Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. His resume for the HOF is strong. HOF - Indicates Player is a Hall of Famer. One of the top relievers of the decade, Lyle was acquired from the Red Sox in March 1972 and recorded a 2.41 ERA (148 ERA+) in New York, tallying 141 saves and finishing 348 games. From 1939 to 1947, while only Rogers Hornsby was elected, the veteran's committee was busy reconstructing 60+ years of baseball history to find those who belonged in the HOF. 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. The top few on the list have a body of work and cases for the HOF so compelling, one wonders how they got missed. Particularly blighted were the pitchers in Pittsburgh. Mccormick ended up in Pittsburgh where he ended his career the next year. Craig Muder is director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. Mariano Rivera was a failed starter. No real surprises at the top, I suppose. When he retired, no one had surpassed his 601 saves; now, only Mariano Rivera has done so. It's an ex-Chip's Worldand we're just picking up the pieces. 9. Free shipping for many products! Luis Tiant was born in Cuba and his father was a famous pitcher for the Cuban national team. Honorable mention: John Franco, Sparky Lyle, Tug McGraw, Randy Myers, Kelly's all-time non-HOF team (as of 2023), C: Bill Freehan1B: Rafael Palmeiro2B: Lou Whitaker3B: Dick AllenSS: Alex RodriguezLF: Barry BondsCF: Carlos BeltrnRF: Shoeless Joe JacksonDH: Hal McRae---R-H SP: Roger ClemensL-H SP: Johan SantanaR-H RP: Dan QuisenberryL-H RP: Billy Wagner, rightfully taken home the 2005 AL Cy Young Award. He led the league in wins in 36 with 23, but also led the league in strikeouts and games started twice. By the next year in 1939 he was the best pitcher in the National League, going 27-11 with a 2.29 ERA and 31 complete games. Its a valid point, but also probably worth mentioning that Rivera dominated the closers of his era much more than Gossage dominated the closers ofhisera. The strikeout record was being broken. Honorable mentions: Munson, Tenace, Jorge Posada (Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, Yadier Molina not yet eligible). Tony Mullane was an Irish born major league player known for pitching with both handssometimes in the same game. then in Boston. He was consistently excellent for the Orioles, winning 12 or more games and posting a winning record every year with the team. All-Star Games. He racked up 126 saves in his 40s. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. But he might not be on this list much longer. To come up with this list I researched the best pitchers of each era. His last year of allowing fewer hits than innings pitched was 81. Not every pitcher on this list should necessarily be in the HOF, but all of them could have been selected and voted in with the proper attention and support without any change in the historical standards that have been set. In Gossages day, he did all of that. Warneke continued his winning ways, winning 20 games three times and posting a winning record every year until '43, when he left to fight in the war. Ahead of: Bob Lemon Red Ruffing Steve Carlton Don Drysdale Fergie Jenkins Dizzy Dean Lefty Gomez Red Faber Waite Hoyt Jim Bunning CC Sabathia* Herb Pennock Lee Smith Hal Newhouser Bucky wasnt done there. Literally, its very difficult to make an argument for any other pitcher. The 41 voters who ranked Schilling first ranked Clemens eighth-worst among the field, ahead of only Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel, with an average ranking for Clemens of 7.00. He pitched with six different teams, but most significantly with the Cleveland Blues and Chicago White Stockings. During the '76 season he was traded to Texas, where he joined a strong staff and put in some outstanding work. King Kelly, McCormick, and others were known to go out and celebrate after games. Big Ed broke in with the Chicago Cubs during their heyday in 1905, going 18-14 with a 1.42 ERA. He relented, signed with St. Louis, but they then shipped him off to the expansion Toledo Blue Stockings. As a teen he went to watch Sandy Koufax pitch and later learned how to throw a curve ball with a hold similar to Koufax. That said, here are some names I wanted to put in but didnt have space for this time: Verlander, Johan Santana, Dave Stieb, Andy Pettitte, Orel Hershiser, and Dwight Gooden. In over 130 of his 390 starts for the team, they scored two or fewer runs. Blyleven had one more significant season in 89 for the California Angels, winning 17 games and Comeback Player of the Year award. His fastball had lots of movement and a darting action. The beloved submariner has a case for the 1980s best reliever, having won five Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Awards, finishing with a league-adjusted 146 ERA+ and helping the Royals claim two pennants and the 1985 World Series title. 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. Hoffman never won a Cy Young but finished second twice. But even Michael Jordan missed game-winning shots. The HOF process seemed uneven, and somewhat political. 