Sal Maglie - Potential?

[1905 Giants]

I'm was looking at Sal Maglie and I was wondering, do you think that had his career started earlier (he didn't start in the majors until he was 28 and then was banned from baseball due to the Mexican League until age 33 after only one season) that he would have had a chance for the Hall?

Career Notes:
119-62 Record
.657 Winning Percentage
127 ERA+
1 ERA Lead
1 Win Lead
25 Shutouts
2 All-Star Games
3 Top Ten MVP Votes
1 Top Ten Cy Young
5 Top Ten Pitching WAR
4 Top Ten Win Finishes
6 Top Ten in Shutouts
3 ERA+ Wins and 5 top ten overall


Quotes Regarding Maglie:
"Sal's a great pitcher, and I'll tell you why- three curves and the guts of a burglar." - Leo Durocher

"The Barber's curve is probably sharper than your razor." - Baseball Digest

Most Similar Pitchers include Mort Cooper, Gary Nolan, Jeff Tesreau, Max Lanier, and Larry Jansen

[Gee Walker]

He has about half of a HOF career from age 33 on - but even if you fill in 1946-1949 with 20-win seasons with 250 IP, he still doesn't get to 200 wins or 3000 IP.

You really can't give him much before 1945, even when you consider war credit. At age 23 (1940) he went 3-11 with an ugly ERA in a combination of D and AA ball. The next year he was demoted to A ball and had a pretty good year, which got him traded to the Giants and AA in 1942. You can probably guess what happened to him in 1943 and 1944.

[Steven Gallanter]

He has about half of a HOF career from age 33 on - but even if you fill in 1946-1949 with 20-win seasons with 250 IP, he still doesn't get to 200 wins or 3000 IP.

You really can't give him much before 1945, even when you consider war credit. At age 23 (1940) he went 3-11 with an ugly ERA in a combination of D and AA ball. The next year he was demoted to A ball and had a pretty good year, which got him traded to the Giants and AA in 1942. You can probably guess what happened to him in 1943 and 1944.

Yeah, that is about right. Maglie developed his curve in Mexico and he wasn't anything special until then although he pitched very little. His peak was a high one and he was a memorable player and immortalized in BALL FOUR, "looks a little like Snoopy doing the vulture bit."
stevegallanter.wordpress.com

[Cowtipper]

Here's a related thread for Maglie if you are interested.

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?89548-Sal-Maglie

[1905 Giants]

Thanks Cowtipper

[Fuzzy Bear]

There are guys today with stats like Maglie’s that we’d be discussing left and right. Of course, we now live in a more specialized era with few decisions for starters and fewer 20-game winners.

Based on 1950-52, Maglie clearly had HOF potential. His performance during those years was the performance of a star starting pitcher. Had he been called up, had he not gone to Mexico, he may well have been a 200 game winner with a couple of 20-win seasons, and that would have put him in the HOF discussion.