Best Season ever by a ML pitcher?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Am I right that the only HOF starting pitchers with a rookie card from 1969 through 1983 are Jack Morris, himself a dubious selection, and Bert Blyleven? If so that's kind of strange, for a 15 year period, no?

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Am I right that the only HOF starting pitchers with a rookie card from 1969 through 1983 are Jack Morris, himself a dubious selection, and Bert Blyleven? If so that's kind of strange, for a 15 year period, no?

I feel like the standards for the HOF (300 wins, low ERA) have not done a great job of being adjusted for era.

Obviously some eras had better pitchers than others, but there are a couple of eras that seem incredibly underrepresented.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

I feel like the standards for the HOF (300 wins, low ERA) have not done a great job of being adjusted for era.

Obviously some eras had better pitchers than others, but there are a couple of eras that seem incredibly underrepresented.

I feel like the 50s and 60s had the best players and into the 70s, but the talent has been on the decline. My reasoning is that at this time baseball was the National pastime and #1 sport in our country. In the 70s, the NFL took over from MLB and a lot of talent was siphoned off. Then in the 80s with Magic, Bird and Jordan the NBA rose up to challenge MLB for #2, siphoning off more talent. Some of that has been off set by foreign players, but not enough. We are seeing a bump in talent in recent years, but I don't think we will ever see the talent level of the post war baby boomer era when baseball was king.

[Peter_Spaeth]

The US population is significantly higher than it was back then, so the overall pool of potential athletes is also significantly higher. I think that combined with the influx of foreign players likely offsets any dilution from more kids focusing on football and basketball in their formative years. I don't see any dilution in the talent level, leaving our nostalgia out of the equation.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The US population is significantly higher than it was back then, so the overall pool of potential athletes is also significantly higher. I think that combined with the influx of foreign players likely offsets any dilution from more kids focusing on football and basketball in their formative years. I don't see any dilution in the talent level, leaving our nostalgia out of the equation.

I think you are ignoring that MLB has expanded to account for this. You had 400 or 500 roster spots to fill in the 50s and 60s. When you add the 30 MLB teams, 30 NBA teams and 32 NFL teams you have almost 2900 players in those leagues. There is no way that increase in US population and foreign players cover that increase.

You have a lot of players who would have played baseball that are not even considering it now. Instead they choose to concentrate on another sport and play it all year round. In the past they would have played baseball in the spring/summer and be open to it as a career. Just look at how few blacks there are in MLB. Only about 8%. I don't see how you can say there isn't less talent. HOF voters certainly agree that there is a lot less talent at pitcher.

[Jason19th]

In 1964 Dick Raditz went 16-9 with a 2.29 era. Doesn't jump off the page. Until you realize he did this in relief. Pitching in 79 games 157 innings 181 strikeouts and 29 saves. You may find better stats but find me a season that had more of an impact on the team

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Am I right that the only HOF starting pitchers with a rookie card from 1969 through 1983 are Jack Morris, himself a dubious selection, and Bert Blyleven? If so that's kind of strange, for a 15 year period, no?

Actually between 1971 and 1987, there is only one, Jack Morris, who was elected by the veterans committee. He has the highest ERA of any pitcher in the HOF and many feel he doesn't belong.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rats60

Actually between 1971 and 1987, there is only one, Jack Morris, who was elected by the veterans committee. He has the highest ERA of any pitcher in the HOF and many feel he doesn't belong.

Well, but for steroids, Clemens obviously is in. In any case, any thoughts on why there is such an apparent dearth of pitchers over such a long period?