HoF Relievers

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

Which relievers do you think are worthy of HoF induction? To qualify, I used all pitchers with 250 saves or WAR of 20.0 (so long as 80% of games were in relief).

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Billy Wagner and Dan Quisenberry

[J W]

At the top are Hoyt Wilhelm, Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera, although the first two get credit for starting. These three, in chronological order defined their respective eras during the evolution of relief pitching as a more substantive role. Upper-half HoF territory.

Then comes Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage and Trevor Hoffman, the "best of the rest" who compiled numbers while pitching very well. Yeah, I know some people have Gossage rated much higher because of his WAR score but I don't. He still looks like a better version of Fingers to me. Perhaps the better way to put it is, I think Fingers and Hoffman are both solid HoFers even if they're closer to the 25th percentile. While the first two followed Wilhem's footsteps in the classic "fireman" role, Hoffman is a modern style closer who has a lot less career IP but actually appeared in more games than Fingers or Gossage.

After those six pitchers comes a number of gray-zone candidates that (a) would not make my HoF if it were the same size as Cooperstown and (b) I would enshrine in the real world HoF if given the choice, since I would be inclined to fill in some gaps and end up with a rather large hall. In order of debut season:

- Kent Tekulve (74)
- Bruce Sutter (76)
- Dan Quisenberry (79)
- Lee Smith (80)
- Tom Henke (82)
- John Franco (84)
- Billy Wagner (95)

So that's a baker's dozen relief pitchers in about 50 years of baseball history. First player that misses my cut? John Wetteland. If only he had pitched a little longer. I'm also undecided about Firpo Marberry as a nod to the real old-school swing pitchers... but ultimately that's what he was, not good enough to make the rotation on a consistent basis (I know that's what they insinuate about post WW-II relievers but there was no defined role at the time).

[jalbright]

The biggest disagreement I have with the above is the characterization of Marberry as a swing pitcher. He won over 60% of his starts. Darned few guys, even supposed aces, can say that. Marberry was good as a closer and as a starter, but the resistance to relievers was so ingrained that his success didn't spawn imitation.

[rsuriyop]

Which relievers do you think are worthy of HoF induction? To qualify, I used all pitchers with 250 saves or WAR of 20.0 (so long as 80% of games were in relief).

Just curious, how do you view John Smoltz since he falls well short of 250 saves, but whom most here would consider HOF worthy?

[Tyrus4189Cobb]

Just curious, how do you view John Smoltz since he falls well short of 250 saves, but whom most here would consider HOF worthy?

I consider him HoF worthy as a starter. He neither has 250 saves nor 80% games in relief

[J W]

The biggest disagreement I have with the above is the characterization of Marberry as a swing pitcher. He won over 60% of his starts. Darned few guys, even supposed aces, can say that. Marberry was good as a closer and as a starter, but the resistance to relievers was so ingrained that his success didn't spawn imitation.

You're right; my statement was too harsh on Firpo. You wouldn't want to vote a "swing pitcher" into any HoF kind of by definition. He was such an oddity though. Early on he really was a spot starter and did most of his work in relief -- he was not viewed as good enough to be in the rotation as he simply threw gas all the time. Once he developed his breaking pitches he saw a lot more starts. So his career path is kind of a reverse of the stereotype "converted starter -> closer" story.

[Freakshow]

Most seasons 2+ WAR with 70% of games in relief:

Rk                     Yrs From   To   Age
1       Mariano Rivera  14 1996 2011 26-41
2         Hoyt Wilhelm  11 1952 1968 29-45
3         Rich Gossage   8 1975 1985 23-33
4         Billy Wagner   7 1999 2010 27-38
5           Doug Jones   7 1988 1999 31-42
6            Lee Smith   7 1982 1991 24-33
7         Kent Tekulve   7 1978 1987 31-40
8       Ron Perranoski   7 1961 1970 25-34
9           Joe Nathan   6 2004 2009 29-34
10      Trevor Hoffman   6 1994 2009 26-41
11   Roberto Hernandez   6 1992 2005 27-40
12          Jay Howell   6 1984 1992 28-36
13     Dan Quisenberry   6 1980 1985 27-32
14        Gary Lavelle   6 1975 1984 26-35
15      Rollie Fingers   6 1975 1982 28-35
16         John Hiller   6 1970 1978 27-35
17         Don McMahon   6 1959 1970 29-40