Baseball's Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame (31 page)
Whitey Ford
The career statistics of Whitey Ford were aided immeasurably by the fact that he was a lefthander pitching in Yankee Stadium, with its distant outfield fences for righthanded batters, and that he played for the dominant team of his era. Yet, he was still an excellent pitcher and a worthy Hall of Famer.
In fact, for much of his career, Ford was one of the two or three best pitchers in the American League, and one of the five best in baseball. His 236 victories, against only 106 defeats, give him the highest winning percentage (.690) of any pitcher with more than 200 wins since 1900. He also finished with an outstanding earned run average of 2.75. Although Ford won 20 games only twice during his career, that was mostly because Casey Stengel, who managed Ford for nine seasons, preferred to manipulate his pitching rotation so that he could save his ace for the better teams in the league. After Ralph Houk replaced Stengel as Yankee manager in 1961, Ford had his two biggest seasons, winning 25 games (against only 4 losses) that year, and winning another 24 (against only 7 defeats) in 1963. In 1961, Ford won the Cy Young Award. He would have won it again two years later had one been presented to the best pitcher in each league. However, that year’s award went to the National League’s Sandy Koufax, who was also named N.L. MVP.
Ford was also the best pitcher in the American League in both 1955 and 1956, winning 18 and 19 games, respectively, and finishing with ERA’s of 2.63 and 2.47. Although he won 20 games only twice, Ford won at least 16 games eight other times. During his career, he led the American League in wins three times and in ERA, innings pitched, and shutouts twice each. He finished with an ERA under 3.00 ten times, and with one under 2.50 five times. Ford was an eight-time All-Star, and he finished in the top five in the league MVP voting twice.
Dazzy Vance
At first glance, one is hardly overwhelmed by Dazzy Vance’s career record of 197-140 and ERA of 3.24. However, when it is considered that he compiled those numbers during one of the greatest hitting eras in baseball history, pitching mostly for the second-division Brooklyn Dodgers, Vance’s numbers become far more impressive.
For much of the 1920s, Vance was the National League’s top pitcher, winning more than 20 games three times, and compiling at least 16 victories three other times. He led the league in strikeouts each season from 1922 to 1928, and he also finished first in wins twice, ERA three times, shutouts four times, and complete games twice. His greatest season was 1924, when he finished 28-6 with a league-leading 2.16 ERA, 262 strikeouts, 308 innings pitched, and 30 complete games in winning league MVP honors. Vance was also the league’s best pitcher in both 1925 and 1928, finishing fifth in the MVP voting in 1925. In each of those seasons, he won 22 games and struck out over 200 batters, and he led the league with a 2.09 ERA in 1928.
Four times during his career, Vance finished with an ERA under 3.00, with one of his greatest achievements coming in 1930. That was the year the National League experienced one of the greatest offensive explosions in history, with Hack Wilson knocking in a record 191 runs, Bill Terry batting .401, and runs being scored at a record pace throughout the league. In the midst of all that, Vance finished with a rather remarkable 2.61 ERA, making him the best pitcher in baseball, with the exception of the American League’s Lefty Grove. Therefore, in spite of the fact that he had only seven truly outstanding seasons, Vance was a dominant pitcher at his peak, and would have to be considered a worthy Hall of Famer.
Early Wynn
Early Wynn was not a great pitcher, and a case could be made for him being among the five best hurlers in baseball in only five of his 23 major league seasons. However, he was a very good pitcher for a long time, and he had enough outstanding years to be considered a legitimate Hall of Famer.
Wynn was one of the few players in baseball history to spend parts of four different decades in the majors, having lengthy stints with the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox. He had his breakout season for the Senators in 1943, finishing 18-12 with a 2.91 ERA. After being dealt to the Indians prior to the start of the 1949 campaign, Wynn won at least 17 games in seven of his nine years in Cleveland, topping the 20-victory mark four times. He was among the five best pitchers in baseball in 1951, 1952, 1954, and 1956, winning 23 games in two of those seasons, and compiling 20 victories in the other two years. He also finished with an ERA under 3.00 in three of those seasons. Wynn’s greatest season, though, was 1959, when, pitching for the pennant-winning White Sox, he finished 22-10 with a 3.17 ERA to earn the Cy Young Award as baseball’s best pitcher.
