Best lefty off all time? My vote is Koufax!

[HistoricNewspapers]

Originally Posted by cammb

Lefty Grove has a thousand more innings pitched. So lets see. He never led the league in innings pitched, Led the league 7 times in Ks (never struck out more than 206 Batters in a season), 9 era titles, 35 Shutouts, BB once, w=l Pct 5xs and whip 5 times. So being that he had a 1000 more innings pitched I would say Koufax wins.

Lefty Grove has 111 league leading black inks.
Sandy Koufax has 78 league leading black inks.

Lefty Grove has 319 Gray inks.
Sandy Koufax has 151 Gray inks.

However, despite the astronomical lead Grove has over Koufax in league leading and top ten finishes, it is the run prevention(in relation to the league)that truly matters:

Best ERA+ seasons:
Johnson....Koufax.....Grove
197........190............217
195........186............189
193........160............185
188........159............185
184........143............175
181........122............165
176........105............160
152........101............160
135.........93
135.........Not good enough to pitch enough innings to qualify
118.........Not good enough to pitch enough innings to qualify
112.........Not good enough to pitch enough innings to qualify

Of course, when looking at those league leading categories, DO NOT forget to account for the ballpark advantages:

Koufax had 23 shutouts in 85 career starts at Dodger stadium.
Koufax had 17 shutouts in 229 career starts everywhere else.

Dodger Stadium is responsible for a good chunk of all of Koufax's league leading events.

The ability to pitch 1,000 more innings is a positive....not a negative.