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). This excludes any pitcher still on the mound today, and those like Greg Maddux who are retired but not yet eligble. No starting pitchers. RF Andre Ethier He pitched his no-hitter in '77, as well as leading the league that year in WHIP. He won 22 games the next year, leading the Reds back to the World Series. Perhaps his strongest career stat is his 43 shutouts, more than Hunter, Jim Bunning, Lemon, Newhowser, and Sandy Koufax. Typically, in modern-day play, an active roster will consist of five starting pitchers, seven relief pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. Sanders projects well, with a 3.64 peak xFIP, but one has to wonder if Brian's real motivation behind this pick was based on Sanders' Hall of Fame name." As it is, Pappas has 209 wins, as many as Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser, and a similar number to Don Drysdale and Catfish Hunter, all of whom are in the HOF and pitched between 1950 and 1975. The vast majority of these pitcher's careerswere focused in places other thanNew York, Philadelphia, or Boston. This time he refused and was forced to sit out a season in order to play for Cincinnati, which he did. Here is AJ Cassavell's ranking of the Top 5 relievers in Padres history: 1. Stats: 422 saves, 2.31 ERA, 0.998 WHIP, 3.99 K:BB, 187ERA+. Heck, you can easily make the argument he's the best pitcher in baseball, and that's not even his primary position. Tommy was pitching in October for six consecutive seasons, posting a 6-3 mark with a 2.65 ERA over 88 innings. 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. Research is still ongoing and well continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. His 187 career ERA+ is second among retired relief pitchers to only Mariano Rivera. Seven successful years followed, including three more 20-win seasons, and some World Series heroics in '76. Wilhelm posted a sub-2.00 ERA for five consecutive seasons in his 40s, and he did so while averaging 108 innings pitched per year. His K/BB ratio of 2.01 is historically strong. Although posting a fine season in '67, he was never accepted by the Reds faithful, and was sent to Atlanta during the '68 season. Reggie Jackson struck out the most times. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. In 34 he out-dueled Dizzy Dean to win 3-1. He holds the all-time record for relief appearances with at least two innings (486) and three innings (197). Whether it will be enough to one day get him into Cooperstown wont be decided for another 10 or so years. batting or pitching WAR are used in determining the averages at a given 9 Charlie Buffinton 3.7 In the same way that Jerry Rice is unanimously the greatest wide receiver of all-time and Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player and Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player, Mariano Rivera is far and above any other closer to ever play the game of baseball. Being a relief pitcher often means you take an unconventional route. system) was developed by sabermetrician Jay Jaffe as a means to Honorable mentions: McGwire, Don Mattingly, Todd Helton (Pujols not yet eligible). I should add that unlike most of the other positions in this survey, it was difficult to get the list of pitchers down to 10 names. They have been treated very differently by baseball writers voting for the HOF. What if Babe Adams hadnt been left to toil in the minor leagues for most of two seasons? Probably not. He won three complete games including a shutout against the Tigers. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. His 2.52 career ERA was the lowest by a pitcher with at least 2,000 innings pitched since Walter Johnson. It barely existed when Babe Ruth and Ted Williams played, as starters would routinely pitch complete games. His 3,701 Ks make Blyleven fifth all-time. My last article studied The Worst Pitchers in the HOF: Searching for Historys Bottom Line . He regularly hits 100 miles per hour on his fastballs and holds the all-time record by registering 105.1 on a pitch (twice). He was consistently good, winning 14 or more games 11 consecutive years, 6474. He ended up nostalgically back in Minnesota for the '86 season, and helped the team to the World Series title in '87. Voters have three years of his eligibility left to get it right. Guess there was still some gas in this Tigers tank! 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. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. After breaking in with the Cleveland Indians, Tommy John spent significant time with the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees, as well as a shorter stint with the California Angels. He featured a fastball, curve, and change-up with excellent control. They have similar winning records except Warneke won three more games. If thats the case, Kimbrel probably wont move down these rankings at all but he also wont move any higher. No one has a legitimate argument to surpass Rivera, who made 13 All-Star teams, holds the highest adjusted ERA (205) in baseball history, and was a key component in the New York Yankees dynasty. A player's JAWS is their 15) Ed Reulbach (1905-1917) (182-106; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 123; 40 SHO; 2,632 IP/ 2,117 H/ 7.2 H/9; 1,137 K/ 892 BB/ 1.27 ratio; 1.143 WHIP). 