As usual Pos brings his unique insight
On Stieb and his contemporaries
1951-1960
(4) Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, Bert Blyleven
Notable absentees: Jack Morris, Dave Stieb, Frank Tanana, Dennis Martinez, Mark Langston, Orel Hershiser
Hall of Merit (4): Eckersley, Gossage, Blyleven, Stieb
Comment: Let’s be blunt about it — it’s hard to imagine that there was only one Hall of Fame starter born from 1951 to 1960. That’s just a difficult thing to wrap our minds around. It’s even more stark because Blyleven really belongs to the decade before — he was born in 1951, and he came up when he was just 20. This gap — perhaps as much as anything — I think drives the Jack Morris-for-Hall of Fame talk.
There’s just a gnawing belief, one that makes a bit of sense, that SOME starting pitcher has to represent this general time period in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Merit chose Stieb, whose basic numbers (176-137, 3.44 ERA, 1,669 career Ks) do not do him justice. He was, by WAR, the best pitcher in the American League in 1982, ’83 and ’84, and he was second best in the bookend years of 1981 and 1985. He had the Hall of Fame misfortune of wasting some of those years on terrible teams, and the Hall of Fame misfortune of spending just about his entire career in Canada, where he often went unnoticed, and the Hall of Fame misfortune of having his greatness obscured by bland win-loss records. His 123 ERA+ is right in line with the better Hall of Famers.
The now-majority of Hall of Fame voters have instead backed Morris, who has the most wins of the 1980s, a reputation as a gritty competitor, and that famous Game 7. The problem with Morris, as has been brought up endlessly, is that he was not especially good at preventing runs from being scored. His career 39.3 WAR ranks 12th among pitchers born in this decade, behind such decidedly non-Hall of Famers as Tom Candiotti, Bob Welch, Frank Viola and Mark Langston. He also ranks 65th in WAR among all non-Hall of Famers.
We don’t want to keep doing Morris comparisons because he doesn’t ever come out looking especially good in any of them. But almost any way you look at it:
• Orel Hershiser had four seasons better than Jack Morris’ best season.
• Dave Stieb had five years better than Jack Morris’ best season.
• Mark Langston had four seasons better than Jack Morris’ best season.
And so on. None of these pitchers received much Hall of Fame support, not even a high-profile guy like Hershiser. Morris was not a Hall of Fame pitcher, not by the general standards, but there is an understandable desire to fill what feels like a gap. It’s hard to concede that we had a strange little eight- or nine-year drought where there was not a single Hall of Fame starting pitcher born.
On Halladay
Comment: I have been surprised by how often I have found myself in discussions about whether or not Roy Halladay is already a Hall of Famer. The discussions are surprising because he’s pitching great and is signed for three or four more years, and there’s no reason to believe that he’s going to leave the stage any time soon. That said, I still say that if he retired tomorrow, yes, he should be a Hall of Famer. His impressive but somewhat spare 169-86 won-loss record should not obscure that he has been the best or second best pitcher in his league six or seven times. He has been a force of nature for a long time now. Maybe Dizzy Dean should be in the Hall of Fame and maybe he shouldn’t be, but what Dizzy Dean did for five years, Halladay has done for 10.
I said before last season that Doc wouldn't need the obligatory 300 or even 250 wins to get in; 200 would do it. Now after his 2nd Cy and two no-nos, I'm with Pos--he's in if he retires tomorrow.
