Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
who can forget Haddix’s 12 perfect innings
This is a great thread. So many deserving names. Man gonna, try and break it up.
1- Walter Johnson- Turn of the Century
2- Bob Gibson - "Glory Days"
3- Koufax- "Glory Days"
4- Martinez- Modern Day
5- Maddux- Modern Day
Closer- Think you have to go Rivera but I want to say Eckersley from when I was coming of age
Honorable Mention:
1- Scherzer- plays for my favorite team headed to the HOF
2- Cy Young- Feels wrong to leave him out
3- Satchel Paige- Greatest pitcher from the Negro Leauges
@DGDinNYC, Satchel Paige is a great great call.
I would have loved to see the numbers he would have put up with a full career in the majors.
Love the Paige shout out. Would have loved to see him get in a full career in the majors. Same for Josh Gibson who did so legendary things hitting for power.
Agree w/ everyone about Paige. Great call @DGDinNYC. Also happy to see the inclusion of Spahn and Haddix slipped right by me. Kudos. I'd considered Eck as well but I think it was - for me - Rivera, wow. He threw such a HEAVY ball. Wonder who has broken more bats than anyone else? @Bankwalker - If Doc hadn't have had his addiction problems he would have been very high because for those few years, that kid was unhittable. So sad about him and Straw. I guess you guys have seen that documentary about them meeting...seems like Gooden is still struggling but Straw has started an outreach program. @christopherules - thx, but I gotta say, any of these choices are almost automatically interchangeable.
That documentary is good but also hard to watch, given how much Doc is still struggling. We may be reading his obituary some day soon.
Over time he'll be nothing but a footnote in baseball history, but for one brief shining moment, he was the best I ever saw.
Yeah, some of those diner scenes were tough to watch, true.
Maddux
Pedro
Cy
Johnson
Jim Palmer
closer: By the numbers? Hands down, Mariano. Trevor Hoffman an easy 2nd.
Great topic. Too bad it can't speed up Aug 31!!!
Also my opening day starter would be Lefty Grove.
I once did research with every 300 game winner to see which had the biggest percentage difference between their career ERA and their contemporaries in the league and years they pitched, Grove came out #1. He also has the best winning percentage among all 300 game winners.
A fun bit of trivia. Phil Niekro pitched the only shutout for a 300th win since 1891.
Ok I like this topic, but I'm only going with guys I saw play in the modern era. And I'm not going to pick Greg Maddux. He was great for sure, but I always felt like Glavine and Smoltz had an extra gear in the postseason Maddux never seemed to have.
Closer: There is only one...Mariano Rivera. He is the only closer, everyone else just saves games.
A bit off topic but if you had one pitcher to pick and you only need to base it on one of that pitcher's seasons (not career) who would it be? I'm not jumping to mlb.com to review stats because I know who was the most dominant I ever saw in my lifetime -- a young Doc Gooden. He was simply untouchable with an electric fastball that had a ton of movement, and then he would make your knees buckle with a big looping curve that he threw consistently for strikes.
Best pitcher over a career that I saw in my lifetime? Hands down Mad Dog.
@WCDawg - Love that stat about Niekro. And for whatever reason (BOARD STUFF) the spoiler alert didn't work on my end.
@Kasey - Is Bumgarner still active? Or did he retire and I missed it? Don't worry. I ain't getting uptight. :)
@dawghouse - Extremely tough call and Doc is right up there. One game based on one season...I considered Smoltz' '96 season, plus his post-season success is undeniable, but that spans his career. I'm going to stick with Gibson.
One other thing: RIP Frank Robinson - a true gamer and yet another who'll be missed. Just to remember him by the numbers: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinfr02.shtml
But he was more than just a great HOF player. He carried the mantle for Robinson (his first year was Jackie's final) with grace and dignity, and honesty. He has his point of view and whether you agree w/ it or not, he demanded respect both for his on-field performance and his life.