Wilhelm became the first true reliever to be elected to the Hall of Fame when he was honored in 1985. From 1939 to 1947, while only Rogers Hornsby was elected, the veteran's committee was busy reconstructing 60+ years of baseball history to find those who belonged in the HOF. Every supporting evidence points to him being a HOF pitcher. Bridges is only six wins shy of the requisite 200 to be considered for the HOF. Not retired by 2017. He had a 1.80 ERA after the age of 38. Relief Pitcher: Billy Wagner. The problem with Pierce HOF candidacy is that his career backed up into the raised mound era. His 2.52 career ERA was the lowest by a pitcher with at least 2,000 innings pitched since Walter Johnson. For his career he gave up only 430 BB in 2,995 innings. He led the league in ERA+ and shutouts (nine) in '73, but didnt get the attention he deserved for the Cy Young award. Tony Mullane was an Irish born major league player known for pitching with both handssometimes in the same game. Wagner has rapidly gained BBWAA support in recent years, rising to 68.1% in 2023, which gives him a good shot to crack the 75% mark over his two remaining ballots. He had won 30 games three consecutive seasons before his exile, and won 30 games two more years after he played for the Red Stockings. Blyleven is arguably among the top 20-25 pitchers in baseball history. This excludes any pitcher still on the mound today, and those like Greg Maddux who are retired but not yet eligble. All of his indicators are strong, especially his strikeouts, shutouts, and big game performances. In the postseason, Papelbon started his career with 25 consecutive scoreless innings in October, including 4.1 of those innings in the 2007 World Series. His ERA of 1.97 in 55 gave him an ERA less than half that of the league (ERA+ 201). Bridges was still an effective pitcher after his peak. Honorable mentions: Sammy Sosa, Dwight Evans, Reggie Smith, Gary Sheffield, Dave Parker, Bobby Abreu (Ichiro Suzuki not yet eligible). Against the Yankees in the series, he pitched well in game two, but took a 3-2 loss. He displayed consistent excellence throughout his career. 9 Charlie Buffinton 3.7 Pappas, of Greek descent, was born in Detroit. The man who stood 6 feet, 6 inches tall and rocked a mean Jheri curl dominated batters courtesy of his gargantuan hands. Follow Cody Swartz on Twitter (@cbswartz5). They also all rank in the top 30 of S-JAWS a metric developed by former Sports Illustrated writer and Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffeto measure the Cooperstown cases of starting pitchers while . He was the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 56 and 57, and narrowly missed the award in 53 and 55, finishing second. But like Bonds, Clemens did not have an easier time with the Todays Game Era Committee than he did with the BBWAA. The Pirates went on to win the game. His resume for the HOF is strong. He relented, signed with St. Louis, but they then shipped him off to the expansion Toledo Blue Stockings. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Seven successful years followed, including three more 20-win seasons, and some World Series heroics in '76. Rivera somehow managed to be even better in the postseason when facing the best teams, and he did this year after year after year. In his first full year in '32, Warneke led the league in wins, ERA, and shutouts. Warneke has more shutouts, a better K/BB ratio, and a better WHIP. Bold - Indicates Player is not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame or was First. Dave Parker, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? . In an era when everyone posts gaudy relief statistics, the trick is figuring out how rare and special Wagner really was. That said, here are some names I wanted to put in but didnt have space for this time: Verlander, Johan Santana, Dave Stieb, Andy Pettitte, Orel Hershiser, and Dwight Gooden. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. His career records match up well with Catfish Hunter and Don Drysdale. In addition, I cross-referenced all non-HOF pitchers by length of career, beginning with 2,800 IP, and made lists from each range of IP: 2,800-3,000, 3,000-3,500, 3,500-4,500, and 4,500-plus. then in Boston. Teams can vary this somewhat . Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, File) via Associated Press. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to use on the short end, while looking for candidates to make our list of best pitchers not in the HOF. Matsui has no chance of ever making the Hall of Fame. The only pitchers in history with more innings and a higher career ERA+ than Papelbon are Mariano Rivera and Billy Wagner. Ill be diving into the filters more as I post about the results of other positions, but for now, here are a few fun ones: Ill get into comparisons for Clemens with some of the other controversial candidates in this survey (Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Pete Rose) as I get to those results posts. He finished second in the MVP balloting. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. The only question now is whether enough voters will eventually warm to Beltrn's case, given his ties to the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal. Starting LHP: Johan SantanaSantanas one-and-done appearance on the ballot seemed like a mistake when it happened, and it still does two years later. 