
With
the selection of Rich Gossage as the newest pitching member to
the Baseball Hall of Fame, it begs the question, what makes him better
than the closers that have come before him? Does he deserve this
honor? Put aside the three-toed sloth-like approach toward the voting
process of the baseball writers association. Let’s deal only
with the merit of the credentials of Rich Gossage versus other relievers.
How does he compare with Hoyt Wilhelm, Dennis Eckersley, and Rollie
Fingers? How does he compare with those that are currently playing,
such as Mariano Rivera, John Franco and Trevor Hoffman? Did he deserve
this honor before Bruce Sutter? I developed a formula
for hitters that has been published in the book For
Argument’s
Sake. Below is the formula for comparing pitchers across eras
and against their contemporaries. This should help make it more apparent
the selection of Gossage. For the purpose of comparison, a reliever
is defined by averaging less than 3.5 innings pitched per game.
The following are the top 33 relievers, from 1876 to the present
day. While delving into the important facet of pure dominance in
their era of playing and their longevity as an effective pitcher,
I also examined the contributions of each pitcher by their effectiveness
as a champion and teammate. Next to each reliever, I included the
formula based on 14 statistical measures represented by the PH-Factor
as well as the era in which each pitcher played.
Names
that are listed in bold are currently in the Hall of Fame. The names that
are italicized are those which the writers, or the Veterans’ Committee,
should look at for reconsideration, as their numbers are gaudy enough to
deserve a second look. Here is the formula that was applied to relievers
and starters alike to compare pitchers within their eras and beyond.
The career numbers are computed accordingly:
Wins x 10 + Saves x 15 + Shutouts
x 100 + Strikeouts x 1 |
The
league leading numbers showing in-season dominance are measured in
the following way:
For each of the following categories
the league leader of the category is given 100 points
followed by the runner-up receiving 90 points, third
place 80 points, 4th place 70 points
and so on down to 10th place receiving 10 points.
The 3 categories for which this is applicable are Wins, Saves,
and E.R.A. A Cy Young Award or Most
Valuable Player Award winner receives 500 points and
then 2nd place = 90 points and 3rd place = 80 points
and the same as above down to 10th place. A Rolaids Relief Award winner
receives 500 points, but
2nd place and beyond receives nothing after that. Defensively a Gold
Glove Award is given to the best fielding pitcher and 100 points is awarded.
There should also be a reward for the
player that is a consummate teammate. This player is able to get the
best out of the players around him, he inspires the others to reach
the playoffs and possibly even the World Series. For those pitchers
that won a World Series Championship the player receives 500
points.
A League Championship 250 points and for reaching the playoffs 100
points.
Written in a different way it looks
like this: Wins x 10+Saves x 15+ Shutouts x 100+ Strikeouts x 1+ Gold
Gloves x 100+ (Cy Young, MVP Wins Rolaids
Wins x |
500)+World
Series Championships x 500+ League Championships x 250+ Playoffs x
100+ League leading points 10-100 depending on place finished in a
season in the categories of Wins, Saves, and E.R.A. That’s
14 categories that show dominance by a pitcher that includes longevity,
within the season dominance, awards that are given by the writers and
the quality teammate that played for a winner. For the formula for
hitters, check out the book For Argument’s Sake, written
by Ron Henrich, at www.ronhenrich.com.
| Name |
PH-Factor |
Era |
| 1. Dennis Eckersley |
16801 |
6 |
| 2. Rollie Fingers |
14114 |
6 |
| 3. Mariano Rivera |
12942 |
8 |
| 4. Lee Smith |
12291 |
6 |
| 5. Trevor Hoffman |
11769 |
8 |
| 6. John Franco |
10645 |
7 |
| 7.Rich
Goose Gossage |
10552 |
6 |
| 8. Bruce Sutter |
10311 |
6 |
| 9. Randy Myers |
9889 |
7 |
| 10. Jeff Reardon |
9312 |
6 |
| 11 Jose Mesa |
8863 |
8 |
| 12. Sparky Lyle |
8853 |
6 |
| 13. Hoyt Wilhelm |
8775 |
5 (Best in his era) |
| 14. Dan Quisenberry |
8709 |
6 |
| 15. John Wetteland |
8274 |
6 |
| 16. Billy Wagner |
8244 |
8 |
| 17. Tom Henke |
7806 |
6 |
| 18. Johnny Murphy |
7703 |
3 (Best in his era) |
| 19. Roberto Hernandez |
7645 |
8 |
| 20. Rick Aguilera |
7592 |
7 |
| 21. Robb Nen |
7343 |
7 |
| 22. Tom Gordon |
7342 |
8 |
| 23. Todd Jones |
7259 |
8 |
| 24. Armando Benitez |
7252 |
8 |
| 25. Steve Bedrosian |
7201 |
6 |
| 26. Tug McGraw |
7199 |
6 |
| 27. Troy Percival |
7086 |
8 |
| 28. Doug Jones |
7084 |
7 |
| 29. Jason Isringhausen |
7058 |
8 |
| 30. Dave Righetti |
6902 |
6 |
| 31. Roy Face |
6732 |
5 |
| 32. Mike Marshall |
6665 |
5 |
| 33. Rod Beck |
6654 |
7 |
|