I have to disagree; Mickey Lolich is not a Hall of Famer. He was a pretty good pitcher for a while, but compared to his peers, he just doesn't measure up. And there's certainly nothing historic about his pitching performance. That's overstating it a bit.
His 7 year WAR peak is 38.6. There are 50 starters in the Hall, and they average a 50.3 7 year peak WAR. Lolich is ranked 112th all-time as a starter by JAWS. And, his career ERA + is 108. 100 is Major League average.
He finished second in the Cy Young once, and third once. And in those seasons, his ERA + was only 124 and 127. Hardly exemplary. He didn't receive any votes the other eight seasons where he was a full time starter, post 1967.
Wins in a decade isn't really a great way to evaluate a pitcher. A good pitcher can get a lot of wins on a great team, and the Tigers team he was on was very, very good. Multiple seasons of 90 + wins, including a 103 win season in 1968 when they won the World Series. Given his number of complete games, it doesn't surprise that he won a lot of games. But his pitching metrics, again, ERA +, WHIP and FIP, don't show he was anything spectacular.
Good pitcher, but not a Hall of Famer, in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkhorse9
I've always hated the fact that Mickey Lolich's name is NEVER mentioned for the Hall of Fame. He had historic numbers, but was overshadowed by Bob Gibson and (worse) Denny McLain.
Consider:
In the 1965-74 decade, he struck out more (2,245) than any other major league pitcher. In the same decade, he had more wins (172), and more complete games (155) than any other AL pitcher.
His 2,679 strikeouts is the most in AL history by a left-hander. (Randy Johnson struck out 2,545 while pitching for AL teams, a number that includes strikeouts in inter-league play.)
His 2,832 career strikeouts in both leagues ranked in the top 10 in major league history when he retired in 1979.
He is the only left-hander with three complete World Series games in the same Series.
Lolich ranks among the Tigers' all-time leaders in many categories, including strikeouts (1st), shutouts (1st), and wins (3rd)
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