Posted By:
davidcyclebackI think he needs to get to 300 before he's deserving of the HOF. If he gets to 300, he will get in.
He had a very high ERA and played for good teams. People sometimes forget that a pitcher gets more wins when he plays for good teams, and fewer wins when he plays for bad teams. One thing going for him is he always pitched lots of innings, which is something you want a starter to do, and is a service to the team. You'd rather have a Mike Mussina pitching than a Walter Johnson on IR.
Assuming he retires or peters out soonafter, there are a lot of sportswriters right saying he's borderline or not HOF-worthy now when he's in the headlines. In five years, the bloom will have left the rose and it will be harder not easier to get votes. In the NFL, there are a lot of sure things when they retire who are lost in the crowd five years later. Though there are a lot more players and positions in the NFL, so the sheer numbers is a part.
I believe if you win 300 games you get into the HOF, as 300 is a whole lot of wins. That's 15 wins for 20 seasons or 20 wins for 15 years, either of which is a HOF pitching.