Did the HOF Really Reject the 10th Best Lefty Ever?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
, Posted by Gator Guy at 1:43 PM
Is it really possible that the tenth greatest lefthander in the modern history of the game was rejected by the Hall of Fame? Is it really possible the Hall rejected the fourth greatest leftie in modern American League history? Put together your list of the premier southpaws in baseball history - mine's on the next page. Just click below to see my ranking of the 15 greatest lefthanders of all time. I'll tell you right now that the five guys pictured above - Hubbell, Spahn, Grove, Johnson and Carlton - all rank near the top.
Here's my list.
I found it difficult to rank pitchers from the pre-1920, "dead ball" era - it was just such a different game before Ruth revolutionized it. But Eddie Plank and Rube Waddell are definitely my top two from the pre-1920 era.
I rate Guidry ahead of three Hall of Fame lefties: Hal Newhouser, Herb Pennock and Eppa Rixey (who is not on my list at all). Had two of Newhouser's great years not occurred during the war years I probably would have rated him ahead of Guidry. Pennock's claim to Fame rests on his great six-year stretch with the Yankees in the 1920's ('23 to '28), which I judged comparable to, but exceeded by, Guidry's nine-year stretch from '77 to '85. As for Rixey, I'm not really sure why he is in the Hall of Fame.
Although Randy Johnson has won more games in the AL than in the NL, his most dominant period came in the NL (including four of his five Cy Young Award wins). Johnson's AL numbers are very similar to Guidry's (slightly fewer wins, lower winning percentage, a small advantage in ERA+), and on that basis I ranked Guidry as the fourth best lefthander in AL history, behind only Grove, Ford and Gomez.
Obviously Johan Santana has the opportunity to move further up this list. Even though Santana has only made 216 starts in his career, he's been the best pitcher in baseball for five years now and shows no signs of relinquishing the title. That's an impressive achievement.
As for the rest of the list, I'm fairly confident about the top three spots, but the four through eight spots - Hubbell, Spahn, Carlton, Ford and Glavine - are very tight, and I could look at these five a week from now and feel differently. For instance, Tom Glavine probably has a credible argument for ranking as high as fifth. I'm certain there are many who would rate Glavine ahead of Ford and maybe even Carlton, just as there are many who would rate Koufax higher than third.
Here are the "honorable mentions", in no particular order: Tommy John, Ken Holtzman, Frank Viola, Mike Cuellar, "Steady Eddie" Lopat, Fernando Valenzuela, Vida Blue, Hippo Vaughn, Jimmy Key, Rube Marquard, Mickey Lolich, Jerry Koosman, David Wells, Eppa Rixey, Jamie Moyer, Billy Pierce, Mel Parnell, Harry Brecheen, Wilbur Cooper and Chuck Finley.
Although Randy Johnson has won more games in the AL than in the NL, his most dominant period came in the NL (including four of his five Cy Young Award wins). Johnson's AL numbers are very similar to Guidry's (slightly fewer wins, lower winning percentage, a small advantage in ERA+), and on that basis I ranked Guidry as the fourth best lefthander in AL history, behind only Grove, Ford and Gomez.
Obviously Johan Santana has the opportunity to move further up this list. Even though Santana has only made 216 starts in his career, he's been the best pitcher in baseball for five years now and shows no signs of relinquishing the title. That's an impressive achievement.
As for the rest of the list, I'm fairly confident about the top three spots, but the four through eight spots - Hubbell, Spahn, Carlton, Ford and Glavine - are very tight, and I could look at these five a week from now and feel differently. For instance, Tom Glavine probably has a credible argument for ranking as high as fifth. I'm certain there are many who would rate Glavine ahead of Ford and maybe even Carlton, just as there are many who would rate Koufax higher than third.
Here are the "honorable mentions", in no particular order: Tommy John, Ken Holtzman, Frank Viola, Mike Cuellar, "Steady Eddie" Lopat, Fernando Valenzuela, Vida Blue, Hippo Vaughn, Jimmy Key, Rube Marquard, Mickey Lolich, Jerry Koosman, David Wells, Eppa Rixey, Jamie Moyer, Billy Pierce, Mel Parnell, Harry Brecheen, Wilbur Cooper and Chuck Finley.
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