Survey: Most overated pitcher (pre-1930)

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

John, comparing Koufax to Paciorek is a bit of a hyperbole, no? Gale Sayers had two thousand yard seasons and less than 5000 yards in his career. If you just go by numbers, then I suppose Rodney Hampton was a better runner than Sayers. The bottom line is that Koufax was misused badly in his early career and when he finally hit his groove, he was the most unhittable pitcher of his era. For five years. And how many Cy Young Awards did he win? Three, when there was only one award given. And he also won a pitcher's Triple Crown three times. Those accomplishments alone, forgetting his postseason prowess (2 WS MVPs), make it impossible to suggest that he was overrated. Find me another pitcher that has three Triple Crowns. And he did it in four years. The fact that his career was so short is what bugs you and like many stat junkies you look at numbers in total as a measure of greatness. If Barry Bonds was hit by a truck after hitting 754 you'd say that Aaron was a better homerun hitter. By the way, Tom Seaver never won a pitching Triple Crown and Clemens has two, Carlton one. And none of these pitchers are even mentioned in the same breath as Koufax when it comes to his postseason success. Yes, Koufax's lifetime numbers pale in comparison to some of the great pitchers. But if you ask 100 baseball historians who was the better pitcher, Koufax or Ryan, 99 (you excluded) would say Sandy was.