Here's part 3, covering the pitchers. This is one of my favorite topics, as you will see below. As stated in the earlier installments, statistics are given up through the end of 2005.
Starting Pitcher: I've resigned myself to picking only one man for this spot. Someday I hope to sit down and write out my thoughts about the great pitchers of this era. The past couple decades have seen what I would call the greatest foursome of pitchers in any era of baseball: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson. That's right, in the era known for homeruns and drug use, I maintain that the true story should be the greatness of these four men. I don't think there has ever been a group of four pitchers who pitched at the same time who were as great as these four. Anyway, here's the quick rundown of each guy, with my choice for this team.
Greg Maddux will forever be known as one of the smartest pitchers in baseball history. He never had overpowering stuff (unlike the other 3 guys on my list), he relied on location, late movement and out-thinking his opponent. In 20 seasons (before this year), he has amassed318 wins, 3052 Ks (which surprised me) and a 3.01 ERA. He has won 4 Cy Youngs, 4 ERA titles, and led the league in wins 3 times. He is the only pitcher in baseball history to have amassed 300 wins, 3000 strikeouts and have less than 1000 walks. He had a .905 win % in 1995 (which I believe is the third best ever) and is an 8-time All Star. And I haven't even mentioned that he has won 15 Gold Gloves (1990-2002, 2004-05), second only to Jim Kaat's 16.
Randy Johnson is one of the most intimidating pitchers ever (especially in his mullet days). He's also been involved in two of the funniest moments in recent memory: throwing over John Kruk's head in the All Star Game and accidentally hitting a bird in flight, causing it to explode. But beyond that, here are his numbers. In 18 seasons he has won 263 games, collected 4372 strikeouts and has a 3.11 ERA. He has won 5 Cy Young awards, 4 ERA titles, 1 wins title and 9 K titles. He's a 10-time All Star and his 10.95 strikeouts per 9 innings is an all time best. He also set a World Series record with 3 wins in the 2001 World Series.
Pedro Martinez is a little different than the other three. Pedro's greatness was for a shorter period of time (I realize he's doing well now, proving once again it's nice to pitch in the National League), but his peak was higher than any of the other three. In 14 seasons he has a career record of 197-84 (he won his 200th the other day), which gives him a .701 win %- good enough for 3rd all time. His 2.72 career ERA is best among active pitchers (Maddux's 3.01 is next) and he has 2861 career Ks (he'll pass 3000 before the end of the year). He has won 3 Cy Youngs (and got robbed on at least one other, maybe two), 5 ERA titles, 3 K titles and 1 wins title. He's a 7-time All Star and his 10.25 strikeouts per 9 innings is 3rd all time. He also won the pitcher's Triple Crown (leading the league in wins, Ks and ERA) in 1999.
But there are a couple other things to mention. First, he had three pitches he could throw at any time. His fastball was nasty, his curveball embarrased hitters and his changeup was quite possibly the best ever. He's one of few pitchers who could throw any of those pitches even when he was behind the count. Second, his relief appearance against the Indians in the 1999 postseason will go down as one of the greatest performances in modern postseason history. He had hurt his back earlier in the series, but came on in relief in an 8-8 game. It was obvious he was hurt and didn't have his best stuff, yet he threw 6 innings of no-hit ball- against a powerful Indians lineup that had beat up on Red Sox pitching. The Sox won that game, which was the final game of the series. Third, and most importantly, his 1999 and 2000 seasons were the most dominant of any pitcher in baseball history (relative to the rest of the league). No one has been that much better than the rest of the league. In 1999 he had 5 more wins than the next closest guy and 113 more Ks. In 2000 he had 72 more strikeouts than the next guy (didn't win the wins title). In 1999 he had a 2.07 ERA, the next closest guy in the American League was David Cone with a 3.44- a 1.37 difference! Shoot, Johnson won the National League ERA title that year with a 2.48, which was still bested by Pedro (even though he pitched in the AL, which normally causes ERAs to skyrocket). In 2000 Pedro had a 1.74 ERA (it's hard to explain how amazing this is in the AL at this time), the next best in the Majors was Kevin Brown with a 2.58 (winning the NL title), and the next best in the AL was Clemens at a 3.70! There has never been a pitcher who was that much better than everyone else (that much better than Hall of Famers!).
But, there is one pitcher who dominated for a prolonged period of time, and that man is Roger Clemens. I've posted about Clemens before, so I don't think I need to bash him again. I hate to admit it, but he's the best pitcher I've ever seen. Pedro's highest point ('99-00) was higher than anything Clemens did, but Clemens was the best pitcher in baseball in the second half of the '80s and is still going strong today. In 22 seasons he has collected 341 wins, 4502 Ks (2nd all time), a 3.12 ERA, 7 Cy Youngs (a record), 7 ERA titles, 4 wins titles, 5 K titles and 2 pitcher's Triple Crowns (1997-98). He's an 11-time All Star and an MVP (1986), which is difficult to do as a pitcher. To give an idea of his longevity, he won his first Cy Young in 1986 and his seventh in 2004. That is what separates him from everyone else (although he did win that last one in the NL, after being just a decent pitcher in the AL before this).
Relief Pitcher: Really, this position is for the best closer of my lifetime. Most people simply say "Mariano Rivera" and leave it at that. He may be the best closer ever, but I think people have forgotten about Dennis Eckersley. Eck pitched in 24 seasons, but only 12 as a closer. In those 12 final season he amassed 382 saves (he had 8 saves earlier in his career), 2 saves titles, 4 All Star appearances (2 more as a starter) and 2 AL Rolaids Relief Awards (for best reliever). He also won the Cy Young award in 1992, as well as the MVP that same year (as a closer!). He was also elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004. The bottom line is that he was as dominant as anyone who has ever closed a game. I just want Eck to get his due.
Mariano Rivera has quite the resume too. In 11 seasons he has a 2.33 ERA, 379 saves, 7 All Star games, 3 saves titles and 4 AL Rolaids Relief Awards. He is generally regarded as "untouchable." It looked as if that might be changing during the years of 2001-2004, but then he goes out last year and makes 22 consecutive appearances without giving up a run! The bottom line is that he has been dominant.
Both pitchers were seen as almost unhittable, yet both have blown major games. Eckersley will always be remembered for giving up the HR to Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series (with Gibson limping up to the plate then pumping his fists as he ran around the bases). Rivera gave up the game winning hit to Luis Gonzalez in Game 7 in the 2001 World Series, as well as getting beat by the Red Sox in both Game 4 & 5 in the 2004 ALCS. That's three games. However, and this is very important, he has been placed in more of those situations than any closer ever. He has time and time again been put in difficult situations, it's bound to catch up to him eventually. Anyway, this is a difficult decision for me. In the end, I have to ask this question: if I needed one guy to win a game for me, who would I choose. I think I have to go with Mariano Rivera. But I might change my mind in 5 minutes.
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