Most undervalued HOFers

[G1911]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

If the goal was to win, then yes, Perry was a better pitcher - as were many - than Nolan Ryan. I go down enough of these rabbit holes on Facebook, but the general theme is that there is nobody quite like Nolan Ryan if you are looking for "bad team" excuses as to why he didn't somehow win 400 games in 27 years or something like that. It's always been odd to me that you don't hear such excuses for pitchers like Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson - who also played on notoriously low scoring teams - but lifted them to be successful anyway.

I would never object to people saying Ryan was exciting, or their favorite, or they like him best, or he had a valuable career, or how his 27 seasons is incredible. It is plainly true that his value just isn't all that special. People can like whatever they like, and can be factually correct while describing his unique career.

But Ryan is about the top of the list when it comes to plainly false arguments made for players in discourse. We're now at the point where people are arguing Ryan is better because he only gave up a few more runs than Perry. You can't make this stuff up lol.

[packs]

You are actually making that up because no one said that.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by packs

You are actually making that up because no one said that.

Hm.

Originally Posted by packs

I highly doubt anyone is going to choose Gaylord Perry over Nolan Ryan and they wouldn’t point to stats as to why. They both pitched a similar amount of innings and even though everyone is talking about walks, over more than 5,300 innings Ryan gave up only 65 more runs while walking around 1,400 more batters. Pretty negligible over the long haul despite everyone saying walks equate to runs. Seems more like it depends who’s on the mound than it does whether a guy gets on base.

Originally Posted by packs

Yeah so why would anyone choose Gaylord Perry if they could have Nolan Ryan’s arm? The choice is clear. You choose Ryan every time.

This is so bizarre to me. The strikeout and the flamethrower are the main attractions on the mound. People are talking about Jim Palmer and Gaylord Perry in relation to the unicorn. It’s like saying you’d rather watch Ichiro hit over Babe Ruth because of the nuances involved in contact hitting.

[packs]

Yeah that’s not saying Ryan is better than anyone because of a comparison to Gaylord Perry. Only that if you assume two similar performances anyway I’m pretty sure you’re still going to pick Nolan Ryan over Gaylord Perry.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by packs

Yeah that’s not saying Ryan is better than anyone because of a comparison to Gaylord Perry. Only that if you assume two similar performances anyway I’m pretty sure you’re still going to pick Nolan Ryan over Gaylord Perry.

True. Though I like the old replays of the vaseline ball dancing, (what was that one game where Reggie Jackson got so pissed at him...) and Gaylord's insane routine brushing his hair and trying to trick the umps, LOL.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by G1911

I would never object to people saying Ryan was exciting, or their favorite, or they like him best, or he had a valuable career, or how his 27 seasons is incredible. It is plainly true that his value just isn't all that special. People can like whatever they like, and can be factually correct while describing his unique career.



But Ryan is about the top of the list when it comes to plainly false arguments made for players in discourse. We're now at the point where people are arguing Ryan is better because he only gave up a few more runs than Perry. You can't make this stuff up lol.

I get pigeonholed anymore to be something that I'm not. I'm a huge Nolan Ryan fan; he was one of my favorites growing up. His RC is one of my prized possessions. I just get ticked off out in "everybody has to be better than someone and we have to quantify it" land on social media where many insinuate that Ryan is the farm animal better than anyone else, or somehow equates with Johnson or Mathewson or (insert any other #1 pitcher from any other era). It's simply not true. Ryan should be appreciated for what he is, but many especially the younger generations anymore don't seem to know quite what that means.