Featuring a slider-heavy arsenal, Lyle twice led the AL in saves and games finished, helping the Yankees to two titles. 2) Luis Tiant (1964-1982) (229-172; 3.30 ERA; ERA+ 114; 49 SHO; 3,486 IP/ 3,075 H/ 7.9 H/9; 2416 K/ 1104 BB/ 2.19 ratio; 1.199 WHIP). 4 Rick Reuschel 4.0 If Jack Chesbro can parlay winning 40 games into the HOF, then Will White should be an automatic selection. He isnt the first Pittsburgh pitcher on this list. While I was limited through my free account to 10 questions and thus chose to forgo demographic questions to get the maximum amount of data, it is possible to use filters to show how certain voters voted. 6) Babe Adams (1906-1926) (194-140; 2.76 ERA; ERA+ 117; 2,995 IP/ 2,841 H/ 8.5 H/9; 1,036 K/ 4,30 BB/ 2.41 ratio; 1.092 WHIP). Pitching multiple innings per relief appearance was Wilhelms trademark. Relief Pitcher: Billy Wagner. He featured a low three-quarters delivery that made it hard for left-handed batters to pick up the ball. Uehara's 2013 season was one of the most dominant by any relief pitcher in . Honorable mention: Curt Schilling, Tim Lincecum, Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Orel Hershiser, Roy Oswalt, Eddie Cicotte. Rodriguez will now have to endure the waiting game with BBWAA voters, like Bonds, Clemens and Sosa just did. 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. But by 48 the Tigers gave up on Pierce, shipping him off to the White Sox. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Brett Favre threw the most interceptions and the late Kobe Bryant missed the most shots. To start, there are only eight primary relievers in Cooperstown; Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, and Trevor Hoffman. 9. Being a relief pitcher often means you take an unconventional route. He went 3517 in the minors. Hes unlike any relief pitcher weve seen to date, allowing fewer hits per nine innings than Aroldis Chapman and striking out more batters per nine innings than Billy Wagner. They have similar winning records except Warneke won three more games. Being the second best ever to Mariano Rivera is a pretty strong accomplishment, and Goose Gossage did it the hard way. Active: Terry Francona , Rocco Baldelli , Dave Roberts , . 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. He won 21 games with an ERA of 1.60 and led the league in shutouts with nine. He is first all-time in saves (652) and ERA+ (205). With that backdrop in mind, let's proceed with our tenth-best relief pitcher of all time: 10. As it is, Pappas has 209 wins, as many as Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser, and a similar number to Don Drysdale and Catfish Hunter, all of whom are in the HOF and pitched between 1950 and 1975. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? 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. Fingers helped revolutionize the closer position, setting a trend later followed by Rivera and John Smoltz in becoming a failed starter-turned-closer. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. My last article studied The Worst Pitchers in the HOF: Searching for Historys Bottom Line . Rocky Colavito, Vote: The most-deserving players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame at each position, The best baseball player not in the Hall of Fame, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? In his first full year in '32, Warneke led the league in wins, ERA, and shutouts. Cooper teamed up with Babe Adams, another pitcher on this list, to make quite a pitching combination for the Pirates of this era. Perhaps the resistance against the Latin American players carried over into Tiants HOF candidacy? Curiously enough, Eckersley didnt win the Cy Young award in his best year but then won the award along with the league MVP two seasons later in 1992 when he went 7-1 with a 1.91 ERA and 51 saves, then the second-best single-season total of all-time. He represented the Tigers in three World Series against the Cardinals, Cubs and Reds in 34, 35 and 40. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. He found success again after arriving in Chicago with the Cubs during the '70 season, winning 17 games in both '71 and '72. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. He easily lost enough time to give him credit for not having 200 wins. It's fitting that Smoltz, Maddux, and Tom Glavine came back-to-back-to-back on this list, because for over a decade . 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. . (Scott Dine/St. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the early teens but injury caused him to establish less than 1,500 career innings. When he retired, no one had surpassed his 601 saves; now, only Mariano Rivera has done so. Warnekes career was cut short because he left to defend our country. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. Will White played the majority of his career in Cincinnati for the Reds of the National League and Red Stockings of the American Association. The pitchers of note among them areCharles Buffington, David Cone, Paul Derringer, Orel Hershiser, Larry Jackson, Jim Kaat, Carl Mays, Dave Stieb, Hippo Vaughn, and Doc White. 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 . Free shipping for many products! All are in or will be in their respective sports Hall of Fame. Only players who are known primarily as relief pitchers or closers. But he might not be on this list much longer. Stats: 310 saves, 3.01 ERA, 1.232 WHIP, 2.05 K:BB, 126 ERA+, Accolades: 9 All-Star appearances, 1 World Series ring, Baseball Hall of Fame. 9) Will White (1877-1886) (229-166; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 120; 36 SHO; 3,542 IP/ 3,440 H/ H/9 8.7; 1041 K/ 496 BB; 2.10 ratio; 1.111 WHIP). Cooper may be the best pitcher in Pirates history. Q1 Rank the following pitchers, ranging from 1 for most-deserving of Hall of Fame induction to 10 for least-deserving, [From a survey of 425 respondents, fielded via Qualtrics]. I gave a list of 10 players at each position, based primarily on who I thought voters would expect to be in the poll. 4 Wes Ferrell 4.7 He regularly hits 100 miles per hour on his fastballs and holds the all-time record by registering 105.1 on a pitch (twice). HOF - Indicates Player is a Hall of Famer. Four of them (Harold Baines, Edgar Martinez, David Ortiz and Frank Thomas) are already in the Hall following Big Papis election in 2022, while Nelson Cruz remains active. Pierce accomplishments, although very worthy, were overlooked because of the change of era. 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. Bridges is only six wins shy of the requisite 200 to be considered for the HOF. His career K/BB ratio of 2.80 is also a mark of historical significance. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. His 1.000 WHIP is the lowest among qualified pitchers in the live ball era. The problem with Pierce HOF candidacy is that his career backed up into the raised mound era. Matsui has no chance of ever making the Hall of Fame. The strikeout record was being broken. 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. 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). Stats: 601 saves, 2.87 ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 3.69 K:BB, 141 ERA+, Accolades: 7 All-Star appearances, Baseball Hall of Fame. Feb 11, 2023. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. measure a player's Hall of Fame worthiness. He re-surfaced with incredible campaigns in '84 and '85. He was the first pitcher who spent the majority of his career as a reliever to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Rivera was literally dominant for close to two decades in a row. 13)Wilbur Cooper (1912-1926) (216-178; 2.89 ERA; ERA+ 116; 35 SHO; 3480 IP/ 3415 H/ H/9 8.8; 1252 K/ 853 BB; 1.47 ratio; 1.226 WHIP). In 48 they discarded Billy Pierce to the White Sox!). Free shipping for many products! Get Jay Jaffe's book The Cooperstown Casebook 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? Were there a clear consensus, someone would be closer to 1 here. Honorable mentions: Sammy Sosa, Dwight Evans, Reggie Smith, Gary Sheffield, Dave Parker, Bobby Abreu (Ichiro Suzuki not yet eligible). Detroit lists Bridges and Lolich. He was never comfortable in Cincinnati, often being booed even though the trade was not his fault. . Jim McCormick was the first Scottish born major league player. 7 Andy Pettitte 3.7 He began his career with the Cleveland Indians in '64, and established himself as an effective pitcher with lots of stuff. He is one of our all-time greats. His career postseason record shows a heightened excellence when the games really counted against the best competition. 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). Among the 65 pitchers with the longest careers, his 2.80 K/BB ranks fifth. 3 Kevin Brown 4.2 Wilbur Cooper and Babe Adams have likewise been missed. Wagner had three of them, and they came in three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999). Billy Pierce was slight of build at 5 10 and a whopping 160 lbs. Pitchers who, for one reason or another, never got the votes or attention needed to make it in. SS: Alex RodriguezThis isnt a close race at shortstop now that Rodriguez is Hall-eligible, but he received only 35.7% of the vote in his second year on the BBWAA ballot in 2023. The HOF process seemed uneven, and somewhat political. History doesnt remember Hoyt Wilhelm the way it should. But Beltrn gets the slight edge, given his enviable combination of power (435 homers), speed (312 steals), defense (three Gold Gloves) and postseason heroics. He is the one pitcher on this list that is still on the HOF ballot. Warneke continued his winning ways, winning 20 games three times and posting a winning record every year until '43, when he left to fight in the war. And he never got a single Cy Young vote. 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