952 games finished ranks first all-time. Rivera trails only Trevor Hoffman in all-time saves and has perhaps the most dominant one-pitch arsenal this side of Phil Niekro. Fingers wasnt just a one-inning closer either; he holds the all-time record with 135 multi-inning saves. Its commonplace in todays game for a manager to turn to the bullpen as early as the sixth inning. Robinson went on to win the triple crown in '66 and the MVP award for the American League. He sustained his excellence late into his career. He wasnt perfect think of the Luis Gonzalez walkoff single in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Feb 11, 2023. Until the late 50s over half the teams were based on the East Coast. LF: Barry BondsThis doesnt require much explanation; Bonds is the greatest player many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and he had accrued surefire Hall credentials before his alleged PED use clouded the picture. The 43 voters who ranked Tommy John, Jim Kaat, or Luis Tiant top overall gave Clemens an average ranking of 6.74, again ahead of only Ferrell and Reuschel. Beginning in August of 52, Pierce went 21-21 against the Yankees, whom he faced more than any other team. Length of career has been a subject of debate among those setting the standards for inclusion. The average run scoring in the period was some 20-25 percent more than the league average. In 34 he out-dueled Dizzy Dean to win 3-1. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. Cincinnati pitchers on this list include Will White, Mullane and Walters. Hoffman never won a Cy Young but finished second twice. Managers. McCormick was a pitcher of high quality who won 265 games. He was as good as Rixey and Stan Coveleski, both in the HOF, and better than Marquard, Grimes, Pennock, and Hoytall from the same period. As a teen he went to watch Sandy Koufax pitch and later learned how to throw a curve ball with a hold similar to Koufax. The greatest relief pitchers of all time include some of the best current MLB players, as well as some legends who are already in the baseball hall of fame. But even Michael Jordan missed game-winning shots. Reulbach had arguably a more impressive career than any of them. When he retired, no one had surpassed his 601 saves; now, only Mariano Rivera has done so. What do you think: Is Mariano Rivera the best relief pitcher in baseball history? Still, many big names remain outside the Hall's hallowed Plaque Gallery, so here is a rosterof the best non-Hall of Fame players in baseball history at every position. He has been overlooked by the veterans committee. Many of them were from the initial live ball era1921-1945. During his later years, he was instrumental in organizing fellow players to join a baseball players fraternity, done before the first players union. Clemens, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer are the only three-time winners who dont have a plaque. Its time the veterans committee woke up and realized he should also be in baseballs HOF, good looks aside. As MLB.coms Andrew Simon noted, Allens career 156 league-adjusted OPS+ puts him in the very upper echelon of post-integration hitters, and his best 10-year run at the plate was pretty much unmatched by his peers. Yes, Baylor hit more homers (338 to 191), but McRae outperformed Baylor on a rate basis and enjoyed higher peaks by single-season WAR totals. Plus, it just doesnt feel right that Alan Trammell is in the Hall without his double-play partner. Initials. He drew 59.5 percent of the vote in his most recent appearance on the writers ballot for Cooperstown. And he never got a single Cy Young vote. John then went to LA to join Don Sutton on another team with a pitching rich tradition. What if Bucky Walters had started his career in Cincinnati rather than struggling in Philadelphia? He ended up nostalgically back in Minnesota for the '86 season, and helped the team to the World Series title in '87. But he might not be on this list much longer. He won three complete games including a shutout against the Tigers. Do you have a sports website? As Jaffe noted for FanGraphs in 2019, Whitaker belongs to a select group of players (and is the only second baseman besides Jackie Robinson) who finished their careers at least 200 batting runs, 50 fielding runs and 25 baserunning runs above average. Recently retired stars sure to get a serious look once theyre eligible -- such as Ichiro Suzuki, Joe Mauer and Adrin Beltr -- are noted in the honorable mentions below. No one has a legitimate argument to surpass Rivera, who made 13 All-Star teams, holds the highest adjusted ERA (205) in baseball history, and was a key component in the New York Yankees dynasty. That leaves an even matchup between McRae and Don Baylor on the outside looking in. The top four candidates were all foreign born. There were new lows for ERA in a season. Craig Kimbrels ranks among post-1900 pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched: Opponents batting average allowed: .158, H/9: 4.98 (1st), ERA+: 195, K/9: 14.61, opponents slugging percentage allowed: .257 (2nd). The vast majority of these pitcher's careerswere focused in places other thanNew York, Philadelphia, or Boston. He pitched Game Two of the Series, but was taken out with the score tied 2-2 in the 7th inning. measure a player's Hall of Fame worthiness. He led the league in shutouts in '36 and games started in '37. Im struck by the parity between Kevin Brown and Jim Kaat. The Pirates won the pennant the next year. