Baseball; Best All Time Starting Pitchers
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Let’s pursue our baseball theme further as Opening Day 2024 approaches. Today, we again focus on pitching- specifically the 10 most outstanding starting pitchers of the modern era. We have already identified a core group of legendary relief pitchers and touched on how the responsibilities of starting pitchers have evolved over the past 60 years. Our criteria remains the same- I must have seen the player in action-either in person or on television. Therefore, wonderful Hall of Famers who did their thing before 1960 are not eligible. My choices are governed by two benchmarks. First, statistical excellence. Innings pitched, career duration, wins, earned run average, strikeouts and wins above replacement (WAR). I also give some weight to post season success- dominating in high pressure moments. Second, I employ a more subjective test. The “I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT” rule. Certain athletes, entertainers, public figures possess the “it” factor. They project a presence that is so powerful and distinctive that they stand out when compared to their peers- even other stars operating in the same field.
We acknowledge that the job of a starting pitcher has changed dramatically over the last 60 years. Starting rotations have grown from 4 to 5 starters. Complete games are now a rarity. 200 innings is a desirable goal today. The marathon rubber armed pitchers who regularly tossed 300 innings in a season are viewed as historical anomalies. Pitch counts are rigorously enforced by managers and you almost never see starters approach the 150 pitches that prior generations accepted as routine. 100 pitches is the standard cutoff. My list has an unconscious bias by valuing the starters I saw in action in my youth. An “ace” in the 60’s and 70’s was more analogous to a Quarterback in the NFL- the straw who stirs the drink, the “alpha" and “face" of the franchise. The most recent generation of premium starters are almost specialists. A team “cog” or “captain”, rather than a “general” or “field marshal”. With those muddled qualifiers, here is my list.
1) Sandy Koufax.
2) Bob Gibson.
3) Greg Maddux.
4) Roger Clemons.
5) Randy Johnson.
6) Pedro Martinez.
7) Tom Seaver.
8) Juan Marichal.
9) Steve Carlton.
10) Nolan Ryan.
HONORABLE MENTION: Ferguson Jenkins, Whitey Ford, Jim Palmer, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer.
INELIGIBLE ALL TIME GREATS: Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Dizzy Dean, Carl Hubbell, Warren Spahn , Bob Feller.
