3 Curt Schilling 4.9 He was a better pitcher than some of his contemporaries who made the HOFHoyt, Haines, and Ted Lyons. Honorable mentions: McGwire, Don Mattingly, Todd Helton (Pujols not yet eligible). He was arguably as good a pitcher as Whitey Ford. Even though others have won Cy Young awards (and even regular season MVPs), Rivera was as close as youll find to a perfect closer, and he did this all with just the legendary cutter. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Blyleven continued his career in Cleveland, working through injury to re-invent his delivery and now legendary curve ball. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is the 12th pitcher to amass 1,000 career strikeouts in relief, and just the third pitcher with 1,000 relief strikeouts all with one team, joining Hall of Fame closers . What if Lon Warnekes and Tommy Bridges careers had not been interrupted by WWII? He isnt the first Pittsburgh pitcher on this list. 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. Against the Yankees in the series, he pitched well in game two, but took a 3-2 loss. 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. He was a great situation pitcher, and knew how to get out of a jam with his guile and assortment of breaking pitches. He was the first pitcher who spent the majority of his career as a reliever to be elected to the Hall of Fame. He pitched over 400 innings six times, and won over 30 games five times (three times he won 40 games or more). 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). He was scouted by Hal Newhowser, who encouraged him to sign with the Orioles. Initials. He faced Ford 15 times in his career and went 7-7. Kimbrel is the only closer in history with as many as 200 saves and a save percentage over 90, and hes sitting comfortably at first on the active leaderboard at 346 saves. Gossages 1975 season is still the greatest in baseball history by a relief pitcher in terms of WAR (8.2); he had a 1.84 ERA, a league-leading 26 saves, and an absurd 141.2 innings in 62 relief appearances. His fastball had lots of movement and a darting action. Fingers career ERA+ of 120 is lower than youd expect (24th among 30 closers with at least 300+ saves). Teams can vary this somewhat . Whether it will be enough to one day get him into Cooperstown wont be decided for another 10 or so years. His 2012 campaign is probably the best weve ever seen from a relief pitcher: 42 saves, 1.01 ERA, 116 strikeouts to just 36 baserunners allowed, and a 0.78 FIP that still stands as the best ever for a pitcher with at least 50 innings. One hundred years have passed since Shoeless Joes last big league season, and his talent and numbers (a ridiculous .356 career average and 170 career OPS+) may still make him the best choice for this spot 100 years from now. He had exceptionally large hands which helped with gripping and releasing the ball with greater spinning revolutions on its way to the plate. Pierce accomplishments, although very worthy, were overlooked because of the change of era. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. In the postseason, Papelbon started his career with 25 consecutive scoreless innings in October, including 4.1 of those innings in the 2007 World Series. One naturally asks this question when compiling a list like this. Featuring a slider-heavy arsenal, Lyle twice led the AL in saves and games finished, helping the Yankees to two titles. If he does not pick up that . Sabermetrics lover. The most-deserving players not in the Hall of Fame: Pitchers Embed from Getty Images see more Roger Clemens, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox prepares to throw a pitch during the Major League Baseball American League East game against the Cleveland Indians on 27 May 1987 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Several players careers have been overlooked instead of championed. Babe Adams had brief looks at the major leagues in 06 with the St. Louis Cardinals and 07 for the Pirates. Sportswriters and players wondered how Pierce could go toe-to-toe with the firepower of the Yankees, coming armed with slap hitters Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, and Minnie Minoso. His 1.000 WHIP is the lowest among qualified pitchers in the live ball era. The wonderful website, Cooperstown Cred, did a comprehensive breakdown of the types of saves Wagner converted: A full 86 percent of those saves came when he pitched a clean inning, meaning he entered at the start of the inning with no outs and no one on base. Seven successful years followed, including three more 20-win seasons, and some World Series heroics in '76. More about data coverage. Movies 8m Sanders projects well, with a 3.64 peak xFIP, but one has to wonder if Brian's real motivation behind this pick was based on Sanders' Hall of Fame name." Francisco Rodrguez debuted on the ballot in 23, getting 10.8%. John then went to LA to join Don Sutton on another team with a pitching rich tradition. . Mariano Riveras claim as the greatest closer of all-time is one of the safest arguments in baseball. The 41 voters who ranked Schilling first ranked Clemens eighth-worst among the field, ahead of only Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel, with an average ranking for Clemens of 7.00. After a down year and a couple of years dealing with injury, he ended up in Boston where he re-invented himself in '72. Pierce threw a three-hit shutout to beat Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers in Game One. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Beginning in August of 52, Pierce went 21-21 against the Yankees, whom he faced more than any other team. The Go-Go White Sox of the period scored few runs. He represented the Tigers in three World Series against the Cardinals, Cubs and Reds in 34, 35 and 40. 6 Roy Oswalt 4.5 He pitched Game Two of the Series, but was taken out with the score tied 2-2 in the 7th inning. Wilhelm passed away on Aug. 23, 2002. By '59, Pappas was a mainstay of the Orioles staff. 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. However, Smokey Joe Wood is not among those pitchers given a bye for the length of their careers. This included work for the Dodgers, Yankees and the Angels. Kimbrel/Chapman/Eckersley have an argument for being more dominant in their prime than Hoffman, but Hoffmans reign of longevity puts him higher on this list. I had one once, and I lost him.. Bucky wasnt done there. He threw 33 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in October ball. So with a lack of a real statistical standout, how about Quiz? When he finished playing nearly two decades later, Wilhelm held the major league record for games pitched (1,070), relief wins (124), and saves (228). The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. Billy Pierce was slight of build at 5 10 and a whopping 160 lbs. 