Comments on: Cornered mediocrity: Washington Nationals throw 5 pitchers with nearly identical ERAs

By: Kahuna Tuna

Kahuna Tuna — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:21:07 +0000

In 1970 the Pirates had pitchers named Moose, Lamb, Mudcat Grant, Veale and Gibbon and for the vegetarians McBean

The 1950 Cardinals had pitchers in their minor-league system named Robert Cloud, Gene Clear, James Freeze, and Paul Dewey. The big club gave a few at-bats to Nippy Jones.

By: Johnny Twisto

Johnny Twisto — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:27:30 +0000

I'm sure a lot of HOF voters shy away from anyone with an ERA starting in "4." I wonder if Wes Ferrell might have been inducted if his career mark was 3.98 (or if he had won just a few more games -- he finished with 193). One might think it could have been possible to put together a HOF-type career with an ERA over 4.00 in the recent high-octane offensive era, but there don't seem to be any strong candidates.

Best winning % for an ERA over 4.50 in at least 1000 IP is Roy Mahaffey, .578.
Best in over 2000 IP is Aaron Sele, .569.
Sele also has the most wins of any 4.50+ guy, with 148.
Jeff Suppan has the most IP, 2512, with 138 wins. Hmm, I didn't realize Suppan had been in the minors all season.
Best ERA+ is John Thomson at 104. I had forgotten about that guy.

By: Brian Potts

Brian Potts — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 20:55:25 +0000

Excellent information. Thank you.

I can see that 4.50 is truly mediocre. Solid, perhaps, but not excellent by any stretch.

I was thinking that some pitchers in the right era, playing for teams with powerful offenses, might be able to get by with a 4.50 ERA and still string together an impressive winning percentage.

By: Johnny Twisto

Johnny Twisto — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:40:15 +0000

Some other longshot HOF possibilities who would top Ruffing's ERA:

Josh Beckett 3.80 (it will probably be lower if he actually puts together a HOF career)
Mel Harder 3.80
Chuck Finley 3.85
George Uhle 3.99 (if he got pioneer credit for possibly inventing the slider)
Wes Ferrell 4.04
David Wells 4.13
Jamie Moyer 4.14

***

I just noticed that Freddy Garcia is Bartolo Colon's statistically most similar pitcher (and Colon is 6th on Garcia's list). How odd.

Once upon a time I was tracking how Garcia and Tim Hudson's early careers were quite similar, but they diverged long ago.

By: Johnny Twisto

Johnny Twisto — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:32:58 +0000

You would be correct, if you include the pitching totals of people who were not inducted for their pitching.

The highest ERA of any real HOF pitcher is Red Ruffing's 3.80. That would be topped if Andy Pettitte (3.88) or Jack Morris (3.90) one day make it.

There have been some solid pitchers with career ERAs over 4.50, but none for whom any kind of HOF case could be made.

By: Brian Potts

Brian Potts — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:45:31 +0000

I wonder how many pitchers with ERAs of 4.50 or higher are in the Hall of Fame. I would guess there's at least a few.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:53:51 +0000

That's correct, Brian, it's a bit confusing out of context.

By: Brian Potts

Brian Potts — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:51:24 +0000

The ERA in the "Team Totals" line is for the game, but the ERAs for each pitcher are for the season thus far? Forgive me if this is a silly question.

By: Brian Potts

Brian Potts — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:05:07 +0000

Oh, yes, I see.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:01:12 +0000

For that game, yes. 13 earned runs in 8 innings = 14.625 ERA.