Morris & Trammell Elected to HOF

[Gnep31]

Originally Posted by btcarfagno

WPA values for the players from my list whom I said were better pitchers than Jack Morris:

Mike Mussina 37.67
Kevin Brown 31.63
Bret Saberhagen 25.62
Kevin Appier 23.13
David Cone 23.03
Jimmy Key 22.34
David Wells 20.60
Dwight Gooden 20.19
Dave Stieb 20.11
Frank Viola 17.16
Steve Finley 16.84
Rick Reuschel 15.23
Jack Morris 14.08
Kenny Rogers 11.79
Mark Langston 11.73
Bob Welch 10.31
Frank Tanana 10.07

So Morris is anywhere from somewhat below to way below most of the players on my list when the context of play by play comes into frame.

Still not a Hall Of Famer by any stretch.

We obviously are not going to agree about metrics in regards to Morris being HOF worthy, which is ok. Tell me this...as a hitter, who would you least like to face from your list? Take all numbers out of the equation...as a baseball player who would be the toughest pitcher to face? Give me your top 3.

Mine would be:
Doc Gooden
Frank Tanana (in his prime)
Jack Morris

[btcarfagno]

Originally Posted by Gnep31

We obviously are not going to agree about metrics in regards to Morris being HOF worthy, which is ok. Tell me this...as a hitter, who would you least like to face from your list? Take all numbers out of the equation...as a baseball player who would be the toughest pitcher to face? Give me your top 3.

Mine would be:
Doc Gooden
Frank Tanana (in his prime)
Jack Morris

At the top of their game?

Gooden
Cone
Saberhagen
Mussina
Brown
Stieb
Key
Morris

Tanana before his arm fell off would have to be in there as well.

Tom C

[darwinbulldog]

Gooden's the only one who was outrageously good for more than a year (and not by much even in his case), so I'd put him first, then Mussina. Everybody else just seems like a regular good pitcher, no one to be particularly anxious about. I'd have Dave Stewart and Dennis Martinez and a dozen other guys like that in the same group, except that a few of them (e.g., Reuschel) sustained that level for long enough that I think they belong in the Hall. Not Jack though. He wasn't the best pitcher of his generation or his time-frame or whatever any more than Dave Stieb was.

[Marchillo]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Gooden's the only one who was outrageously good for more than a year (and not by much even in his case), so I'd put him first, then Mussina. Everybody else just seems like a regular good pitcher, no one to be particularly anxious about. I'd have Dave Stewart and Dennis Martinez and a dozen other guys like that in the same group, except that a few of them (e.g., Reuschel) sustained that level for long enough that I think they belong in the Hall. Not Jack though. He wasn't the best pitcher of his generation or his time-frame or whatever any more than Dave Stieb was.

What is outrageously good? Saberhagen won 2 Cy Young's and finished 3rd in another year during the "Jack Morris Era".

Not saying Sabs is a hall of famer but I don't take a lot of stock in this claim. He was the one I could easily think of off the top of my head.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by Marchillo

What is outrageously good?

Having the best pitched season of anyone in the past 100 years. That is outrageously good. If you have a better adverb I'm all ears, but he was historically great at the start of his career, covering a span of 80 starts or so. Bret Saberhagen, who was my favorite pitcher at the time, was quite good but had nothing close to Gooden's peak.

[darwinbulldog]

I just found this (text copied below) in an Excel file I created several years ago. I knew I had done something like this at some point but couldn't remember where I'd left it. Anyway, here it is. I'm sure we'll all agree, and there will be no further discussion.


Pitchers better than Jack Morris but not in the Hall
Roger Clemens
Mike Mussina
Jim McCormick
Curt Schilling
Bob Caruthers
Kevin Brown
Charlie Buffinton
Tommy Bond
Rick Reuschel
Roy Halladay
Urban Shocker
Noodles Hahn
Tony Mullane
Luis Tiant
Dave Stieb
Ron Guidry
Frank Tanana
Mel Stottlemyre
Steve Rogers
Tommy John
Larry Jackson
Jerry Koosman
Johan Santana
Bobby Mathews

[btcarfagno]

Kevin Brown was flat out filthy in terms of the quality of his pitches and the outcomes he generated. From 1995-2001 he was unreal. 102-54 1.07 WHIP 2.65 ERA 158 ERA+. At the height of the steroid era. The ball moved around like a whiffle ball every time it left his hand.

Cone was really nasty as well. Not as dominant as Brown but certainly moreso than Morris.

Saberhagen never sustained excellence but never had an ERA+ below 100 in any year where he made 10+ starts. He seemed to alternate ERA+ years of 150 with a 102 then a 110 then a 180. But at his best he was wicked.