A comparative evaluation of great pitchers should begin with the acknowledgment that the first two decades of the 20th century were distinctive. The "dead ball" in use made it difficult to bat the ball beyond the playing field, so much so that home run championships were won with as few as 7 in a season and never as many as 30. It was the excitement generated by Babe Ruth's production of 29 homers while rotating between pitching and outfielding in 1919 that impelled the club owners to design a livelier ball and profoundly and permanently change the game.
The Stars of the Dead Ball Era
Cy Young, for whom baseball's highest pitching award is named, actually began his career in 1890, when rules were somewhat different. But his exceptional post-1900 performances were so consistent with what he had done before that his all-time high lifetime victory total of 511, his three no-hit games, a perfect game, and five 30-wins seasons deserve top-rank recognition.
Walter Johnson was considered by many of the early authorities to be in a class by himself. While his second-best total of 417 victories was far behind Young's, the Big Train, as he was affectionately known, labored at least half of his career for mediocre teams. His 110 shutouts remain well ahead of any other pitcher's lifetime record, and for decades he held records for strikeouts with over 3,500 and consecutive scoreless innings with 56. His career earned run average was a brilliant 2.17.
Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander, both of whom finished with 373 wins and multipliple 30-victory seasons, are also ranked at the top tier in this period. Mathewson had an earned run average of 2.13, while Alexander pitched well into the lively ball era and was a 20-game winner as late as 1927.
The Best Since Then
Lefty Grove, who sparked three consecutive pennant winners with the Philadelphia Athletics, was the first of the dominant pitchers after 1920. He won 300 games with a remarkable lifetime percentage of .680 and may have had the finest individual season record at 31-4 in 1931. Carl Hubbell was Grove's chief rival through the 1930's with 253 victories and a .622 percentage.
Left-hander Warren Spahn excelled from the late 1940's into the 60's with 363 victories. Los Angeles Ddodger Sandy Koufax, forced to retire early with an arthritic elbow, may have had the most impressive concentrated statistics. In a four-year period in the 60's, he led his league in earned run average each year, in victories three times, and had a no-hit game in each, one a perfect game. Overlapping Koufax was the St. Louis Cardinals' Bob Gibson, who chalked up 251 victories, more than 3,000 strikeouts, a one-season earned run average of 1.12, and three wins in a single World Series. Nolan Ryan, in 27 seasons from the 60's to the 90's, far exceeded Johnson's strikeout record while winning 324 games and oitching seven no-hitters.
The record of 300-game winner Roger Clemens would clearly merit consideration among latter-day greats, but unless the cloud of suspicion about performance-enhancing substances is dispelled, judgement should be suspended.
The period since the 1970's also requires consideration of relief pitchers, particularly closers, whose prominence has been growing since then. Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, and Mariano Rivera would head this list.
A Cautionary Note
As obviously valuable as these stars were, they couldn't produce championship teams alone. Johnson and Ryan, for example, labored for losing teams for most of their careers. By contrast, the New York Yankees have featured few Hall of Fame candidates on the mound, but usually managed to put together quality pitching staffs and have won more than anyone else.
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