Who are your top major league baseball pitchers, all-time?

[Meathead]

I'm REALLY starting to miss baseball. So I've decided to keep it alive, at least by talking about it. My top 5 pitchers all-time are - 1) Walter Johnson - possibly THE most overpowering pitcher ever. He won over 400 games and finished his career with over 4,000 strikeouts. And I believe he holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110. Just a fantastic pitcher. 2) Sandy Koufax, my pick for the best left handed pitcher ever. His last several seasons were phenomenal, it's a shame he retired so young because of arm problems. 3) Cy Young, great pitcher, the award for pitcher of the year was quite aptly named after him. His 511 career wins will NEVER be broken. 4) Roger Clemens, I've included him despite his alleged steroid use. IF he wasn't guilty of this, he's definitely my #4 pick. From what I've read, it's hard to tell if he WAS guilty of using banned substances. He was nearly as overpowering a pitcher as Walter Johnson and he put up some eye-popping numbers throughout his career. 5) Randy Johnson, THE most overpowering and menacing left handed pitcher all-time. He had just a fantastic career, highlighted by his 2001 season, where he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win it all, including their exciting 7 game World Series crown over the New York Yankees. And I believe he's the tallest major league baseball player ever, at 6 feet, 10 inches. So here's MY top picks, who are some of yours?

Good list. In fairness I would have to consider Cy Young and Christy Mathewson and maybe Nolan Ryan.

 

[Pogo]

I Thought I would put up Randy Johnson's career stats. He and Maddux were the two best I ever saw.


Randy Johnson. 303 Career Wins Cy Youngs 5 Career War 101.1


Maddux had 52 more career wins and a better career ERA. Randy has one more Cy Young, Pretty close. Maddux has a slightly batter career WAR.

Randy Johnson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Randy Johnson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Two completely different pitchers.....
Power vs Finesse

I have no freaking idea what a WAR is or how it is calculated. I just have to accept what someone tells me.
Hate that stat

Agree. ERA will tell you much more, in real terms.

 

[Pogo]

Nolan Ryan.....if he was on a good team during his peak....dam....

My problem with Ryan was he never won a big game

Makes it hard to be a Big Game Pitcher

what is a big game?.....

Pennant
Playoffs
World Series

Nolan Ryan was a .500 pitcher
Most were not big games

But with that fastball of his, he WAS quite imposing.

Most imposing I ever saw
Reason he had more Strikeouts and No Hitters than any other pitcher

But I can’t put him as an all time great because he was not even the best of his era.

Maddox, Seaver, Carlton were better and they have the Cy Young’s to prove it.

Ryan was never even the best in a single year

and those 3 guys were on teams that scored them some runs....Ryan managed to win 300 games in spite of being on some half-assed teams.......you cant win those big games if your team sucks....

Carlton won 27 in 1972 for a team that only won 59 total. He literally won almost half the team's games, and with 300 Ks and an ERA under 2.

 

[DrLove]

I used to walk to Ebbets Field

You can stop right there, I'm already green with envy.

Anybody ever seen a game at Fenway? Primary company I freelance for is in Boston and they took us to a Red Sox game a few years back. That place just exudes HISTORY. And the food courtyard smells like a Homer Simpson dream. Had great seats on the first base side and Big Poppy hit a homer to win it. VERY cool stadium with the Green Monster and all that!

 

[DrLove]

For all you Pedro Martinez homers. A little perspective.


Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Pedro Martinez 219 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 83.9


Pedro was real good. Maddux was in another zip code.

Maddux was good Koufax was great

Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Sandy Koufax 165 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 48.9

Don't think so.

Measuring a pitcher by wins is absolutely useless. All that tells you is what the team did for him. Koufax had his career shortened by injury, plus was not very good in the early Brooklyn daze. But once he developed, he was absolutely untouchable, like nobody else.

Yep, Sandy had about an 8 year run when he was untouchable with that curve ball. 18 strikeouts twice and four no hitters.

