If Randy Johnson doesn't make the Hall of Fame, I'm burning it down personally. As far as pitchers go, in this day and age, it's rare and special to have been able to watch a Hall of Fame quality pitcher. As far as active surefire Hall of Famers go, at this point you can only say Johnson, Tom Glavine, Trev Hoffman, and Mo Rivera.
A lot has been made over the past couple of days that there may never be another 300 game winner, and if there is, he hasn't been born yet.
I disagree. I think CC Sabathia has a shot at it, barring injury of course.
CC Sabathia has 122 wins so far at 28 years of age. He's been pitching in the big leagues for 9 years now, which is 13.55 wins per season. Let's say he keeps that pace for another 13 years until he's 41 and has 22 seasons in his career (Johnson is in his 22nd season). That will give Sabathia 298 career wins.
If Sabathia can get to 298 by his 22nd season, someone will pick him up for his 23rd to give him the chance to get to 300.
Carston Charles Sabathia, prove them wrong, and prove me right!
Something else that has been batted around is what hat Randy Johnson will wear on his Hall of Fame plaque.
That is a really good question.
Montreal? Seattle? Houston? Arizona? NY? SF?
Montreal, Houston, NY and SF are eliminated by lack of games, so it's between Seattle and Arizona.
The numbers are close:
Seattle:
1838.3 IP
130 Wins
3.417 ERA
2162 K
Arizona:
1630.3 IP
118 Wins
2.832 ERA
2077 K
Looking at the above, you would probably give the nod to Seattle. But after taking a look at the achievements, it's a no-brainer.
Seattle:
All Star Games: 5
Cy Young Award: 1
Cy Young Runner Up: 2
Arizona:
All Star Games: 5
Cy Young Awards: 4 (99-02; yes. four seasons in a row)
Cy Young Runner Up: 1
NL Triple Crown: 1 (02)
World Series
World Series MVP
I had forgotten just how amazingly dominant Randy Johnson was when he was with the Diamondbacks. His cap is a Diamondbacks one, no question.
Some people will remember Randy Johnson for his mullet.
Some will remember him for hitting a bird with a pitch and making it explode
Others will remember him for his "get out of my face" confrontation with the New York media
But I will always remember him for his Bodyblade commercials back in the day. (I couldn't find the commercial so I made a composite image in order to convey what this may have looked like)
Big Unit. Best lefty in the past 40 years. Congrats again.
Randy Johnson is awesome. but best lefty? really... I'd say sandy koufax, but im biased. or ol' tommy glavine, only cuz i like his stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah from what I can gather about Koufax, he was sick, but that's why I qualified it as best lefty in the past 40 years. Koufax's last season was in 1966.
ReplyDeleteTom Glavine on the other hand, you could definitely make the argument for, but in terms of measurables that are individual stats, Johnson has the edge in Ks (4845 - 2607) ERA (3.28 - 3.54) and Cy Youngs (5-2). Glavine has wins (305-300) and that's about it.
On the other hand Glavine has more postseason wins and appearances, but they have the same number of rings, and postseason success in baseball shouldn't really be used as a tiebreaker, in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong I think Tom Glavine was awesome but I think Big Unit has him beat just because his stats and achievements are more impressive.