Greatest All-Time All-Stars Sets

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rats60

I don't know why. Koufax ERA 2.76 ERA+ 131 Spahn ERA 3.09 ERA+ 119. Drysdale ERA 2.95 ERA+ 121 Roberts ERA 3.42 ERA+ 113. A pitcher's job is to prevent the other team from scoring runs.

Part of that is 50s vs. 60s I suspect. Would you take Chief Bender and Jack Chesbro over Tom Seaver and Roger Clemens?

[Peter_Spaeth]

WAR7

R. Roberts 55.1
Spahn 51.5
Koufax 46.0
Drysdale 44.7

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Part of that is 50s vs. 60s I suspect. Would you take Chief Bender and Jack Chesbro over Tom Seaver and Roger Clemens?

Tom Seaver ERA+ 127
Chief Bender ERA+ 112
Jack Chesbro ERA + 110

Seaver was a lot better than either Bender or Chesbro. Clemens was a doper.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rats60

Tom Seaver ERA+ 127
Chief Bender ERA+ 112
Jack Chesbro ERA + 110

Seaver was a lot better than either Bender or Chesbro. Clemens was a doper.

Fair. Statistically overall, though, to me Roberts looks like a significantly better pitcher than Drysdale. Spahn and Koufax is a question I guess of how much emphasis you place on a 5 year peak period, although I'm not sure Spahn would be that far behind as he is well ahead in 7 year peak. And part of Koufax's great ERA is certainly the Dodger Stadium effect. One run higher on the road as I recall.

[MikeGarcia]

!939 penny arcade "Exhibit" cards. 1939 was a helluva year for talent on the diamond .
I'll start with these guys :

But we're just scratching the surface :

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Fair. Statistically overall, though, to me Roberts looks like a significantly better pitcher than Drysdale. Spahn and Koufax is a question I guess of how much emphasis you place on a 5 year peak period, although I'm not sure Spahn would be that far behind as he is well ahead in 7 year peak. And part of Koufax's great ERA is certainly the Dodger Stadium effect. One run higher on the road as I recall.

ERA+ adjusts for home park and opponents. Spahn pitched for 21 seasons and he only had 2 seasons that were equal or better than Koufax's career average ERA+ of 131. Spahn's peak wasn't close that that of Koufax's.

Roberts ERA+ of 113 is very low for a HOF pitcher. Out of 68 MLB starting pitchers in the HOF, Roberts is tied for 53rd. Bob Lemon or Jim Bunning would have been better picks within the 1958 set, but Drysdale was the best right handed starter at preventing runs within the set.

[Peter_Spaeth]

You can certainly get to different places using different numbers, understood. Using JAWS/WAR/WAR 7, Roberts>Drysdale and Spahn>>Koufax and I've found those metrics to be pretty good. For what it is or isn't worth, Bill James in 2003 ranked Roberts in his top 20 pitchers.