Quote:
Originally Posted by rats60
Dominating a weak pitching era doesn't make someone better than a pitcher who dominates one of the strongest pitching eras.
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Pitching and hitting are an inverse relationship. In other words, saying Grove pitched in a "weak pitching era" is another way of saying it was a strong hitting era. And he was a top-line pitcher during that time, leading in ERA a whopping 9 times (and that had nothing to do with the offensive run support he received.)
Meanwhile, Sandy dominating one of the strongest pitching eras means he was pitching at a time when lots of other pitchers were also enjoying above average success. And his great streak (strong pitching era) coinciding with expansion (4 new teams stocked with former minor leaguers) is no coincidence either. Sandy was 31-4 against the Mets and Colt/Astros from 1962-66, which coincidentally was Grove's record against all teams in 1931.
Perhaps we can agree they were both good.