Thursday, January 14, 2016

Those Who Grace the Hall Part #4...Closer then you think



Felipe Cairo (230) retired season 22, I think we missed the vote on this one...by a lot. Has the 2nd most saves in league history (758), yes its only 86.6%, but it's still pretty incredible. Between seasons 1-18 he only missed 2 all-star games. I really don't care what his ERA was, he was one of the best the league has ever seen.

Julio Cedeno (77) retired season 24, A lot of wins (247), a lot of K's (3292) but a super high ERA (4.71) and no hardware on his shelf bring him way up short.

Jolbert Cordero  (141) retired season 23, probably just under the HOF standard meet by the guys who made it, but for about 10 seasons was as dependable as anyone else in the league. If he could have had 1-2 more dominate seasons would probably be in the hall.

Miguel Acevedo (144) retired season 16, a poor mans John Smoltz, Easily could have a won Cy Young as a starter and a closer. If he had gotten to 200 wins or saves would probably be in the hall.

Bobby Stephenson (167) retired season 23, another Smoltz type guy, had some pretty good seasons as a closer but enjoyed his best success as a starter winning two CY's.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Those Who Grace the Hall...Part #3 Pitchers Report

So we have only 8 pitchers in the HOF...that doesn't seem like enough. They are all pretty deserving however. Here they are in order.



Tony Blair  (275) Season 25, not just a one year wonder (4 CY Young Awards) he was very good almost every season he played (9 All-Star Games). 6 Wins shy of 300 and only pitcher to surpass 3,500 K's in their careers. He is the best in league history...but not by much

Harry Velazquez (263) Season 33, also won 4 CY Youngs...and made the all-Star team 10 times.  Did get to 300 wins but falls a little short in K's with just under 3500. Probably hung around one season too long.

Ryan Politte  (209) Season 34, only the second closer to get voted in. An incredible 14 time All-Star tells you all you really need to know about him.  The nearly 800 career saves will likely never be surpassed. the best relief pitcher the league has ever seen, and by scoring only 209 points he shows how hard it will be for other closers to get into the Hall.

Pedro Alarcon (208) Season 26, in his career only had 3 seasons in which he wasnt at least .500...and those where the last three years of his career. An amazing career winning % of .671 and an ERA of just 3.06. a little light in the K department when compared to Blair and Velazquez.

Wilfredo Encarnacion  (179) Season  30, very similar to Alarncon, without the hardware to match. iIwould say this is the point level for pitchers to achieve to be a lock into our HOF. Was an All-Star 7 times and it be argued that in his 21 year career only had one bad season.

Donaldo Gonzalez   (145) Season 15, a great score and we cant even see his whole career. If you subtract season 1 from him  (3-29 13.74 ERA)  and ad in the missing potential numbers and he scores a 250, and that doesnt include any All-Star Games or CY Young awards.

Joey Montgomery  (144) Season 18, only missing 3 season off his career but we can probably say his point total would be higher as he would be approaching 3,000 K's and 250 wins. He is probably somewhere in-between Alarcon and Encarnacion.

Peter Anderson  (106) Season 15, Was the only closer in the hall for 18 seasons. We are missing about 4 seasons from his career view. If he was a closer for those 4 years he would probably be around 450 Saves. Not a crazy high total but factor in he would be close to 2,000 career innings 100 wins and well over 1,000 K's for a guy who never started a game it becomes even more impressive. I peg him at about 175 points.