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Originally Posted by aro13
"I know this is a thread where ascertainable facts are an annoyance, but I can never resist the use of provable facts to support an argument."
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Originally Posted by aro13 View Post
He was a very good pitcher up until 1961 who happened to pitch in a lousy home park in the Coliseum.
Koufax posted an ERA+ of 100 through 1960. He performed at exactly league average, not "very good".
Koufax was very good up until 1961 and then became otherworldly - he just happened to pitch in the LA Coliseum with it's 253 foot left field line.
In 1961 on the road Koufax had a 2.77 era and more than a strikeout an inning. In 1960 Koufax on the road Koufax had a 3.00 era and had 126 strikeouts in 105 innings. Those are stats of a very good pitcher. Had he pitched his home games anywhere but the Coliseum no one would have said he learned to control his stuff in 1962. In 1962 his era on the road was 3.53 and he struck out 98 men in 81 innings. But he also happened to move into Dodger Stadium that year and put up a 1.75 era there. Koufax was already a very good pitcher in 1960, all that happened in 1962 was that he switched from a horrible pitchers park to a great one and in 1963 the strike zone was enlarged. It wasn't some great devine intervention or the words of a backup catcher.
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Again, he was factually not "very good" until 1961 - he performed literally at the league average until 1961. I have said not a single word about divine intervention or a backup catcher, I corrected a demonstrably false claim about his career through 1960 that stats after 1960 are utterly irrelevant too.
EDIT: ERA+ is park adjusted, which is why it was used over ERA.