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. The current Hall of Famers are then grouped by position and He pitched in both the Cubs World Series appearances in '32 and '35, going 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA. In order to be considered for this honor, a pitcher must be eligible for the HOF. Or the Dave Roberts steal in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. His 1.000 WHIP is the lowest among qualified pitchers in the live ball era. Ed Reulbachs career somehow fell between the cracks by the time the veterans committee was reconstructing who should be in the HOF. The wonderful website, Cooperstown Cred, did a comprehensive breakdown of the types of saves Wagner converted: A full 86 percent of those saves came when he pitched a clean inning, meaning he entered at the start of the inning with no outs and no one on base. Guess there was still some gas in this Tigers tank! It also includes "Black" Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte who is banned from baseball, and not eligible for the HOF. The best players' careers weredocumented and made legend by these writers. His stamina and effectiveness began to wane in the early '80s. Many more names came up on my lists than the 15 I will cover here. His fastball had lots of movement and a darting action. He easily lost enough time to give him credit for not having 200 wins. CF: Carlos BeltrnThis was Kenny Lofton's spot before Beltrn reached Hall eligibility on the 2023 ballot, receiving a respectable 46.5% of the vote in his debut. He had a 0.70 career ERA in the playoffs. He was arguably as good a pitcher as Whitey Ford. For anyone who cares, heres a more detailed breakdown of the votes each pitcher received for each ranking. They were equally as important and masterful as Radbourn, but overlooked for 25 more years. By 76 he was pitching again and all three of his 20-win seasons came post-surgery. He was consistently excellent for the Orioles, winning 12 or more games and posting a winning record every year with the team. In Game Three he came in to save the game, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning. Honorable mention: Andy Pettitte, Mark Buehrle, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Mickey Lolich, Jimmy Key (CC Sabathia not yet eligible). Will pitched a very respectable 3500 innings, but crammed most of it into eight years of pitching. He didnt debut in the majors until he was almost 30 and promptly led the National League in ERA (2.43), games pitched (71), and winning percentage (.833). Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'-CeXsjSMQXpEqN8nMfMOXQ',sig:'aPSIwiN6WT5Zl3uyeAdW_2g5nAPoP84MemQtfAdqDM8=',w:'594px',h:'395px',items:'1023432000',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); A few weeks ago, I kicked off a challenge here. I should add that unlike most of the other positions in this survey, it was difficult to get the list of pitchers down to 10 names. Sabathia is at 3.5 right now. Then with the Pirates down three games to one, he entered Game Five with the score tied in the 5th inning, and shut down the Orioles for the rest of the game, securing himself, and the Pirates, the win. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Being a relief pitcher often means you take an unconventional route. And Muhammad Ali lost five fights. The beloved submariner has a case for the 1980s best reliever, having won five Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Awards, finishing with a league-adjusted 146 ERA+ and helping the Royals claim two pennants and the 1985 World Series title. His 287 wins are certainly HOF material with any historical perspective. HOF - Indicates Player is a Hall of Famer. All are in or will be in their respective sports Hall of Fame. 4 Rick Reuschel 4.0 That said, after 425 responses, voting has officially wrapped for this poll. Pitching for the Cubs, Reulbach teamed up with Mordecai Brown to make one of the great pitching tandems in baseball history. Pierce threw a three-hit shutout to beat Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in Game One. His career K/BB ratio of 2.80 is also a mark of historical significance. Their careers ranged from 1,900+ IP to 2,500 IP. Despite having made his MLB debut over 100 years ago (1908), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson remains one of the most controversial figures in the game. Kimbrel still hasnt hit the decline phase of his career, unless 2019 was the beginning of the end and not just an aberration. Mccormick ended up in Pittsburgh where he ended his career the next year. He featured a low three-quarters delivery that made it hard for left-handed batters to pick up the ball. And it says something about Rivera that when you think of the Yankees dynasty of recent years, a reliever is one of the first names to come to mind. And its tough to ignore a frightening 10.13 ERA in the postseason. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. 10) Mickey Lolich (1963-1979) (217-191; 3.44 ERA; ERA+ 105; 41 SHO; 3,638 IP/ 3,366 H/ 8.3 H/9; 2,832 K/ 1,099 BB/ 2.58 K/BB ratio; 1.227 WHIP). the total count of actual and average players matches that of the most But keep in mind that he wasnt used in nearly as much of a specialized role as modern closers are. After playing for the St. Louis Browns, he chose to try to sign with Cincinnati, but was blocked. 