 

[DrLove]

I'm REALLY starting to miss baseball. So I've decided to keep it alive, at least by talking about it. My top 5 pitchers all-time are - 1) Walter Johnson - possibly THE most overpowering pitcher ever. He won over 400 games and finished his career with over 4,000 strikeouts. And I believe he holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110. Just a fantastic pitcher. 2) Sandy Koufax, my pick for the best left handed pitcher ever. His last several seasons were phenomenal, it's a shame he retired so young because of arm problems. 3) Cy Young, great pitcher, the award for pitcher of the year was quite aptly named after him. His 511 career wins will NEVER be broken. 4) Roger Clemens, I've included him despite his alleged steroid use. IF he wasn't guilty of this, he's definitely my #4 pick. From what I've read, it's hard to tell if he WAS guilty of using banned substances. He was nearly as overpowering a pitcher as Walter Johnson and he put up some eye-popping numbers throughout his career. 5) Randy Johnson, THE most overpowering and menacing left handed pitcher all-time. He had just a fantastic career, highlighted by his 2001 season, where he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win it all, including their exciting 7 game World Series crown over the New York Yankees. And I believe he's the tallest major league baseball player ever, at 6 feet, 10 inches. So here's MY top picks, who are some of yours?

Good list. In fairness I would have to consider Cy Young and Christy Mathewson and maybe Nolan Ryan.

Yeah, Nolan Ryan had 7 no hitters!

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

I'm REALLY starting to miss baseball. So I've decided to keep it alive, at least by talking about it. My top 5 pitchers all-time are - 1) Walter Johnson - possibly THE most overpowering pitcher ever. He won over 400 games and finished his career with over 4,000 strikeouts. And I believe he holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110. Just a fantastic pitcher. 2) Sandy Koufax, my pick for the best left handed pitcher ever. His last several seasons were phenomenal, it's a shame he retired so young because of arm problems. 3) Cy Young, great pitcher, the award for pitcher of the year was quite aptly named after him. His 511 career wins will NEVER be broken. 4) Roger Clemens, I've included him despite his alleged steroid use. IF he wasn't guilty of this, he's definitely my #4 pick. From what I've read, it's hard to tell if he WAS guilty of using banned substances. He was nearly as overpowering a pitcher as Walter Johnson and he put up some eye-popping numbers throughout his career. 5) Randy Johnson, THE most overpowering and menacing left handed pitcher all-time. He had just a fantastic career, highlighted by his 2001 season, where he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win it all, including their exciting 7 game World Series crown over the New York Yankees. And I believe he's the tallest major league baseball player ever, at 6 feet, 10 inches. So here's MY top picks, who are some of yours?

Nolan Ryan

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

rodger clemens

 

[Jitss617]

I'm REALLY starting to miss baseball. So I've decided to keep it alive, at least by talking about it. My top 5 pitchers all-time are - 1) Walter Johnson - possibly THE most overpowering pitcher ever. He won over 400 games and finished his career with over 4,000 strikeouts. And I believe he holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110. Just a fantastic pitcher. 2) Sandy Koufax, my pick for the best left handed pitcher ever. His last several seasons were phenomenal, it's a shame he retired so young because of arm problems. 3) Cy Young, great pitcher, the award for pitcher of the year was quite aptly named after him. His 511 career wins will NEVER be broken. 4) Roger Clemens, I've included him despite his alleged steroid use. IF he wasn't guilty of this, he's definitely my #4 pick. From what I've read, it's hard to tell if he WAS guilty of using banned substances. He was nearly as overpowering a pitcher as Walter Johnson and he put up some eye-popping numbers throughout his career. 5) Randy Johnson, THE most overpowering and menacing left handed pitcher all-time. He had just a fantastic career, highlighted by his 2001 season, where he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win it all, including their exciting 7 game World Series crown over the New York Yankees. And I believe he's the tallest major league baseball player ever, at 6 feet, 10 inches. So here's MY top picks, who are some of yours?

Nolan Ryan, roger Clemens, randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez,
Koufax

 

[rightwinger]

I Thought I would put up Randy Johnson's career stats. He and Maddux were the two best I ever saw.


Randy Johnson. 303 Career Wins Cy Youngs 5 Career War 101.1


Maddux had 52 more career wins and a better career ERA. Randy has one more Cy Young, Pretty close. Maddux has a slightly batter career WAR.

