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). The pitchers of note among them areCharles Buffington, David Cone, Paul Derringer, Orel Hershiser, Larry Jackson, Jim Kaat, Carl Mays, Dave Stieb, Hippo Vaughn, and Doc White. Research is still ongoing and well continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. Pierce got his chance to test his grit in postseason action in 62 for the Giants. Plus, it just doesnt feel right that Alan Trammell is in the Hall without his double-play partner. His last year of allowing fewer hits than innings pitched was 81. Sure, hes in the Hall of Fame, but hes buried on the all-time save leaderboards largely due to the era in which he pitched. Four pitchers in the HOF fall into this categoryDizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Sandy Koufax, and Addie Joss. He racked up 126 saves in his 40s. Luis Tiant was born in Cuba and his father was a famous pitcher for the Cuban national team. The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Pitchers Embed from Getty Images see more Roger Clemens, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox prepares to throw a pitch during the Major League Baseball American League East game against the Cleveland Indians on 27 May 1987 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. averages are skewed due to a lack of players at that position, so He finished second in the MVP balloting. His 60 shutoutsninth all timeare automatic HOF material. This was accomplished in one season1879. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'-CeXsjSMQXpEqN8nMfMOXQ',sig:'aPSIwiN6WT5Zl3uyeAdW_2g5nAPoP84MemQtfAdqDM8=',w:'594px',h:'395px',items:'1023432000',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); A few weeks ago, I kicked off a challenge here. It was 0.32 in the ALDS, 0.92 in the ALCS, and 0.99 in the World Series. It also includes "Black" Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte who is banned from baseball, and not eligible for the HOF. 5) Billy Pierce (1945-1964) (3.27 ERA; ERA+ 119; 38 SHO; 3,306 IP/ 2,989 H/ 8.1 H/9; 1,999 K/ 1178 BB/ 1.70 ratio; 1.260 WHIP). Dennis Eckersley, 1987-1998 (as reliever), Stats (as reliever): 390 saves, 2.85 ERA, 0.999 WHIP, 6.29 K:BB, 136 ERA+, Accolades (as reliever): 4 All-Star appearances, 1 Cy Young award, 1 MVP award, 1 World Series ring, 1 ALCS MVP award, 2x Rolaids Relief award, Baseball Hall of Fame. The Worst Pitchers in the HOF: Searching for Historys Bottom Line. 952 games finished ranks first all-time. By 76 he was pitching again and all three of his 20-win seasons came post-surgery. Another contemporary who made the HOF is Lefty Gomez. Eck didnt become a reliever until his age-32 season but still appeared in enough games to retire first on the games all-time list (1,070). When you compare Chapman to all-time relievers, his relatively low numbers of innings pale in comparison to others. That said, look for the results for catchers tomorrow. 6 Roy Oswalt 4.5 Sabathia is at 3.5 right now. That year, facing Ty Cobb and the Tigers in the postseason, the Pirates manager went on a hunch and started Adams in game one of the series. Or the Dave Roberts steal in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. Along with those pitchers, Ill evaluate others with a case to be considered among the 10 best ever, which can be broken into categories of the modern (Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Francisco Rodriguez, Billy Wagner, and Joe Nathan), and the throwbacks (Sparky Lyle and Dan Quisenberry). The knock on Gossage is his high blown save total his 112 are the most in baseball history. Not retired by 2017. To start, there are only eight primary relievers in Cooperstown; Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, and Trevor Hoffman. The top few on the list have a body of work and cases for the HOF so compelling, one wonders how they got missed. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. But he might not be on this list much longer. Seven successful years followed, including three more 20-win seasons, and some World Series heroics in '76. Rivera trails only Trevor Hoffman in all-time saves and has perhaps the most dominant one-pitch arsenal this side of Phil Niekro. His K/BB ratio of 2.01 is historically strong. Brett Favre threw the most interceptions and the late Kobe Bryant missed the most shots. 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. Despite his size, he had quite a delivery, with a high leg kick and dropping his back shoulder. JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score He is first all-time in saves (652) and ERA+ (205). Hoyt Wilhelm saved 228 games and won 143 more during 21 seasons in the big leagues. Incredibly, the Pirate management left him there until the end of the 18 season. He re-surfaced with incredible campaigns in '84 and '85. He pitched Game Two of the Series, but was taken out with the score tied 2-2 in the 7th inning. One hundred years have passed since Shoeless Joes last big league season, and his talent and numbers (a ridiculous .356 career average and 170 career OPS+) may still make him the best choice for this spot 100 years from now. Do you have a sports website? Its time the veterans committee woke up and realized he should also be in baseballs HOF, good looks aside. Mariano Rivera. 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. In his World Series career, he threw an absurd amount of innings (33.1), appearing in 16 of a possible 19 games and fashioning a 1.35 ERA. 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). His non-inclusion to the HOF is a point of contention for some historians to this day. Tommy Bridges began and finished his career with the Detroit Tigers. McCormick was a pitcher of high quality who won 265 games. Note that only In todays sabermetrics-laden era, its surprising that Lee Smith got in but Wagner still cant. I found some interesting threads that could be followed up. Career: 16 years (1995-2010) Teams: Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves. When he finished his career, his 1,999 strikeouts were fifth most for a left-handed pitcher. Blyleven had tremendous stuff on the ball: fastball, curve and change-up. Many of their careers and cases are compelling. Your email address will not be published. His resume for the HOF is strong. Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5). In 1920, Adams gave up only 18 BB in 263 innings. His 2.52 career ERA was the lowest by a pitcher with at least 2,000 innings pitched since Walter Johnson. Rocky Colavito, Vote: The most-deserving players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame at each position, The best baseball player not in the Hall of Fame, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? The process of selection and voting for the HOF has been uneven at best. .208. Bruce Sutter Career Stats (1976 - 1988) - Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta G IP W SV ERA FIP WHIP K/9 BB/9 FG War BR WAR 661 1,042 68 300 2.83 2.94 1.14 7.4 2.7 19.2 24.0 Literally, its very difficult to make an argument for any other pitcher. Comparing across eras isnt easy, as the role of a relief pitcher has changed drastically over the years. What if Billy Pierce and Bert Blyleven had received league average run support though the peak of their careers? Honorable mention: Nathan, Papelbon, Rodrguez, Keith Foulke, Tom Gordon, Tom Henke, Firpo Marberry, Troy Percival, Kent Tekulve, John Wetteland. He won 21 games with an ERA of 1.60 and led the league in shutouts with nine. 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. He was perhaps the best lefty in NL history to that date, however, not winning quite as many games as Eppa Rixey. He had exceptionally large hands which helped with gripping and releasing the ball with greater spinning revolutions on its way to the plate. The committee found Charles Radbourn early on in their process in '39, but where were Tim Keefe ('63) and John Clarkson ('64)? 2009 was his last on the HOF ballot. In Game Three he came in to save the game, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning. Let's say you carry 13 and schedule three pitchers eac. batting or pitching WAR are used in determining the averages at a given |. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders Table; Cy Young Awards Most WAR Player; Rk Name WAR WAR7 JAWS R-JAWS WAR/162 WAA #1 top5 Share #1 top5 Share Yrs Cooper struggled as a Cub and finished his career by '26. Bridges is only six wins shy of the requisite 200 to be considered for the HOF. Clemens, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer are the only three-time winners who dont have a plaque. It is a decision many believe cost the Sox the title. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders. 5 Bret Saberhagen 4.6 The average run scoring in the period was some 20-25 percent more than the league average. The Pirates went on to win the game. After tying the Dodgers for the pennant, it was determined they would play a three game playoff to determine the pennant. Honorable mentions: Lofton, Jones, Jim Edmonds, Dale Murphy, Jim Wynn, RF: Shoeless Joe JacksonOn the day that Ted Williams famously played both legs of a doubleheader against the A's and clinched his .400 season in 1941, opposing manager Connie Mack said, I wish I had a Williams. He featured a fastball, curve, and change-up with excellent control. There have been historical events that have influenced voting. He was as good as Rixey and Stan Coveleski, both in the HOF, and better than Marquard, Grimes, Pennock, and Hoytall from the same period. He featured a low three-quarters delivery that made it hard for left-handed batters to pick up the ball. One pitched in New York, one pitched in the Midwest. His career records match up well with Catfish Hunter and Don Drysdale. These are the primary factors I used in my evaluations: 10. His 287 wins are certainly HOF material with any historical perspective. Four pitchers in the HOF fall into this categoryDizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Sandy Koufax, and Addie Joss. In Cleveland he won 25 or more games four times, and 40 games twice. Required fields are marked *. King Kelly, McCormick, and others were known to go out and celebrate after games. During his later years, he was instrumental in organizing fellow players to join a baseball players fraternity, done before the first players union. Perhaps the resistance against the Latin American players carried over into Tiants HOF candidacy? I challenge the veterans committee to take a good look at the pitchers whose careers have been bypassed for the honor of induction to the HOF. After winning 20 games in '24, the Pirates traded him to the Cubs. Theres no debate on who the greatest relief pitcher is of all-time. That said, after 425 responses, voting has officially wrapped for this poll. This time he refused and was forced to sit out a season in order to play for Cincinnati, which he did. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Against the Yankees in the series, he pitched well in game two, but took a 3-2 loss. (The Tigers ownership and coaching staff were not shy of making mistakes in evaluating personnel. He had winning streaks of 14 and 17 games, and at one point held the NL record consecutive scoreless inning streak with 44. He led the league in ERA+ and shutouts (nine) in '73, but didnt get the attention he deserved for the Cy Young award. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. His career postseason record shows a heightened excellence when the games really counted against the best competition. Everything is in line, but hes been overlooked by the veterans committee. Pierce was known for his battles against the White Sox nemesis, the New York Yankees, and in particular against Whitey Ford. Relief RHP: Dan QuisenberryJust about every modern-day righty reliever who should be in the Hall is already there following Lee Smiths election in 2018. Sportswriters and players wondered how Pierce could go toe-to-toe with the firepower of the Yankees, coming armed with slap hitters Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, and Minnie Minoso. overall HOF average hitters are added to that position's average until The strikeout record was being broken. But Trevor Hoffman may have the most unique path, going from a failed minor league shortstop to one of the all-time great closers. One time, Wilhelm entered a tie game in the eighth inning and pitched through the 18th, allowing just two hits and no runs. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the early teens but injury caused him to establish less than 1,500 career innings. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to use on the short end, while looking for candidates to make our list of best pitchers not in the HOF. Its commonplace in todays game for a manager to turn to the bullpen as early as the sixth inning. He is among the top ten pitchers of the live ball era1921-1945. Will pitched a very respectable 3500 innings, but crammed most of it into eight years of pitching. The pitchers on this list are every bit as skilled as their contemporaries already voted in. His dominance was evident with every 100 MPH fastball he threw. measure a player's Hall of Fame worthiness. I suspect he will reach the necessary 75 percent sometime in his remaining three years of eligibility. Probably not. 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. Tommy John is perhaps guilty of hanging on longer than the normal impact of his career allowed. Even if you dont like him (hand raised here), Jonathan Papelbon was Hall of Fame worthy dominant for his career. The best players in New York just simply did not get missed by the HOF voters. His career stands up nicely against contemporary HOF pitchers Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser. Pitching multiple innings per relief appearance was Wilhelms trademark. First-ever unanimous National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee (Class of 2019) Mariano Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher in Major League Baseball history. 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. Big Ed broke in with the Chicago Cubs during their heyday in 1905, going 18-14 with a 1.42 ERA. CF: Carlos BeltrnThis was Kenny Lofton's spot before Beltrn reached Hall eligibility on the 2023 ballot, receiving a respectable 46.5% of the vote in his debut. The Blue Stockings folded after one year, and he then signed with Cincinnati. In order to be considered for this honor, a pitcher must be eligible for the HOF. He won three complete games including a shutout against the Tigers. Thats three seasons for workhorse Mike Marshall from the 1970s. In the '40s he pitched with young pitchers Hal Newhowser, Virgil Trucks and Dizzy Trout. McMahon pitched 18 seasons between 1957 and 1974 and was named to the 1958 All-Star team in his second big league season. Qualtrics allows more sophisticated functionality. Pierce pitched four scoreless innings in relief. (Scott Dine/St. But keep in mind that he wasnt used in nearly as much of a specialized role as modern closers are. But for some reason, he was not free of the reserve clause which stated he had to re-sign with St. Louis after Toledo folded. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. Warnekes career was cut short because he left to defend our country. 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. position. Mccormick ended up in Pittsburgh where he ended his career the next year. I looked at some pitchers with shorter careers as well, and included some whose careers I thought made the greatest statements. Based strictly on peak performance, Eckersley would rank in the top five of relievers. 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. 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. 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. 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. Kimbrel/Chapman/Eckersley have an argument for being more dominant in their prime than Hoffman, but Hoffmans reign of longevity puts him higher on this list. 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. What if Pappas had never been traded to Cincinnati? 7 Noodles Hahn 4.4 But by 48 the Tigers gave up on Pierce, shipping him off to the White Sox. What if Tony Mullane had been allowed to pitch for Cincinnati in 1885? He wasnt perfect think of the Luis Gonzalez walkoff single in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Seven relief pitchers are over 10.0three of those seven are already in the Hall (Goose, Fingers, Wilhelm) and one more is a shoo-in when he gets on the ballot. Detroit lists Bridges and Lolich. 12) Milt Pappas (1957-1973) (209-164; 3.40 Era; ERA+ 110; 43 SHO; 3186 IP/ 3046 H/ H/9 8.6; 1728 K/ 858 BB/ 2.01 ratio; 1.225 WHIP). 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. Pitchers who, for one reason or another, never got the votes or attention needed to make it in. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Mariano Rivera was a failed starter. There are strong HOF arguments for and against Wagner. Pappas deserves recognition for his accomplishments, even if it is just to clear his name from the fall out of a trade for which he was never responsible. RF Andre Ethier Rollie Fingers may be the most decorated relief pitcher in baseball history, and that list includes Mariano Rivera. They chose not to have time for their pitching hero from the last generation. He would have been part of the best pitching staffs in historyPappas was still pitching great in '71 and '72. 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. Can you name the Best Relief Pitchers not in the MLB Hall of Fame (by Baseball Reference WAR)? He would hold the ball with both hands and then surprise the hitter. For his career he gave up only 430 BB in 2,995 innings. Uehara's 2013 season was one of the most dominant by any relief pitcher in . "With pick #132, @Brian59044 selects the first real relief pitcher of the draft, Phoenix Sanders. He has been overlooked by the veterans committee. Matsui has no chance of ever making the Hall of Fame. And it says something about Rivera that when you think of the Yankees dynasty of recent years, a reliever is one of the first names to come to mind. 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).
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