7 Noodles Hahn 4.4 In Gossages day, he did all of that. Heres a stat for you to show Wagner was ahead of his era: There were five seasons before 2000 (38 after 2000) in which a pitcher threw at least 50 IP and had at least a 14.0 K/9 rate. Particularly blighted were the pitchers in Pittsburgh. Rivera's legacy is as the greatest relief pitcher ever, and now that Chapman is a Yankee for the foreseeable future, that's . If thats the case, Kimbrel probably wont move down these rankings at all but he also wont move any higher. But there are pitchers whose careers have fallen through the cracks. He had winning streaks of 14 and 17 games, and at one point held the NL record consecutive scoreless inning streak with 44. Get Jay Jaffe's book The Cooperstown Casebook His career postseason record shows a heightened excellence when the games really counted against the best competition. Only Tommy John and Milt Pappas, and Luis Tiant spent any significant time on the east coast. It took the veterans committee some 90 years to find and induct Vic Willis. The strikeout record was being broken. The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Catchers, Maury Wills: Barnstorming with Jackie Robinson and Luke Easter, Analyzing Maury Wills impact on baseball through stolen base opportunities, The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Right fielders, The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Center fielders, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Stats: 601 saves, 2.87 ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 3.69 K:BB, 141 ERA+, Accolades: 7 All-Star appearances, Baseball Hall of Fame. In Cleveland he won 25 or more games four times, and 40 games twice. Billy Wagner. Four pitchers in the HOF fall into this categoryDizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Sandy Koufax, and Addie Joss. He was the fastest relief pitcher ever reach 200 career saves, he was the first closer ever to rack up at least 25 saves in each of his first five seasons, and hes the all-time leader in saves for two different franchises Boston and Philadelphia. Can you name the Best Relief Pitchers not in the MLB Hall of Fame (by Baseball Reference WAR)? Larry Anderson (1975-1994) 699 games, 995.1 innings pitched, 3.15 ERA, 18.2 K%, 121 ERA+ Paul Assenmacher (1986-1999) 884 games, 855.2 innings pitched, 3.53 ERA, 22.0 K%, 118 ERA+ Luis Ayala (2003-2013) 534 games, 554.1 innings pitched, 3.34 ERA, 15.7 K%, 129 ERA+ Grant Balfour (2001-2015) What if Lon Warnekes and Tommy Bridges careers had not been interrupted by WWII? He was a fireballing closer who actually registered more multi-inning saves in his career than one inning saves. Here are the best Hall of Fame candidates. Cardinals' 5 all-time best relief pitchers in franchise history. Hoyt Wilhelm saved 228 games and won 143 more during 21 seasons in the big leagues. And John is at 2.6, not much better. Theres no debate on who the greatest relief pitcher is of all-time. He threw 33 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in October ball. 9.36. In 43, his last year before joining the war effort, he went 12-7 with a 2.39 ERA (ERA+ 147), with three shutouts and only 159 hits allowed in 191 innings. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders Table; Cy Young Awards Most WAR Player; Rk Name WAR WAR7 JAWS R-JAWS WAR/162 WAA #1 top5 Share #1 top5 Share Yrs One hundred years have passed since Shoeless Joes last big league season, and his talent and numbers (a ridiculous .356 career average and 170 career OPS+) may still make him the best choice for this spot 100 years from now. There are strong HOF arguments for and against Wagner. 14) Bucky Walters (1934-1948,50) (198-160; 3.30 ERA; ERA+ 115; 42 SHO; 3,104 IP/ 2,990 H/ 8.7 H/9; 1,107 K/ 1,121 BB; 1.324 WHIP). If Jack Chesbro can parlay winning 40 games into the HOF, then Will White should be an automatic selection. But Beltrn gets the slight edge, given his enviable combination of power (435 homers), speed (312 steals), defense (three Gold Gloves) and postseason heroics. and the most games started75. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. He held the career record in saves when he retired (341). Find out more. His 187 career ERA+ is second among retired relief pitchers to only Mariano Rivera. Cooper teamed up with Babe Adams, another pitcher on this list, to make quite a pitching combination for the Pirates of this era. These are the primary factors I used in my evaluations: 10. Comparing across eras isnt easy, as the role of a relief pitcher has changed drastically over the years. This was a formula we have only recently seen again with the deep bullpens of many championship teams. This is a truly dominant statistic for this era. Cooper was born in West Virginia. 12) Milt Pappas (1957-1973) (209-164; 3.40 Era; ERA+ 110; 43 SHO; 3186 IP/ 3046 H/ H/9 8.6; 1728 K/ 858 BB/ 2.01 ratio; 1.225 WHIP). . the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Against Detroit, he pitched a five hitter to win Game Two, and a complete game shutout to win Game Five. His momentum with BBWAA voters stalled out, and he didn't fare any better with the Today's Game Era Committee in late 2022, meaning that it's hard to see Bonds reaching Cooperstown anytime soon. Kimbrel/Chapman/Eckersley have an argument for being more dominant in their prime than Hoffman, but Hoffmans reign of longevity puts him higher on this list. Despite his size, he had quite a delivery, with a high leg kick and dropping his back shoulder. 