Tim Hudson a HOFer?

[packs]

Since he broke his ankle last night, Tim Hudson's career may be over. I was looking over his stats today.

In 15 seasons he has a 205 - 111 record, 94 wins above .500. In all of his 15 seasons he's never had a losing record. I'm pretty sure he's the only pitcher in history to pitch that long and never finish below .500.

My question is, given that he may be the one and only pitcher in history never to have a losing season over such a long career, is he a HOFer?

[nebboy]

NO

[39special]

Originally Posted by nebboy

NO

+1

No, and I'm a Braves fan

[nolemmings]

I'm pretty sure he's the only pitcher in history to pitch that long and never finish below .500.

Andy Pettitte has never finished below .500, although he stands at 7-8 this season.

[Chris Counts]

If you compare Tim Hudson's number's to those of existing Hall of Fame members, he's as good or better than a number of pitchers. Unfortunately, many of the voters believe they need to raise the Hall of Fame's standards by holding modern players to a higher standard. I think it's a bunch of baloney, but I realize I'm in the minority here. I say open the floodgates. If a pitcher was as good as Jesse Haines, Eppa Rixey, Chief Bender, Lefty Gomez or a bunch of other guys, he should get in ...

[the 'stache]

Tim Hudson is not a Hall of Famer. If there's a Hall of very good, he could get in there.

He's never won the Cy Young, and he was only top 3 in the voting once. He led the league in wins once. Never in strikeouts, never in ERA. His career ERA of 3.44 would be one of the highest ever for a Hall of Fame pitcher. I've never at any time during Hudson's career thought to myself "Tim Hudson is one of the top 5 pitchers in baseball".

As to his never having a losing season, that's not really all that impressive. So much of a pitcher's win-loss total is beyond their control. A pitcher can have a Cy Young caliber season, and finish below .500. In 2010, Felix Hernandez won the AL Cy Young Award with only a 13-12 record. His offensive support stunk. If he'd given up another run or two in any of the games he pitched, he could have easily gone 12-13, yet he still would have won the Cy Young Award. Look at Ben Sheets. He was absolutely spectacular in 2004. He had a 2.70 ERA, a 0.983 WHIP, struck out 264 batters while walking only 32. 10 Ks per 9 IP and 8.25 K:BB is outstanding (the 11th best ratio in MLB history!). Yet he was only 12-14 because his offense and defense were really bad.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by packs

Since he broke his ankle last night, Tim Hudson's career may be over. I was looking over his stats today.

In 15 seasons he has a 205 - 111 record, 94 wins above .500. In all of his 15 seasons he's never had a losing record. I'm pretty sure he's the only pitcher in history to pitch that long and never finish below .500.

My question is, given that he may be the one and only pitcher in history never to have a losing season over such a long career, is he a HOFer?

I'm with you, I think Huddy deserves strong HOF consideration, and hope he gets in. Without re-hashing all the numbers that have been cited, the guy has been one of the most consistently good pitchers of this generation. He's had one off season in his career, and even then managed a 13-12 record. His numbers compare more than favorably with many of the lower tier per-war HOFers like Rube Marquard, Jessie Haines, Vic Willis, etc.. And I think he's a guy that is better than his numbers.

I watched those A's teams and loved the way Hudson competed. He was/is small and slight, but was/is an absolute bulldog. Seeing him as a 24 year old stare down guys like Nomar and Jeter, pitching for a young underdog A's team that was taking on the Yanks and Sox every year in the playoffs. He definitely has some imcredible toughness and intangibles that have made him better than any pure arm "stuff" he may possess.. And which I also think it rubs off on the other pitchers, especially on that A's staff where he was the elder of the big 3. No one should downgrade Mulder either. Hudson was definitely the leader of that crew, but Mulder was the guy everyone pegged as a sure fire HOFer as long as he stayed healthy.. And he was also considered the most likely pitcher of his generation to reach 300, given how many he'd won at such a young age. Bummer his shoulder gave out.

Hopefully Hudson makes a good recovery and notches another 2+ solids seasons to eliminate doubt.

I also think CC, given his age has a great shot to get into the upper 200's, and well over 3000 K's and if so, should be nearly a shoe in. ERA's for anyone who pitched in the 90's-2000's are inflated.. Especially when compared to the high mound pitching dominated 60's, or the dead ball era. Heck even Maddux, Clemens and Randy Johnson ended up above 3.00, and Glavine up above 3.50. Only Pedro in this period had 200 wins plus and a sub 3.00 ERA. Pedro should be a first ballot lock in my opinion.