In all, Wynn was a 20-game winner five times during his career, winning at least 17 games five other times. He led the league in wins twice, ERA once, strikeouts twice, and innings pitched three times. Wynn finished in the top 10 in the MVP voting three times, making it into the top five twice.
Hoyt Wilhelm/Rollie Fingers/Dennis Eckersley/
Bruce Sutter/Goose Gossage
These five men have been grouped together because they were the first five relief pitchers to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Hoyt Wilhelm was a pioneer of sorts, being the first pitcher to have a lengthy major league career being used almost exclusively in relief. Prior to World War II, most pitchers who entered a game in relief were either starters who were past their prime, or those who simply were not good enough to become members of their team’s starting rotation. While others, such as Johnny Murphy and Joe Page of the Yankees, and Jim Konstanty of the Phillies previously experienced fleeting success as relief specialists, Wilhelm was the first man to make a career out of coming out of the bullpen. In acknowledgement, the BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1985.
Yet, Wilhelm was not voted in simply because he was a baseball pioneer. He was an excellent pitcher. After a brilliant rookie season with the New York Giants in 1952 in which he saved 11 games and won 15 others, all in relief, Wilhelm won 12 more games for the Giants in 1954. He was converted briefly into a starter by Baltimore in 1959, but, despite winning 15 games that year, returned to the bullpen shortly thereafter. After being traded to the Chicago White Sox prior to the start of the 1963 season, Wilhelm became a full-time reliever once more, and gradually developed into the best the game had seen up to that point. Over the next three seasons, he saved a total of 68 games while winning another 24. From 1964 to 1968, his ERA never got as high as 2.00 as he used his knuckleball to baffle American League hitters. During his career, Wilhelm won more than 10 games five times, four times strictly as a reliever. He finished with a record of 143 wins and 122 losses, an ERA of 2.52, and 227 saves.
If Hoyt Wilhelm was the first true relief specialist the game ever saw, Rollie Fingers, along with Sparky Lyle, was the first to bring relief pitching to the next level. In 18 big league seasons, Fingers filled the closer role better than any other man had, up to then. Pitching for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers, Fingers was among the best relief pitchers in the game for much of his career. Four times he finished in double-digits in victories, twice he saved more than 30 games, three times he finished with an ERA of less than 2.00, and eight times he struck out more than three times as many men as he walked. He also led his league in both saves and appearances three times.
After helping the Oakland Athletics to three world championships from 1972 to 1974, and then spending four seasons with the Padres, Fingers had his greatest season with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981. That year, he became one of only three relief pitchers to win both the Cy Young and MVP Award in the same season. That strike-shortened season, Fingers compiled a record of 6-3, a 1.04 ERA, and a league-leading 28 saves, while surrendering only 55 hits in 78 innings of work, walking only 13 batters, while striking out 61.
As one of the two or three greatest relief pitchers in the history of the game, Dennis Eckersley is most deserving of his place in Cooperstown. He was the premier closer of his time, and is rivaled only by Rollie Fingers and Mariano Rivera as the top relief pitcher ever. Eckersley is one of just a handful of relief pitchers to win both the Cy Young and MVP Award in the same season. He accomplished the feat in 1992 when he compiled a 7-1 record and a 1.91 ERA for the Oakland Athletics, while leading the American League with 51 saves. Eckersley also led the league in saves in 1988, when he closed out 45 contests for Oakland, while compiling a 2.35 ERA and allowing just 52 hits in 73 innings of work. Eckersley was even better in 1990, when he finished second in the A.L. with 48 saves, while pitching to a brilliant 0.61 earned run average and permitting only 41 safeties in 73 innings pitched. Eckersley was so dominant as a closer that he finished in the top five in the league MVP voting three times during his career. He also placed in the top five in the Cy Young balloting on four separate occasions. In all, Eckersley saved more than 30 games eight times, compiling as many as 40 saves four different times. He led the A.L. in that department twice. He finished his career with a won-lost record of 197-171, 390 saves, and an ERA of 3.50.
