Baseball's Hall of Fame or Hall of Shame (36 page)

It would seem that the greater amount of exposure Hunter received from his many postseason appearances (Tiant’s teams made it into the playoffs only twice), his reputation as a big-game pitcher, and his colorful nickname all worked in his favor. But, was he really a better pitcher than Tiant, and should he be in the Hall of Fame if Tiant is not? Both questions are debatable. However, Hunter was a very good pitcher, albeit for only about six or seven years, and he probably does belong in Cooperstown. It just seems that the writers may have moved just a little too quickly in enshrining him in just his third year of eligibility.

Red Faber

Red Faber’s entire 20-year major league career was spent with the Chicago White Sox, and, for much of it, he wasn’t the best pitcher on his own team. During his first six seasons, from 1914 to 1919, Ed Cicotte was the staff ace. Then, during his last nine seasons, from 1925 to 1933, Ted Lyons was the Sox best pitcher. Thus, Faber was the best starter on the White Sox staff for only five seasons, from 1920 to 1924. However, over an eight-year stretch, from 1915 to 1922, he was among the five best pitchers in baseball in virtually every season.

Faber had his first big year in 1915, when he finished 24-14 with a 2.55 ERA. The following year, he won 17 games while losing only 9 and compiling a 2.02 ERA. After winning another 16 games and compiling a 1.92 ERA in 1917, Faber missed portions of the 1918 and 1919 seasons due to World War I. However, he had his three finest seasons from 1920-1922, winning 23, 25, and 21 games, respectively, and finishing with an ERA under 3.00 in each season. Over the course of his career, Faber led American League pitchers in ERA twice, complete games twice, and innings pitched once. He finished with a won-lost record of 254-213 and an ERA of 3.15.

Faber does not possess overwhelming Hall of Fame credentials. He was never considered to be the best pitcher in his own league, and he was among the top two or three hurlers in only three seasons. His career winning percentage of .544 was good, but hardly spectacular. In addition, he had only five or six truly outstanding seasons. However, Faber had several very good years, winning more than 20 games four times and posting at least 15 victories three other times. Also, when one considers that the White Sox were a losing team in virtually all of Faber’s last 12 seasons, his .544 winning percentage becomes far more impressive. All things considered, while Faber wasn’t a clear-cut Hall-of-Famer, his 1964 election by the Veterans Committee was not a particularly bad one.

Vic Willis

During his 13-year major league career, Vic Willis pitched for three different teams. He spent his first eight seasons with the Boston Beaneaters, his next four with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and ended his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1898 and 1899, Willis’ first two seasons for Boston, he was outstanding, compiling records of 25-13 and 27-8, and ERA’s of 2.84 and 2.50. However, despite allowing less than 3 earned runs a game in four of the next six seasons, his remaining years in Boston were marked with inconsistency. Although he won 20 games one year and 27 another, he finished with losing records the other four years, losing as many as 29 games one year, and 25 another.

After being traded to Pittsburgh following the 1905 season, though, Willis returned to top form. With an outstanding team led by Honus Wagner, Willis won more than 20 games in each of the next four seasons and posted outstanding earned run averages that repeatedly hovered around the 2.00 mark. His two finest seasons were 1906 and 1908, as he won 23 games both years and compiled ERAs of 1.73 and 2.07. Over the course of his career, Willis was a 20-game winner eight times, and he led the league in ERA and strikeouts one time each. His won-lost record was 249-205, and he finished with an ERA of 2.63.

However, while Willis had some outstanding seasons, he had only three in which he could legitimately be referred to as one of the five best pitchers in baseball—1898, 1899, and 1906. At different times during his career he was ranked behind the likes of Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity, Cy Young, and Mordecai Brown in the National League, and Eddie Plank and Ed Walsh in the American League. Although Boston was not a strong team in his last few seasons there, Willis’ won-lost records from 1903 to 1905 of 12-18, 18-25, and 12-29 are difficult to overlook. Few Hall of Fame pitchers have ever posted three-season records even approaching that. It would seem that, while the Veterans Committee’s 1995 election of Willis was not a particularly bad one, it may have been a bit of a stretch.

Jim Bunning

Although it may no longer seem like a major accomplishment in this day of free agency, Jim Bunning was the first major league pitcher to win at least 100 games in each league. While he also pitched for the Pirates and, very briefly, for the Dodgers during his 17-year career, Bunning’s finest seasons were spent with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies.

With Detroit from 1955 to 1963, Bunning compiled a record of 118-87 and established himself as one of the American League’s better pitchers. He had his best season with the Tigers in 1957 when he compiled a record of 20-8 and a 2.69 ERA and finished ninth in the A.L. MVP voting. In his six other seasons as a regular member of the Tigers pitching rotation, he won 19 games once, and 17 twice.

It was with the Phillies, though, that Bunning truly established himself as one of the game’s best pitchers. He won 19 games for three consecutive seasons, from 1964 to 1966, won another 17 in 1967, finished with an ERA well below 3.00, struck out well over 200 batters in each of those seasons, and even pitched a perfect game. In 1967, he finished runner-up to San Francisco’s Mike McCormick in the N.L. Cy Young Award voting. In all, Bunning led his league in wins once, strikeouts three times, shutouts twice, and innings pitched twice. He finished with an ERA under 3.00 and struck out more than 200 batters six times each, and, although he was a 20-game winner only once, he won 19 games four times and posted 17 victories three other times. Bunning was a seven-time All-Star and ended his career with a won-lost record of 224-184 and an ERA of 3.27.

