Here we go again! Greatest baseball pitchers of ALL time!

[RU31trap]

1. Tom Seaver
2. Dwight Gooden
3. Andy Pettitte
4. Randy Johnson
5. Catfish Hunter

And the winner is Tom Seaver.

 

[anon_1eeb2b426hv3y]

Just as an aside. Los Angles doesn’t deserve a baseball team. In the mid sixties I attended a Dodgers vs Giants game. Koufax against Marachal and at the beginning of the eighth it was 0/0. Over 1/2 the people had already left and a good portion of those still there were heading to the exits.

A great pitching exhibition doesn’t necessarily make for a great day for the masses at the ballpark. But then, you didn’t need me to say that. You lived it.
FWIW, I’m shaking my head with you!

 

[mrtailgate]

If I had one pitcher to choose for a Game 7, it would be Gibson in his prime--yet he lost a Game 7.

He still refuses to accept as do most of the players on that team (McCarver for example). I saw Gibson talk about Game 7 and he basically threw Flood under the bus.

 

[schoolie]

Perhaps not quite as remarkable as Ron Guidry in 1978, who went 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP -- against 9-hitter lineups. McClain never faced a DH in 1968.

Great point, Bruce. I forgot about Guidry's season, and to think I'm a lifelong Yankees fan. Shame on me.

 

[TheGLOV]

Even in Old Timer games.... Saw one in Cleveland once. Guy hits a dinger off Gibby--next time he's in the dirt.

Of course, he lost Game 7 in 1968.

Mickey Lolich says: "Hi!"!!

 

[bkmtnittany1]

I heard McCarver tell a story once where Gibson got into a little bit of trouble and he called time and went out to the mound to calm him down. Gibson turns around, sees McCarver standing in front of him, and asks him "What the hell are you doing here, get back there and catch!" You don't tug on Supermans cape, spit into the wind, or try to tell Bob Gibson how to pitch.

McCarver also told a story about facing Nolan Ryan when he was with the California Angels. The Angels made sure to throw Ryan 6 or 7 Saturdays/Sundays each season at 4 pm when the sun would behind the center field wall and the batters could not see. Well, McCarver comes up to face Ryan, takes 3 sizzlers down the middle and gets called out on strikes. He turns to the ump and bitches, "Hey, that last one sounded low!"

 

[LafayetteBear]

1. Tom Seaver
2. Dwight Gooden
3. Andy Pettitte
4. Randy Johnson
5. Catfish Hunter

And the winner is Tom Seaver.

Your geographical bias is showing just a tad. Unit is the only guy on your list who didn't play for the Mets or Yankees.

Catfish Hunter (may he RIP) had 226 career wins, 2012 career K's, and a 3.26 career ERA. Those are very good numbers, and he DID win 20+ games five years in a row. HOF type numbers, but IMO they don't put him in the Top Fifteen of all time pitchers, much less the Top Five.

Similarly, Pettite had 256 career wins, 2,448 career K's, and a 3.85 career ERA, and was money in the postseason. That will surely get him in the HOF, but it doesn't put him in the Top Fifteen, much less Top Five, of all time pitchers.

Dwight Gooden had 194 career wins, 2,293 career K's, and a 3.51 career ERA. He was brilliant for a short period, and may have continue to be brilliant if not for his coke problems, but he does not rank with all time greats like Seaver and Unit.

 

[Fac]

Sid Finch (don't remember if he was a pitcher, though)

 

[bkmtnittany1]

Oil Can Boyd!

 

[pointingdogsrule]

So when I was growing up in the '60's we would walk down the street talking about "Sudden" Sam Mcdowell of the Cleveland Indians. We would talk about how he was throwing the fastball at 109 MPH (no speed guns back then). We idolized Sam. So, I just looked up his record. w 141 / l 134, 6 time all-star and one ERA title. OK, maybe he wasn't as great as we "talked him up to be"

 

[mrtailgate]

So when I was growing up in the '60's we would walk down the street talking about "Sudden" Sam Mcdowell of the Cleveland Indians. We would talk about how he was throwing the fastball at 109 MPH (no speed guns back then). We idolized Sam. So, I just looked up his record. w 141 / l 134, 6 time all-star and one ERA title. OK, maybe he wasn't as great as we "talked him up to be"

Sudden Sam could bring it. He had his share of demons. He would have been one guy I would never have wanted to dig in against.

 

[Clemaz]

Your geographical bias is showing just a tad. Unit is the only guy on your list who didn't play for the Mets or Yankees.

Catfish Hunter (may he RIP) had 226 career wins, 2012 career K's, and a 3.26 career ERA. Those are very good numbers, and he DID win 20+ games five years in a row. HOF type numbers, but IMO they don't put him in the Top Fifteen of all time pitchers, much less the Top Five.

Similarly, Pettite had 256 career wins, 2,448 career K's, and a 3.85 career ERA, and was money in the postseason. That will surely get him in the HOF, but it doesn't put him in the Top Fifteen, much less Top Five, of all time pitchers.

Dwight Gooden had 194 career wins, 2,293 career K's, and a 3.51 career ERA. He was brilliant for a short period, and may have continue to be brilliant if not for his coke problems, but he does not rank with all time greats like Seaver and Unit.

Randy Johnson played for the Yankees 2005-2006

 

[LafayetteBear]

Randy Johnson played for the Yankees 2005-2006

Good catch. You made me go back and look at his career stats and, sure enough, he was a Yankee for the '05 and '06 seasons. Can't believe I forgot that. Must have blocked it out. i always think of him as either a Mariner or a D-Back.