Ditto, that was one tough, nasty Lefty. Fairly handy with the bat, too. His ‘72 inaugural season in Philly was dazzling. And his media boycott was epic-“But it made me concentrate better. And the irony is that they wrote better stuff without access to my quotes.” What aboot Braves great & winningest Lefty in MLB, Warren Spahn?
Great list, but I saw both live and I would swap places for Ryan and Johnson. Ryan is somehow underrated relative to what he accomplished. Having said that, I remember watching Gibson and was told by my father he had suffered from severe asthma and breathing difficulties. I couldn't believe it...but the Primatene Mist ads proved it. That counted for me. I've been biased in favor of Bob since.
I’m biased towards Jim Palmer, mainly because he had Earl Weaver as his manager for most of his career. “The only thing Earl knows about pitching is he couldn’t hit it” is one of the greatest baseball quotes of all time!
Somewhat related…Jane Levy’s book “A Lefty’s Legacy” about Sandy Koufax is one of the best books I have ever read. For anybody who was not lucky enough to see him pitch (or for those who were) it is an incredible portrait of an amazing athlete
So tough with these lists when crossing different “eras” y’know. Love the analysis.
I must say though! I believe Pedro is the best of all time, coming from a Yankee fan. The era he was in was so hitter friendly and he was just flat out dominant.
If you're excluding Clemens because of the steroid accusations, fine - that's your prerogative (even if II'd disagree). But you should say so, because otherwise this list just looks ridiculous without him.
I am not a young nerd salivating to tell people that some random pitcher from the Braves is better than Nolan Ryan: but it must be said that Nolan Ryan was a pitcher of immense strengths and weaknesses. He is the all time leader in strikeouts, and the all time leader in walks. Neither record is particularly close. Ryan, in many ways, was unhittable at his best, but he was also wild and threw a ton of wild pitches. He's clearly one of the best ever, but I am skeptical he's top 10.
Great list…gives me some really fun conversation to throw around this week. Also wondering about Clemens, 7x cy young, 2x triple crown, 11x all star, 7x era titles, 354-184, 139.2 WAR, 3.12 era…I also l
Steve Carlton??? Should not only be on this list he should be in the Top 5
Ditto, that was one tough, nasty Lefty. Fairly handy with the bat, too. His ‘72 inaugural season in Philly was dazzling. And his media boycott was epic-“But it made me concentrate better. And the irony is that they wrote better stuff without access to my quotes.” What aboot Braves great & winningest Lefty in MLB, Warren Spahn?
I second this comment
Great list, but I saw both live and I would swap places for Ryan and Johnson. Ryan is somehow underrated relative to what he accomplished. Having said that, I remember watching Gibson and was told by my father he had suffered from severe asthma and breathing difficulties. I couldn't believe it...but the Primatene Mist ads proved it. That counted for me. I've been biased in favor of Bob since.
Solid list. A few notables I expected to see include Bob Feller, Warren Spahn and Whitey Ford. Guess we need a Top 20!
I’m biased towards Jim Palmer, mainly because he had Earl Weaver as his manager for most of his career. “The only thing Earl knows about pitching is he couldn’t hit it” is one of the greatest baseball quotes of all time!
Lefty Grove is conspicuous by his absence here, though he has a legitimate case as the best pitcher of all-time.
Somewhat related…Jane Levy’s book “A Lefty’s Legacy” about Sandy Koufax is one of the best books I have ever read. For anybody who was not lucky enough to see him pitch (or for those who were) it is an incredible portrait of an amazing athlete
… and he is a man of principles, like Bob Gibson. By the way, I love that book!
Roger Clemens?
Solid list. I can’t objectively argue with your logic.
So tough with these lists when crossing different “eras” y’know. Love the analysis.
I must say though! I believe Pedro is the best of all time, coming from a Yankee fan. The era he was in was so hitter friendly and he was just flat out dominant.
Love the article man.
If you're excluding Clemens because of the steroid accusations, fine - that's your prerogative (even if II'd disagree). But you should say so, because otherwise this list just looks ridiculous without him.
Yep, he’s definitely up there. Along with Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddox, Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez.
Mo belongs in a separate category because he was a reliever.
I am not a young nerd salivating to tell people that some random pitcher from the Braves is better than Nolan Ryan: but it must be said that Nolan Ryan was a pitcher of immense strengths and weaknesses. He is the all time leader in strikeouts, and the all time leader in walks. Neither record is particularly close. Ryan, in many ways, was unhittable at his best, but he was also wild and threw a ton of wild pitches. He's clearly one of the best ever, but I am skeptical he's top 10.
Tom Seaver. Your “why” is disrespectful to his talent.
Good stuff
Great list…gives me some really fun conversation to throw around this week. Also wondering about Clemens, 7x cy young, 2x triple crown, 11x all star, 7x era titles, 354-184, 139.2 WAR, 3.12 era…I also l
If you put Koufax on there with the limited amount of time he pitched then you have to at least consider J.R. Richard. So dominant before the stroke.