Randy Johnson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Randy Johnson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Two completely different pitchers.....
Power vs Finesse

I have no freaking idea what a WAR is or how it is calculated. I just have to accept what someone tells me.
Hate that stat

Agree. ERA will tell you much more, in real terms.

I am old school
Give me Batting Average, HR and RBIs and I instantly know how good a hitter is

Give me ERA, Strikeouts and W-L and I can tell how good a pitcher is

Give me WAR and I have no idea WTF you are talking about

 

[Pogo]

I used to walk to Ebbets Field

You can stop right there, I'm already green with envy.

Anybody ever seen a game at Fenway? Primary company I freelance for is in Boston and they took us to a Red Sox game a few years back. That place just exudes HISTORY. And the food courtyard smells like a Homer Simpson dream. Had great seats on the first base side and Big Poppy hit a homer to win it. VERY cool stadium with the Green Monster and all that!

Tried to get in there, couldn't make it. I traveled quite a bit for work, had the opportunity to be there during a game but just could not find a way in. I did get to Wrigley on another trip though. A day game vs the Cards. Great view.

 

[Pogo]

For all you Pedro Martinez homers. A little perspective.


Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Pedro Martinez 219 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 83.9


Pedro was real good. Maddux was in another zip code.

Maddux was good Koufax was great

Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Sandy Koufax 165 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 48.9

Don't think so.

Measuring a pitcher by wins is absolutely useless. All that tells you is what the team did for him. Koufax had his career shortened by injury, plus was not very good in the early Brooklyn daze. But once he developed, he was absolutely untouchable, like nobody else.

Yep, Sandy had about an 8 year run when he was untouchable with that curve ball. 18 strikeouts twice and four no hitters.

One of which was a perfect game IIRC. Imagine extrapolating that over a 15-20 year career. Youngest player ever elected to the Hall at the age of 36.

 

[Pogo]

I Thought I would put up Randy Johnson's career stats. He and Maddux were the two best I ever saw.


Randy Johnson. 303 Career Wins Cy Youngs 5 Career War 101.1


Maddux had 52 more career wins and a better career ERA. Randy has one more Cy Young, Pretty close. Maddux has a slightly batter career WAR.

Randy Johnson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Randy Johnson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Two completely different pitchers.....
Power vs Finesse

I have no freaking idea what a WAR is or how it is calculated. I just have to accept what someone tells me.
Hate that stat

Agree. ERA will tell you much more, in real terms.

I am old school
Give me Batting Average, HR and RBIs and I instantly know how good a hitter is

Give me ERA, Strikeouts and W-L and I can tell how good a pitcher is

Give me WAR and I have no idea WTF you are talking about

I know right. Summa these FIPpity BaBippity stats, you gotta be a rocket surgeon.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Nolan Ryan.....if he was on a good team during his peak....dam....

Oh yeah,I can just imagine how great ryan would have been had he been on teams that had a good offense like the big red machine,had he been on teams that gave him run support,he would transcend all pitchers. Cheater Clemons does not belong on that list,he is up there with bonds,McGuire,Sosa,Brady and belicheat as the biggest fraud cheaters of all time who can’t win without cheating

 

[DrLove]

I used to walk to Ebbets Field

You can stop right there, I'm already green with envy.

Anybody ever seen a game at Fenway? Primary company I freelance for is in Boston and they took us to a Red Sox game a few years back. That place just exudes HISTORY. And the food courtyard smells like a Homer Simpson dream. Had great seats on the first base side and Big Poppy hit a homer to win it. VERY cool stadium with the Green Monster and all that!

Tried to get in there, couldn't make it. I traveled quite a bit for work, had the opportunity to be there during a game but just could not find a way in. I did get to Wrigley on another trip though. A day game vs the Cards. Great view.

Fenway had a record streak of 820 sellouts that ended in 2013. They still sell out most games. It's a tough ticket unless you want to pay a bigly premium on StubHub or the like.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Nolan Ryan.....if he was on a good team during his peak....dam....