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 was as automatic as youll ever find for a closer. Hoffman broke in with the inaugural Florida Marlins team, was traded for Gary Sheffield, and then racked up an absurd 15 seasons of 30+ saves and nine of 40+, each of which still stands as MLB records. But winning the 2005 Cy Young -- which would have given him three straight Cys from 2004-06 -- would have forced the BBWAA to give him a much longer look. His ERA+, curve ball, postseason record and H/9 all speak of a pitcher who was one of the best of his era. Several players careers have been overlooked instead of championed. In order to be considered for this honor, a pitcher must be eligible for the HOF. His career K/BB ratio of 2.80 is also a mark of historical significance. Pitchers were regularly winning 24-27 games. Stats: 273 saves, 2.23 ERA, 1.023 WHIP, 3.56 K:BB, 184 ERA+, Accolades: 6 All-Star appearances, 1 World Series ring. Or the Dave Roberts steal in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. The Reds finally won their second World Series. His ban from the game doesn't seem like it will ever be lifted. Movies. In 1920, Adams gave up only 18 BB in 263 innings. The players had withstood enough abuse by 1890 and formed their own league. All of his indicators are strong, especially his strikeouts, shutouts, and big game performances. They also all rank in the top 30 of S-JAWS a metric developed by former Sports Illustrated writer and Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffeto measure the Cooperstown cases of starting pitchers while . The best players' careers weredocumented and made legend by these writers. 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. Pierce accomplishments, although very worthy, were overlooked because of the change of era. Thats three seasons for workhorse Mike Marshall from the 1970s. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. When Pierce retired, sportswriters were distracted with the manic accomplishments of Koufax, Marichal and Gibson. Babe Adams had brief looks at the major leagues in 06 with the St. Louis Cardinals and 07 for the Pirates. Fingers won a league MVP, a Cy Young award, played an integral part in baseballs only non-New York Yankees three-peat ever, and even won World Series MVP once. He is 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 36 Ks against only 8 BB, and a WHIP of 1.077. The problem with Pierce HOF candidacy is that his career backed up into the raised mound era. Tommy John is perhaps guilty of hanging on longer than the normal impact of his career allowed. When he finished playing nearly two decades later, Wilhelm held the major league record for games pitched (1,070), relief wins (124), and saves (228). Join our linker program. 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 , . His 287 wins are certainly HOF material with any historical perspective. When Bruce Sutter began experimenting with the split-fingered fastball, he wasn't looking for a path to Cooperstown. 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. Many thanks to him. 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. It took the veterans committee some 90 years to find and induct Vic Willis. Not retired by 2017. By 76 he was pitching again and all three of his 20-win seasons came post-surgery. Bold - Indicates Player is not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame or was First. He would have been part of the best pitching staffs in historyPappas was still pitching great in '71 and '72. He was the fastest relief pitcher ever reach 200 career saves, he was the first closer ever to rack up at least 25 saves in each of his first five seasons, and hes the all-time leader in saves for two different franchises Boston and Philadelphia. Studying the list of inductions, one has to wonder about the order in which some pitchers received their recognition. He won 21 games with an ERA of 1.60 and led the league in shutouts with nine. Honorable mention: Curt Schilling, Tim Lincecum, Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Orel Hershiser, Roy Oswalt, Eddie Cicotte. He was putting up ridiculously gaudy statistics before it became a regular thing for closers, but his reign of dominance lasted far shorter than the players ranked higher than him. His career stands up nicely against contemporary HOF pitchers Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser. Reulbach used a high leg kick, a la Juan Marichal, to hide the delivery of the best curve ball of his generation. Craig Kimbrels ranks among post-1900 pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched: Opponents batting average allowed: .158, H/9: 4.98 (1st), ERA+: 195, K/9: 14.61, opponents slugging percentage allowed: .257 (2nd). He came back from a torn ACL at age 42 to put up a typical Rivera season, and then he retired when there was plenty of reason to believe he had many years left. There were new lows for ERA in a season. Bob Caruthers was between Cone and Appier, but a lot of his value was from playing the field as well. He was perhaps the best lefty in NL history to that date, however, not winning quite as many games as Eppa Rixey. After tying the Dodgers for the pennant, it was determined they would play a three game playoff to determine the pennant. It 's an ex-Chip 's Worldand we 're just picking up the pieces fewer hits than innings was. Ongoing and well continue to publish updates as more information becomes available in to! 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