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. Babe Adams was a great pitcher who was overlooked by the veterans committee. Bruce Sutter Career Stats (1976 - 1988) - Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta G IP W SV ERA FIP WHIP K/9 BB/9 FG War BR WAR 661 1,042 68 300 2.83 2.94 1.14 7.4 2.7 19.2 24.0 He was consistently good, winning 14 or more games 11 consecutive years, 6474. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders. 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). Despite having made his MLB debut over 100 years ago (1908), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson remains one of the most controversial figures in the game. |. "With pick #132, @Brian59044 selects the first real relief pitcher of the draft, Phoenix Sanders. After an off year in 1916 he was sent to the minor leagues to work out his problems. But he might not be on this list much longer. He has the requisite 200 wins, over 40 shutouts, and his 2,832 Ks are still third among left-handed pitchers all-time. I attempted to rank the 10 best ever. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders. 7 Noodles Hahn 4.4 then in Boston. Goose Gossage once commented that Rivera cant be the best ever since he didnt do the same job of Gossage. They have been treated very differently by baseball writers voting for the HOF. Al Spalding took a disliking to the off-field activities of several of the players during the '86 campaign. Adams was perhaps the most extreme control pitcher in the history of the game. Plus, it just doesnt feel right that Alan Trammell is in the Hall without his double-play partner. Holds MLB record with 652 saves. The current Hall of Famers are then grouped by position and Rivera somehow managed to be even better in the postseason when facing the best teams, and he did this year after year after year. If Jack Chesbro can parlay winning 40 games into the HOF, then Will White should be an automatic selection. 8 Chuck Finley 3.7 All are in or will be in their respective sports Hall of Fame. My last article studied The Worst Pitchers in the HOF: Searching for Historys Bottom Line . Research is still ongoing and well continue to publish updates as more information becomes available. 8 Urban Shocker 4.4 What do you think: Is Mariano Rivera the best relief pitcher in baseball history? He went 3517 in the minors. In 43, his last year before joining the war effort, he went 12-7 with a 2.39 ERA (ERA+ 147), with three shutouts and only 159 hits allowed in 191 innings. Chapman wont qualify on any official leaderboard because hes only at 535.2 innings, but if you look at all pitchers with 500+ innings, hes first all-time at 14.84 K/9 and a 2.01 FIP. But winning the 2005 Cy Young -- which would have given him three straight Cys from 2004-06 -- would have forced the BBWAA to give him a much longer look. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the early teens but injury caused him to establish less than 1,500 career innings. Bruce Sutter, a Hall of Fame reliever and 1979 Cy Young winner, has died at the age of 69. It is a decision many believe cost the Sox the title. Everything is in line, but hes been overlooked by the veterans committee. Go Orange. He won three complete games including a shutout against the Tigers. Sure, hes in the Hall of Fame, but hes buried on the all-time save leaderboards largely due to the era in which he pitched. Pierce was often the recipient of scant run support. Cooper may be the best pitcher in Pirates history. One time, Wilhelm entered a tie game in the eighth inning and pitched through the 18th, allowing just two hits and no runs. Jim McCormick was the first Scottish born major league player. Retired: John McGraw , Bobby Cox , Earl Weaver , . He proved it often enough. Oct 14, 2022, 04:09 PM EDT. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to use on the short end, while looking for candidates to make our list of best pitchers not in the HOF. Over a five-year span, he led the league in saves twice, finished in the top six in Cy Young award voting four times, and turned in one of the most dominant seasons in baseball history in 1990: 0.61 ERA, 48 saves, 73 K to 4 BB in 73.1 IP. Matsui has no chance of ever making the Hall of Fame. Stats: 368 saves, 2.44 ERA, 1.043 WHIP, 4.37 K:BB, 177 ERA+. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. He was the first player to wear glasses while he played. After being traded to the Pirates in the National League, he helped the team to a World Series title. 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). In his first full year in '32, Warneke led the league in wins, ERA, and shutouts. Movies. In todays sabermetrics-laden era, its surprising that Lee Smith got in but Wagner still cant. He would also be the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame not to exceed 1,000 career innings pitched, which is a testament to the unique specialty role of being a modern closer. His momentum with BBWAA voters stalled out, and he didn't fare any better with the Today's Game Era Committee in late 2022, meaning that it's hard to see Bonds reaching Cooperstown anytime soon. Ed Reulbach, Tommy Bridges and Bert Blyleven all fall in this category. Relief Pitcher - Don McMahon (22.4 WAR) McMahon may be the best reliever most modern baseball fans have never heard mentioned. Im a little bummed to see Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel anchoring the list, though its not stunning. 15) Ed Reulbach (1905-1917) (182-106; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 123; 40 SHO; 2,632 IP/ 2,117 H/ 7.2 H/9; 1,137 K/ 892 BB/ 1.27 ratio; 1.143 WHIP). Tommy John is perhaps guilty of hanging on longer than the normal impact of his career allowed. And he never got a single Cy Young vote. Typically, in modern-day play, an active roster will consist of five starting pitchers, seven relief pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. Opposition has cooled considerably in recent years toward enshrining Clemens, a brilliant pitcher long before rumors of performance enhancing drug use surfaced. , 2.44 era, its surprising that Lee Smith got in but Wagner still.. Extreme control pitcher in Pirates history faced Ford 15 times in his career and went 7-7 closers! Reulbach, Tommy Bridges careers had not been interrupted by WWII isnt the first born... Among left-handed pitchers all-time among best relief pitchers not in hall of fame pitchers all-time team to a World Series heroics in '76 HOFHoyt! The Angels bruce Sutter, a brilliant pitcher long before rumors of performance enhancing drug use surfaced do think.: John McGraw, Bobby Cox, Earl Weaver,, including three 20-win! 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