Great choice, Harry. Ryan is probably my #6 pick.

he lost a lot of 1 run games in his time with the Angels.....

Astros as well

 

[LA RAM FAN]

I'm REALLY starting to miss baseball. So I've decided to keep it alive, at least by talking about it. My top 5 pitchers all-time are - 1) Walter Johnson - possibly THE most overpowering pitcher ever. He won over 400 games and finished his career with over 4,000 strikeouts. And I believe he holds the all-time record for shutouts with 110. Just a fantastic pitcher. 2) Sandy Koufax, my pick for the best left handed pitcher ever. His last several seasons were phenomenal, it's a shame he retired so young because of arm problems. 3) Cy Young, great pitcher, the award for pitcher of the year was quite aptly named after him. His 511 career wins will NEVER be broken. 4) Roger Clemens, I've included him despite his alleged steroid use. IF he wasn't guilty of this, he's definitely my #4 pick. From what I've read, it's hard to tell if he WAS guilty of using banned substances. He was nearly as overpowering a pitcher as Walter Johnson and he put up some eye-popping numbers throughout his career. 5) Randy Johnson, THE most overpowering and menacing left handed pitcher all-time. He had just a fantastic career, highlighted by his 2001 season, where he helped the Arizona Diamondbacks win it all, including their exciting 7 game World Series crown over the New York Yankees. And I believe he's the tallest major league baseball player ever, at 6 feet, 10 inches. So here's MY top picks, who are some of yours?

As a chronic Dodger fan as a young kid in coastal SoCal, I saw Koufax pitch in I think '66 when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old years old. Always took my glove to the park and once caught a foul ball off one of his pitches. Still have it, wish it was autographed!

I'm with you man, I miss sports - ANY sport. On Friday I was so desperate that I resorted again to "sports entertainment" in the form of Friday Night Smackdown which is now being performed without an audience. SO embarrassing to admit.

But anyway, I haven't studied pitcher stats like you obviously have. But Koufax is my pick. He was also a tremendous role model and is yet at the age of 84, an all around GREAT guy.

Ode to a Private Man : What becomes a legend most? When it comes to Sandy Koufax--hero, role model, enigma--it's being left alone.

In the warm darkness of a summer night, my father and I are sprawled on opposite ends of our living room carpet.

www.latimes.com

Oh yeah Koufax would be my second pick

 

[eddiew]

For all you Pedro Martinez homers. A little perspective.


Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Pedro Martinez 219 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 83.9


Pedro was real good. Maddux was in another zip code.

Maddux was good Koufax was great

Greg Maddux 355 career wins Cy Youngs 4 Career WAR 106.6

Sandy Koufax 165 career wins Cy Youngs 3 Career WAR 48.9

Don't think so.

Measuring a pitcher by wins is absolutely useless. All that tells you is what the team did for him. Koufax had his career shortened by injury, plus was not very good in the early Brooklyn daze. But once he developed, he was absolutely untouchable, like nobody else.

Yep, Sandy had about an 8 year run when he was untouchable with that curve ball. 18 strikeouts twice and four no hitters.

One of which was a perfect game IIRC. Imagine extrapolating that over a 15-20 year career. Youngest player ever elected to the Hall at the age of 36.

In college he was a little wild Batters didn't want to see him he was scary Also a guy who would never pitch on a Jewish holy day

 

[LA RAM FAN]

rodger clemens

 

[eddiew]

I used to walk to Ebbets Field

You can stop right there, I'm already green with envy.

Anybody ever seen a game at Fenway? Primary company I freelance for is in Boston and they took us to a Red Sox game a few years back. That place just exudes HISTORY. And the food courtyard smells like a Homer Simpson dream. Had great seats on the first base side and Big Poppy hit a homer to win it. VERY cool stadium with the Green Monster and all that!

Tried to get in there, couldn't make it. I traveled quite a bit for work, had the opportunity to be there during a game but just could not find a way in. I did get to Wrigley on another trip though. A day game vs the Cards. Great view.

I lived till the age of 20 12 blocks away from Ebbets Remember them all Preacher Ersk Newk Casey of course Jackie and Pee Wee and billy cox and the Duke Campy and Gil Great days