among relief pitchers. Win Expectancy, Run Expectancy, and Leverage Index calculations provided by Tom Tango of InsideTheBook.com, and co-author of The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Tony Mullane was just inducted into the Cincinnati Reds HOF earlier this year. He led the league in innings pitched, complete games, and strikeouts in '85. After an off year in 1916 he was sent to the minor leagues to work out his problems. In 34 he out-dueled Dizzy Dean to win 3-1. This was not a pitcher on his last legs! The problem with Pierce HOF candidacy is that his career backed up into the raised mound era. He really was unhittable. Rivera was literally dominant for close to two decades in a row. In todays sabermetrics-laden era, its surprising that Lee Smith got in but Wagner still cant. "What if" and "would have become prevalent bylines for the pitchers on this list. the total count of actual and average players matches that of the most The 43 voters who ranked Tommy John, Jim Kaat, or Luis Tiant top overall gave Clemens an average ranking of 6.74, again ahead of only Ferrell and Reuschel. Tommy John is perhaps guilty of hanging on longer than the normal impact of his career allowed. After playing for the St. Louis Browns, he chose to try to sign with Cincinnati, but was blocked. They were equally as important and masterful as Radbourn, but overlooked for 25 more years. Kimbrel is the only closer in history with as many as 200 saves and a save percentage over 90, and hes sitting comfortably at first on the active leaderboard at 346 saves. Blyleven toiled long and hard for the Twins in the 70s. In Cleveland he won 25 or more games four times, and 40 games twice. Theres no debate on who the greatest relief pitcher is of all-time. When Pierce retired, sportswriters were distracted with the manic accomplishments of Koufax, Marichal and Gibson. While I was limited through my free account to 10 questions and thus chose to forgo demographic questions to get the maximum amount of data, it is possible to use filters to show how certain voters voted. He got just 10.5 percent of the Hall of Fame voting in 2016, his first year of eligibility, and was still only at 31.7 percent at last year. Relief LHP: Billy WagnerAmong all Live Ball Era pitchers with at least 750 innings, Wagner is the very best in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9) and WHIP (0.998) while also ranking behind only Mariano Rivera in ERA+ (187) and owning the sixth-highest save total in history (422). The Go-Go White Sox of the period scored few runs. Honorable mention: Curt Schilling, Tim Lincecum, Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Orel Hershiser, Roy Oswalt, Eddie Cicotte. After being traded to the Pirates in the National League, he helped the team to a World Series title. In an era when everyone posts gaudy relief statistics, the trick is figuring out how rare and special Wagner really was. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RANDY JOHNSON 2009 Topps #185 Arizona Diamondbacks, HALL OF FAME GREAT PITCHER at the best online prices at eBay! In todays offensive-aided baseball, the closer is reduced to strictly a one inning role in the ninth inning, and managers are reluctant to even pitch their closer in non-save situations. Its time the veterans committee woke up and realized he should also be in baseballs HOF, good looks aside. McCormick was a pitcher of high quality who won 265 games. Not retired by 2017. His 187 career ERA+ is second among retired relief pitchers to only Mariano Rivera. Cincinnati pitchers on this list include Will White, Mullane and Walters. He pitched a one hit shutout in the '06 series, and on Sept, 26, 1908 he pitched back to back shutouts on the same day. Blyleven had one more significant season in 89 for the California Angels, winning 17 games and Comeback Player of the Year award. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. Fingers wasnt just a one-inning closer either; he holds the all-time record with 135 multi-inning saves. He broke in going 123 with an exceptional 1.11 ERA on a staff that included Vic Willis at the end of his career. Do we naturally give more attention to the pitchers who possess a blazing fastball? 6 Roy Oswalt 4.5 He had ample zip on his fastball. He was never comfortable in Cincinnati, often being booed even though the trade was not his fault. Data Provided By He would have been part of the best pitching staffs in historyPappas was still pitching great in '71 and '72. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. He was voted the league MVP as the Reds won the pennant. He proved it often enough. Also, lets take a good look at our current candidate on this list and give him his due before it is too late, before the HOF voting body truly looks out of touch with what it takes to be in the Hall of Fame. 8) Tommy John (1963-1989) (288-231; 3.34 ERA; ERA+ 110; 46 SHO; 4710 IP/ 4783 H/ H/9 9.1; 2245 K/ 1259 BB/ 1.78 ratio; 1.283 WHIP). Then with the Pirates down three games to one, he entered Game Five with the score tied in the 5th inning, and shut down the Orioles for the rest of the game, securing himself, and the Pirates, the win. In over 130 of his 390 starts for the team, they scored two or fewer runs. He finished second in the MVP balloting. Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5). Babe went on to pitch the rest of his career for Pittsburgh. 8 Chuck Finley 3.7 One naturally asks this question when compiling a list like this. He regularly hits 100 miles per hour on his fastballs and holds the all-time record by registering 105.1 on a pitch (twice). Baseball Hall of Fame , MLB MVP's , MLB Cy Young Award , MLB Rookie of the Year , Rawlings Gold Gloves , 2023 HOF results , 2024 Hall of Fame ballot , . By the late '50s Pierce had come out on top, beating Ford more often than losing, and in '59 winning the game against Ford that put the White Sox ahead for good in the pennant race. system) was developed by sabermetrician Jay Jaffe as a means to This included work for the Dodgers, Yankees and the Angels. The Pirates won the pennant the next year. He shut down the powerful Reds lineup in the playoffs. Stats (as reliever): 228 saves, 2.51 ERA, 1.131 WHIP, 2.04 K:BB, 147 ERA+, Accolades (as reliever): 6 All-Star appearances, 1 World Series ring, Baseball Hall of Fame. Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. His 287 wins are certainly HOF material with any historical perspective. So it was no real surprise that Rivera earned 100 percent support from the BBWAA in his election to the Hall of Fame in 2019. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. He simply does not have the statistics or the longevity. Wagner is sixth on the all-time list with 422 saves (a number that could have been much higher if he didnt retire after arguably his best year). where he outlines who should and shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame based on his JAWS metric used here. His H/9 rate of 5.3 in 1906 is one of the best in history. Q1 Rank the following pitchers, ranging from 1 for most-deserving of Hall of Fame induction to 10 for least-deserving, [From a survey of 425 respondents, fielded via Qualtrics]. But even Michael Jordan missed game-winning shots. All of his indicators are strong, especially his strikeouts, shutouts, and big game performances. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. Gossages 1975 season is still the greatest in baseball history by a relief pitcher in terms of WAR (8.2); he had a 1.84 ERA, a league-leading 26 saves, and an absurd 141.2 innings in 62 relief appearances. He re-surfaced with incredible campaigns in '84 and '85. But Beltrn gets the slight edge, given his enviable combination of power (435 homers), speed (312 steals), defense (three Gold Gloves) and postseason heroics. The Best MLB Player at Every Position Rejected by Hall of Fame Joel Reuter January 27, 2021 Focus on Sport/Getty Images The 2021 MLB Hall of Fame voting results were released Tuesday evening,. Ed Reulbach, Tommy Bridges and Bert Blyleven all fall in this category. Pitching for the Cubs, Reulbach teamed up with Mordecai Brown to make one of the great pitching tandems in baseball history. |. The players had withstood enough abuse by 1890 and formed their own league. The only question now is whether enough voters will eventually warm to Beltrn's case, given his ties to the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Kimbrel still hasnt hit the decline phase of his career, unless 2019 was the beginning of the end and not just an aberration. His momentum with BBWAA voters stalled out, and he didn't fare any better with the Today's Game Era Committee in late 2022, meaning that it's hard to see Bonds reaching Cooperstown anytime soon. The voting body has become skewed in their view of starting pitching in recent decades. Cooper struggled as a Cub and finished his career by '26. In the postseason, Papelbon started his career with 25 consecutive scoreless innings in October, including 4.1 of those innings in the 2007 World Series. Bridges continued pitching in the Pacific Coast Leaguewinning the ERA title in 47. He was a major factor in Oaklands stretch of three straight pennants, winning the 1988 ALCS MVP award. Al Lopez, the White Sox manager, refused to start Pierce in the 59 World Series. He didnt debut in the majors until he was almost 30 and promptly led the National League in ERA (2.43), games pitched (71), and winning percentage (.833). Heres a stat for you to show Wagner was ahead of his era: There were five seasons before 2000 (38 after 2000) in which a pitcher threw at least 50 IP and had at least a 14.0 K/9 rate. He holds the record for the most innings pitched in one season680. And its tough to ignore a frightening 10.13 ERA in the postseason. In order to be considered for this honor, a pitcher must be eligible for the HOF. Opposition has cooled considerably in recent years toward enshrining Clemens, a brilliant pitcher long before rumors of performance enhancing drug use surfaced. The man who stood 6 feet, 6 inches tall and rocked a mean Jheri curl dominated batters courtesy of his gargantuan hands. By 1946 they told him he was washed up-finished. hide this ad PLAY QUIZ Score 0/25 Timer 10:00 Recently Published Actresses. Honorable mention: Pete Rose, Manny Ramirez. LF: Barry BondsThis doesnt require much explanation; Bonds is the greatest player many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and he had accrued surefire Hall credentials before his alleged PED use clouded the picture. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File) via Associated Press. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. Incredibly, the Pirate management left him there until the end of the 18 season. Al Spalding took a disliking to the off-field activities of several of the players during the '86 campaign. In 43, his last year before joining the war effort, he went 12-7 with a 2.39 ERA (ERA+ 147), with three shutouts and only 159 hits allowed in 191 innings. Mack was referring to Jackson -- maybe the games most revered natural hitter before Williams came along -- whom Mack regrettably traded away before he became a star in Cleveland. He featured a low three-quarters delivery that made it hard for left-handed batters to pick up the ball. Particularly blighted were the pitchers in Pittsburgh. Were there a clear consensus, someone would be closer to 1 here. Only players who are known primarily as relief pitchers or closers. position. Perhaps the resistance against the Latin American players carried over into Tiants HOF candidacy? All of the numbers agree with this statement as he ranks first . Required fields are marked *. I contemplated going 15 names just for pitchers, but thought it would look too out of sync with the rest of the survey. During his later years, he was instrumental in organizing fellow players to join a baseball players fraternity, done before the first players union. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Four pitchers in the HOF fall into this categoryDizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Sandy Koufax, and Addie Joss. C: Bill FreehanCall this a toss-up between Freehan and Thurman Munson, both of whom could use a longer look from the Halls veteran committees. In Game Three he came in to save the game, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning. Bert Blyleven was born in the Netherlands, but grew up in California. Joe Nathan and Jonathan Papelbon both went one-and-done after falling shy of 5% of the BBWAA vote in their 22 ballot debuts.
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