While, with the exception of 1957 and 1967, Bunning was never considered to be among the top two or three pitchers in his league, he was one of the five best pitchers in baseball in 1957, and from 1964 to 1967 as well. His career winning percentage of .549 was not particularly impressive, but it should be noted that, except for two years in Detroit and two in Philadelphia, he always pitched on mediocre teams. Bunning was not a great pitcher, but he was a very good one for about 10 years. He should be viewed as a borderline Hall of Famer who was not among the best choices the Veterans Committee has made over the years. However, he was far from the worst.

Jack Chesbro/Chief Bender

Both Chesbro and Bender were very good pitchers who played at the turn of the last century. They both had some good seasons, but a couple of great ones propelled them into the Hall of Fame.

Righthander Jack Chesbro’s major league career lasted only 11 seasons, and he had a winning record in only seven of those. Pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1899 to 1902, he had outstanding seasons in both 1901 and 1902. In the first of those years, Chesbro finished 21-10 with an ERA of 2.38. In 1902, he compiled a record of 28-6 and an ERA of 2.17, while tossing a league-leading 8 shutouts. In each of those years, he was among the top five pitchers in baseball. After finishing 21-15 for the New York Highlanders in 1903, Chesbro had an absolutely phenomenal season for New York in 1904. That year, he finished 41-12 with a 1.82 ERA, 239 strikeouts, 454 innings pitched, and 48 complete games. He was clearly the best pitcher in the game that season. He also won 19 and 23 games for New York over the next two seasons. In all, Chesbro led his league in wins twice, and in innings pitched, complete games, and shutouts once each. He won more than 20 games five times, and he finished with an ERA of less than 3.00 eight times.

The thing about Chesbro, though, is that he only had those two great seasons of 1902 and 1904. While he was also very good in 1901, and quite effective in both 1903 and 1906 as well, he was nothing more than an average pitcher the rest of his career. In his six other seasons, he finished with won-lost records of 6-9, 15-13, 19-15, 10-10, 14-20, and 0-5. Chesbro was among the game’s elite pitchers for only three seasons, and he was dominant in only two of those. He ended his career with a fine winning percentage of .600, but won only 198 games—a relatively low number for a Hall of Famer.

Like Chesbro, righthander Chief Bender had some very solid seasons, and two or three exceptional ones. Pitching primarily for the Philadelphia Athletics during his 15-year career, Bender was one of the better pitchers in the American League from 1905 to 1914. He was among the top five pitchers in the league in seven of those seasons, winning more than 20 games twice, at least 16 five other times, and finishing with an ERA well below 3.00 every year. His best years were 1909, 1910, 1913, and 1914. Here are his records in those seasons:

   
1909:
18 wins, 8 losses; 1.66 ERA; 250 innings pitched; 24 complete games

   
1910:
23 wins, 5 losses; 1.58 ERA; 250 innings pitched; 25 complete games

   
1913:
21 wins, 10 losses; 2.21 ERA

   
1914:
17 wins, 3 losses; 2.26 ERA

In those four seasons, Bender was among the top five pitchers in the game. During his career, he was a 20-game winner only twice, but he won at least 15 games seven other times. He also finished with an ERA under 3.00 in 12 of his 15 seasons, coming in at less than 2.00 four times. He ended his career with 212 wins, against only 127 losses, for an excellent .625 winning percentage, and with an ERA of 2.46—outstanding, even for the Deadball Era.

However, Bender never led the league in any major statistical category and only won 20 games twice, despite pitching for several pennant-winning teams in Philadelphia. While he was one of the better pitchers in the American League for a good portion of his career, he was an outstanding one for only four or five seasons. He was a very good pitcher, but was he any better than Deacon Phillippe, another pitcher from that era who never received much support in the Hall of Fame voting? Let’s take a look at their numbers, along with those of Chesbro:

Phillippe spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, from 1899 to 1911. Playing with some outstanding Pirate teams that featured Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke, among others, he was a 20-game winner six times. He also won at least 14 games on three other occasions. His two most outstanding seasons were 1902 and 1903, when he finished 20-9 and 25-9, respectively, with ERAs of 2.05 and 2.43. Phillippe was arguably one of the five best pitchers in baseball from 1900 to 1903, then again, in 1905. Even though his career was shorter than that of Bender, he won almost as many games and finished with a higher winning percentage. In fact, he compares quite favorably to both Bender and Chesbro in most statistical categories. Yet, for some reason, they were both elected, and he wasn’t.

Once again, this is not an attempt to get another borderline candidate elected to the Hall of Fame. However, it should bring to light the fact that both Bender and Chesbro should be viewed as just that—borderline Hall of Famers. It is more difficult to find fault with the Veterans Committee’s 1953 election of Bender than it is with their 1946 selection of Chesbro due to Bender's greater number of quality seasons. However, both choices should be looked upon with a certain amount of skepticism.

Don Sutton/Phil Niekro

These two men, probably more than any others, test the theory that 300 wins should automatically qualify a pitcher for the Hall of Fame. Neither pitcher was dominant. Neither had more than three or four truly outstanding years. But both had several good years, hung around the majors for a very long time, and put together enough quality seasons to eventually reach the 300-win plateau. The question is, though, was that enough to legitimize their places in Cooperstown?

In his 23-year major league career Don Sutton pitched for five different teams. His best years were spent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he pitched from 1966 to 1980, before ending his career with them in 1988. After struggling in his first five seasons with the Dodgers, compiling an overall record of 66-63, Sutton began to establish himself as one of the better pitchers in baseball in 1971, compiling a 17-12 record and a 2.54 ERA. Over the next seven seasons, from 1972 to 1978, Sutton won no fewer than 14 games, winning 21 once and 19 twice, and finishing with an ERA less than 3.00 three times. He had his only 20-win season in 1976, when he finished 21-10 with a 3.06 ERA. He had perhaps his finest season in 1972, when he finished 19-9 with an ERA of 2.08, 9 shutouts, and 18 complete games.