Deserving Hall of Fame Pitchers
Why Bobby Matthews and Tommy John Should Be in Baseball's Hall of Fame
References:
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/M/Mathews_Bobby.stm
http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mathebo01.shtml
Go a little further down baseball's All-Time Career Victories list and you'll find another pitcher that should be inducted into the Hall. Most young fans know his name for the surgery that has he made famous, but Tommy John was a heck of a pitcher too. He won 288 games (5th most among lefties) at a .555 winning percentage and a 3.34 ERA over a career that spanned 26 years. He also had a 6-3 record with a 2.65 ERA in postseason play. Tommy was a four-time All-Star and won the Hutch Award and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. He was in the top 10 in ERA and wins six times, Win-Loss % 10 times (led the league in '74), Walks/9 innings pitched 12 times, Complete Games 4 times, and Shutouts 7 times (led the league three times). He injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm in 1974, and after a revolutionary surgical operation he was able to pitch until he was 46. For the amount of victories, the brilliant control he exhibited over his lengthy career, as well as his lasting mark on the game with the surgery he helped coin I believe Tommy John is overdue induction into baseball's hallowed Hall.
References
http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/johnto01.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_John
Published by Ryan Lester
Just a guy who likes sports. Married with two wonderful sons. Love football, baseball, basketball, and fishing. Check out my site at LestersLegends.com View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentJim McCormick pitched from 1878-1887 and ended up with a record of 265-214. His career ERA was an excellent 2.43. He had an incredible season where he pitched 72 complete games out of 74, and 657.2 innings. The numbers he put up are not only great, but HOF worthy.
Below is a link to his page and where I got my info from. Please check it out for yourself and I know you will agree. JIM SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN*
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mccorji01.shtml
Thats funny bryan, Johns, Kaat, and Blyleven are the only HOF eligible pitchers with more wins than Jamie Moyer who through a 2 hitter yesterday. Is he going to the Hall when he retires? notice i said eligible, mussina, johnson, maddox, clemens, and glavine arent eligible yet but they do have more wins. I just caught it funny that you used those exact three in your example
Yes Kitty Kaat also..Tony Olivia also
Bobby Matthews, Tommy John, Santo, Blyleven,Dwight Evans...C'mon baseball..give them their deserved enshrinement!
I don't see much of a case for Bobby Matthews. He essentially played a completely different game, and he never was a leading star. He finished among the top ten pitchers in many categories, but that is meaningless when there are fewer than a dozen regular pitchers in the league. He pitched for a long time, but never was a great pitcher, and is justifiably forgotten today. If there was a pitcher like him recently, I would guess it would be Milt Pappas.
As for Tommy John, he did last a long time, and chalked up a bunch of wins, and he should get in sooner or later just based on that. So, too, of course, should Bert Blyleven, who was a far superior pitcher, and Jim Kaat, who was every bit as good.
Mo - Thanks. Today's pitchers try and reach 200 innings. Ha.