Best lefty off all time? My vote is Koufax!

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by luciobar1980

I agree a lot with this. He's not a "sexy" pick. I don't mean that literally.. he just wasn't a flashy hero type.

Other factors against Spahn were a small market mostly not so great team, a very ordinary physical stature and looks, and success based more on relentless consistency and finesse than blowing people away. But especially as was pointed out missing the years he did, a remarkable career. Destined to forever be at or near the top of those underrated lists we do once in a while.

[Snowman]

Randy Johnson in his prime followed by Koufax. Nobody else is really even close IMO.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I would rank them like this
Grove
Johnson
Spahn
Carlton
Koufax/Kershaw even at this point anyhow gun to my head I would take Kershaw.
Hubbell

Could see flipping Johnson and Spahn.
Koufax just too short a career, however great his peak, and I think it's been show that peak benefited a lot from pitching in Dodger Stadium. Take away the good looks, the heroic pitching in pain, the not pitching on Yom Kippur, etc., I think the mystique of Koufax goes away to an extent.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would rank them like this
Grove
Johnson
Spahn
Carlton
Koufax/Kershaw even at this point anyhow gun to my head I would take Kershaw.
Hubbell

Could see flipping Johnson and Spahn.
Koufax just too short a career, however great his peak, and I think it's been show that peak benefited a lot from pitching in Dodger Stadium. Take away the good looks, the heroic pitching in pain, the not pitching on Yom Kippur, etc., I think the mystique of Koufax goes away to an extent.

Peter. I like the list. And you have some valid points.
But I would probably put Spahn ahead of Johnson and probably put Koufax ahead of Kershaw

[Bigdaddy]

What if the question was "As the GM of a new franchise, which starting LHP would you pick first, assuming you had them for their entire career?"

Now you've got to weigh peak vs. longevity. What is more important?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

What if the question was "As the GM of a new franchise, which starting LHP would you pick first, assuming you had them for their entire career?"

Now you've got to weigh peak vs. longevity. What is more important?

The guy who wins by best 4 year peak, best 5 year peak, best 7 year peak, and total career value: Grove.

[Snowman]

I should have put Kershaw on my list as well. For some reason, I was just thinking HOFers, not active players. But ya, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, and Clayton Kershaw.

However, as perhaps the only statistician in the room, I feel like I have to ask; what stats are you guys looking at that makes you think Lefty Grove and Warren Spahn are even in the conversation? I don't get it. Are you only looking at games played or something? Lol. Wins? Complete games? Warren Spahn was an above-average pitcher, at best, for a really long time. The one year he won the Cy Young in, the only statistical category he led the league in was Wins, a near meaningless statistic when evaluating how good a pitcher is.

Lefty Grove had like 5 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (and he led the league in Ks his first 7 years in the league). That's indicative of how terrible pitchers were back then, not of how great he was. Nobody threw their arms out back then because pitchers in the 1920s & 30s were effectively playing catch, not because they had superior genetics or throwing motions. They were only concerned with ball placement, not throwing heat ("top right corner! haha, he'll never see THAT coming"). Lefty Grove probably wouldn't even make a major league roster today. The guy's career WHIP is 1.278! That's not good. If he was your starting pitcher on a fantasy baseball roster, you'd lose money.

The only argument against Randy Johnson is that he was a late bloomer. He had serious control issues until he was about 29 years old. But after that, he was as dominant as they come, right or left-handed.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would rank them like this
Grove
Johnson
Spahn
Carlton
Koufax/Kershaw even at this point anyhow gun to my head I would take Kershaw.
Hubbell

Could see flipping Johnson and Spahn.
Koufax just too short a career, however great his peak, and I think it's been show that peak benefited a lot from pitching in Dodger Stadium. Take away the good looks, the heroic pitching in pain, the not pitching on Yom Kippur, etc., I think the mystique of Koufax goes away to an extent.

C'mon man, if you're always going to harp on Kershaw's post season failure then you have to give credit to Sandy for his post season dominance!