Of course, many of those decisions came during the first half of Eckersley’s career when he was a solid starting pitcher for three different teams. He originally broke into the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians in 1975 as a starter. Eckersley also pitched for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs before being converted into a relief pitcher by Oakland A’s manager Tony LaRussa prior to the start of the 1987 season. As a starter, Eckersley compiled a won-lost record of 151-128 over his first 12 seasons. He had his finest season in that role for the Red Sox in 1978 when he finished 20-8 with a 2.99 ERA. However, Eckersley truly made his mark as a relief specialist, and that is what he went into the Hall of Fame as.
The BBWAA’s 2006 selection of Bruce Sutter to Cooperstown, in the former closer’s 13th year of eligibility, was long overdue. Not only was Sutter the preeminent relief pitcher of his era, but he was the originator of the split-finger fastball that has become so popular in baseball over the last two decades.
Sutter had his finest seasons for the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. He first became Chicago’s closer in 1977 when he finished second in the National League with 31 saves while compiling a 1.34 ERA. Two years later, he began a string of four consecutive seasons in which he led the league in saves. In 1979, Sutter saved 37 games for the Cubs, pitched to a brilliant 2.22 ERA, and allowed only 67 hits in 101 innings of work, while striking out 110 batters. His split-finger fastball made him virtually unhittable, enabling him to become only the third relief pitcher in either league to capture the Cy Young Award. Sutter had another phenomenal season for the Cardinals in 1984 when he saved a league-leading 45 games, while compiling an ERA of 1.54.
In all, Sutter led the National League in saves a total of five times, and also finished in the top five on three other occasions. In addition to his 1979 Cy Young, he placed in the top five in the voting three other times, and also finished in the top ten in the league MVP balloting a total of five times. One can only wonder why it took the members of the BBWAA so long to admit him to Cooperstown.
Another dominant reliever who probably waited longer than he should have to be selected by the baseball writers was Rich “Goose” Gossage, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in his ninth year of eligibility. Gossage was the most intimidating relief pitcher of his time, and may well have been the most imposing one ever.
Gossage spent 23 seasons terrorizing opposing batters with his blazing fastball that often approached 100 miles per-hour on the radar gun. Five times during his career, Gossage compiled more strikeouts than innings pitched, and he allowed fewer hits than innings pitched in 18 of his 23 seasons.
Gossage had his first big year with the Chicago White Sox in 1975, winning nine games coming out of the bullpen, compiling a 1.84 ERA, and leading the American League with 26 saves. Goose had another brilliant season as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1977, winning 11 games, saving 26 others, pitching to a 1.62 ERA, and allowing only 78 hits in 133 innings of work while striking out 151 batters. After joining the Yankees the following year, Gossage established himself as the American League’s dominant closer, leading the circuit with 27 saves, compiling a 2.01 earned run average, and allowing only 87 hits in 134 innings pitched. He was even more dominant during the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, finishing second in the league with 20 saves, compiling a magnificent 0.77 ERA, and allowing just 22 hits in 47 innings of work.
During his career, Gossage led the American League in saves three times, compiling more than 30 in a season twice, and finishing with more than 20 eight other times. He posted an ERA under 2.00 four times. Gossage placed in the top five in the Cy Young balloting four times, and finished in the top ten in the league MVP balloting twice, placing as high as third in 1980. He was also a nine-time All-Star.
Ferguson Jenkins/Gaylord Perry
Perry and Jenkins had a few things in common. For one thing, they pitched during the same era, for several different teams. They also pitched for a very long time. Furthermore, while both men were very good pitchers, neither ever had a season in which they were considered to be the best pitcher in baseball.
During his 19-year major league career, Ferguson Jenkins pitched for four different teams. However, most of his finest seasons were spent with the Chicago Cubs. As a member of the Cubs, Jenkins was somewhat overlooked, even though he surpassed 20 victories six consecutive seasons from 1967 to 1972. Jenkins always seemed to be the forgotten man because, during his prime, the National League also featured several other outstanding hurlers such as Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Tom Seaver, and Steve Carlton. As a result, Jenkins never got the credit he deserved for being among the very best pitchers in the game. Nevertheless, in each of those six seasons, he was among the three or four best pitchers in the National League, and one of the five best in baseball.