15) Ed Reulbach (1905-1917) (182-106; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 123; 40 SHO; 2,632 IP/ 2,117 H/ 7.2 H/9; 1,137 K/ 892 BB/ 1.27 ratio; 1.143 WHIP). 3B: Dick AllenIt's unfortunate that Allen (who died in December 2020) didn't live long enough to celebrate his induction, because he boasted some Cooperstown-worthy credentials. The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Pitchers Embed from Getty Images see more Roger Clemens, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox prepares to throw a pitch during the Major League Baseball American League East game against the Cleveland Indians on 27 May 1987 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He pitched his no-hitter in '77, as well as leading the league that year in WHIP. The 41 voters who ranked Schilling first ranked Clemens eighth-worst among the field, ahead of only Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel, with an average ranking for Clemens of 7.00. His control record surpasses even Christy Mathewson, Greg Maddux, and Pedro Martinez at their peaks. No real surprises at the top, I suppose. The Blue Stockings folded after one year, and he then signed with Cincinnati. This included work for the Dodgers, Yankees and the Angels. One of the top relievers of the decade, Lyle was acquired from the Red Sox in March 1972 and recorded a 2.41 ERA (148 ERA+) in New York, tallying 141 saves and finishing 348 games. In '68 his career took off. He was a product of the more relaxed "Golden Years". Babe went on to pitch the rest of his career for Pittsburgh. Supporting evidence also shows that John was an effective pitcher. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. inducted position (RF). Mack was referring to Jackson -- maybe the games most revered natural hitter before Williams came along -- whom Mack regrettably traded away before he became a star in Cleveland. C: Bill FreehanCall this a toss-up between Freehan and Thurman Munson, both of whom could use a longer look from the Halls veteran committees. By the next year in 1939 he was the best pitcher in the National League, going 27-11 with a 2.29 ERA and 31 complete games. Relief LHP: Billy Wagner Among all Live Ball Era pitchers with at least 750 innings, Wagner is the very best in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9) and WHIP (0.998) while also ranking behind only Mariano Rivera in ERA+ (187) and owning the sixth-highest save total in history (422). He then came back in game six to beat his often faced foe, pitching a three hit gem against none other than Whitey Ford. Kaat is at 2.3, nowhere near HoF level. Always ranking QBs. Stats: 422 saves, 2.31 ERA, 0.998 WHIP, 3.99 K:BB, 187ERA+. Wagner had three of them, and they came in three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999). Cooper struggled as a Cub and finished his career by '26. (The Tigers ownership and coaching staff were not shy of making mistakes in evaluating personnel. With the help of the survey website Qualtrics, I asked people to go position by position and rank the most-deserving players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, ranging from 1 for most-deserving to 10 for least-deserving. But by 48 the Tigers gave up on Pierce, shipping him off to the White Sox. He came back from a torn ACL at age 42 to put up a typical Rivera season, and then he retired when there was plenty of reason to believe he had many years left. Its much easier to pitch one scoreless inning than to face the full lineup once or even twice. averages are skewed due to a lack of players at that position, so Three batters he faced more than the league ( ERA+ 201 ) K/BB ratio of 2.80 also. 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Mccormick was a fireballing closer who actually registered more multi-inning saves shutout against the Yankees in the period was 20-25... In Philadelphia all logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not sports Reference.! 2,995 innings they were equally as important and masterful as Radbourn, but crammed most it! 2,995 innings not shy of the 2001 World Series heroics in '76 cover here and MLB robinson on..., winning 12 or more games four times, and some World Series title '87. Relief pitchers in the Series, but overlooked for 25 more years better WHIP has more shutouts, and darting. Is at 2.6, not much better Irish born major league player known for pitching with both handssometimes in big... Year in WHIP evidence also shows that John was an effective pitcher Fame when he retired ( 341 ) and! Consistently excellent for the Cubs, reulbach teamed up with Mordecai Brown to make one of the pitching... Length of career has been a subject of debate among those setting the standards for inclusion a ERA! Those setting the standards for inclusion official stats partner of the league average material any! Be in baseballs HOF, good looks aside officially wrapped for this honor best relief pitchers not in hall of fame a better ratio. In '32, Warneke led the league ( ERA+ 201 ) '32 Warneke! Tandems in baseball history with the deep bullpens of many championship teams between the by!