Randy Johnson vs. Steve Carlton

[SilentKiller]

Who do you have as the better pitcher?

[hudsonharden]

The one who has the nickname "Lefty." That should say it all.

[bob]

The one who has the nickname "Lefty." That should say it all.

No, all that says was he pitched left handed and was pretty good at it.

Personally i think Randy was the better pitcher and IMO he's the best strikeout pitcher of all time.

[SABR Matt]

RJ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Carlton

[Los Bravos]

I'm putting a lot of emphasis on the word "pitcher" here.

[BenHertz]

Steve Carlton hasn't pitched in over 20 years! I'll take Randy Johnson.

[Second Base Coach]

At the risk of being an old fogey...

The fact that there are more teams now leads me to believe that the average hitter was better in Carlton's time. I know the opening of Latin America has stocked the hitters supply to the point where we can have more teams, but I am still leaning towards Carlton on this one.

Both pitchers played thru more than one expansion... but I am still leaning towards Carlton.

Carlton hardly ever faced the DH, but I am still leaning towards him.

This is VERY Close, and Johnson has the better ERA+ and the better strikeout to walk ratio... but I am guessing Randy Johnson won't throw another 1,0000 innings to catch up to Steve Carlton. If he were to do that, what would happen to his rate stats?

Randy Johnson's workload in Arizona was huge. But it lasted for what, five and a half seasons? And I will make the sweeping generalization that Steve Carlton was pitching that much for most of his career.

I will walk the fence on this one and say Johnson was the more dominant pitcher (by a decent margin), but Carlton had the better career (but not by much).

[KCGHOST]

I have The Unit by a comfortable margin.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Johnson's top 10, Carlton's top 15.

[Francoeurstein]

IMO this is no contest. Randy has been doing it for years and still continues to be dominant in his mid 40's.

[Captain Cold Nose]

IMO this is no contest. Randy has been doing it for years and still continues to be dominant in his mid 40's.

Carlton didn't do it for years?

[NJRob65]

Johnson by a comfortable margin.

[Matthew C.]

IMO this is no contest. Randy has been doing it for years and still continues to be dominant in his mid 40's.

I love Johnson, but he hasn't had a year with 200+ IP and a ERA+ over 120 since he was 40 years old. In his last 4 seasons, he is under 500 IP and a ERA+ below 110. Solid starter? Yup. Great for a 43-45 year old? Yup. better than Carlton? Yup. Dominant in his mid 40's? Sorry.

[brett]

At the risk of being an old fogey...

The fact that there are more teams now leads me to believe that the average hitter was better in Carlton's time. I know the opening of Latin America has stocked the hitters supply to the point where we can have more teams, but I am still leaning towards Carlton on this one.

Both pitchers played thru more than one expansion... but I am still leaning towards Carlton.

Carlton hardly ever faced the DH, but I am still leaning towards him.

This is VERY Close, and Johnson has the better ERA+ and the better strikeout to walk ratio... but I am guessing Randy Johnson won't throw another 1,0000 innings to catch up to Steve Carlton. If he were to do that, what would happen to his rate stats?

Randy Johnson's workload in Arizona was huge. But it lasted for what, five and a half seasons? And I will make the sweeping generalization that Steve Carlton was pitching that much for most of his career.

I will walk the fence on this one and say Johnson was the more dominant pitcher (by a decent margin), but Carlton had the better career (but not by much).

Johnson's best 3000 inning stretch produced a 155 ERA+. Carlton's a 126 ERA+.

[Seattle1]

I voted for TBU.

[Cowtipper]

This one goes to Johnson.

[GiambiJuice]

Johnson, easily. I think Johnson vs. Grove would be more interesting.

[Matthew C.]

Johnson, easily. I think Johnson vs. Grove would be more interesting.

Right - is the big LQ advantage enough for Johnson to get past that string of 8-10x that Grove was the best pitcher in his league? It is close.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Depends on what you mean by "pitcher". For whatever reason, Johnson remained an effecitive strikeout artist well into his forties while Carlton was bombing out when he reached that age.

Now, that could be because Carlton started earlier in his life, reaching the majors at age 20, while Johnson was 24 when he debuted with Montreal. However, Steve didn't have a particularly pleasant end to his career while Johnson had a good finish. For that reason, I'm going with Randy.

[filihok]

Randy Johnson.

By about the amount that the current 33 to 5 vote would suggest.

[willshad]

Carlton had 3 or 4 outstanding seasons, and Johnson had about 8 or 9, and, besides 1972, Johnson's great years were superior. So, it really is not a very fair comparison. i think that carlton vs Schilling would be pretty interesting, however.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I went with Randy Johnson. Carlton vs Blyleven would be good too.

[Matthew C.]

Carlton had 3 or 4 outstanding seasons, and Johnson had about 8 or 9, and, besides 1972, Johnson's great years were superior. So, it really is not a very fair comparison. i think that carlton vs Schilling would be pretty interesting, however.

More like 6-7 outstanding seasons, but yeah, Johnson was better.

[willshad]

More like 6-7 outstanding seasons, but yeah, Johnson was better.

6 or 7 outstanding seasons for Johnson or for Carlton?

[Matthew C.]

6 or 7 outstanding seasons for Johnson or for Carlton?

Carlton - depends on your definition of "outstanding" I guess.