...as applies to HoF credentials.
I was thinking about it in terms of Schilling, who most here seem to rate at least a 3 and many rate a sure thing. I've never thought of him as a HoF pitcher- doesn't have any of the lofty numbers and was pretty much an average pitcher for the first half of his career. Mind you the same can be said for Koufax, but he dominated the league just a bit more. Imagine no bloody sock- is he still anything close to a sure thing? Barely 200 wins, an ERA+ for his career that's tied for 49th all time with folks like Kevin Brown and Sal Maglie (plus Seaver, surprisingly). It may be my prejudice as I've never liked the man, but I think he's borderline at best.
I also had a friend of mine absolutely insist that "big game pitcher" Jack Morris had to go in- high career ERA and all- while Bert Blyleven shouldn't, despite the far superior regular season numbers and comparable post-season ones besides (just without the one 'legendary' game).
So how much truth is there in it? And how much does the perception help? It didn't help Morris any- as it shouldn't've- but what about Schilling or others?
I was thinking about it in terms of Schilling, who most here seem to rate at least a 3 and many rate a sure thing. I've never thought of him as a HoF pitcher- doesn't have any of the lofty numbers and was pretty much an average pitcher for the first half of his career. Mind you the same can be said for Koufax, but he dominated the league just a bit more. Imagine no bloody sock- is he still anything close to a sure thing? Barely 200 wins, an ERA+ for his career that's tied for 49th all time with folks like Kevin Brown and Sal Maglie (plus Seaver, surprisingly). It may be my prejudice as I've never liked the man, but I think he's borderline at best.
I also had a friend of mine absolutely insist that "big game pitcher" Jack Morris had to go in- high career ERA and all- while Bert Blyleven shouldn't, despite the far superior regular season numbers and comparable post-season ones besides (just without the one 'legendary' game).
So how much truth is there in it? And how much does the perception help? It didn't help Morris any- as it shouldn't've- but what about Schilling or others?
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