@14, Bunning also had a 4-year stretch at the end of his career, 1968-71, when he went 32-51 with an ERA+ of 85. I'll wager very few HoF pitchers had such a prolonged period of way-below-average performance, and perhaps it had something to do with his long wait for immortality.

For the period 1957-67, Jim Bunning ranks:
-- 1st in Wins Above Replacement with 59.6 (Drysdale 2nd at 58.4);
-- 2nd in Wins with 184 (1 behind Drysdale);
-- 2nd in Strikeouts with 2,327 (9 behind Koufax, though to be fair, Sandy didn't pitch in '67); and
-- 2nd in SO/BB ratio at 3.14 (Marichal 1st at 3.52, though in 1,000 fewer IP).

In 1967, Bunning was pretty clearly the best pitcher in baseball -- led the majors with 302 IP, 253 Ks, 6 shutouts, and 8.4 WAR (2nd was 6.8) -- but lost 6 games by 1-0 and wound up with a 17-15 record. Stuff like that kept him out of the Hall of Fame for about 20 years.

We need another thread about how the ASG is now a stupid waste of time - with 50 all stars on each team as guys drop out and are replaced by other guys who drop out. Making the game "count" for WS home field is even dumber when you force teams to carry players who don't belong there but need to be named to represent their team.

I hate the ASG and I loved it as a kid in the 70s.

Mariano has finished 6 All-Star games in his career with 8 innings pitched, 4 saves and an ERA of 0.00.

How many feathers does this guy have in his cap???