(12-12-2017 04:04 PM)stever20 Wrote: (12-12-2017 03:58 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote: (12-11-2017 04:06 PM)stever20 Wrote: he was the best AL pitcher of the 80's. bar none.
cuz fWAR? Come on...
What AL pitcher for the entire decade was better?
First, we need to address your premise: That the best pitcher, from one league, for some arbitrary 10 year period necessarily belongs in the HoF. I reject that. It is perfectly plausible that NO AL pitcher from a given time period belongs. The reason baseball stats are so important is because they ARE generally comparable across eras, and it is ok to say that a given pitcher doesn't have HOF stats even though he may have been one of the best over some cherry-picked duration. But if you want to make an argument that the 80s AL was particularly hitter-friendly and therefore a higher ERA is ok, I'm ready to listen to your sales pitch.
That said, Morris certainly wasn't dominant. Successful? Absolutely! According to bWAR, here are the top 12 pitchers of the 80s:
Stieb 45.2
Welch 35.1
Valenzuela 34.8
Blyleven 34
Hershiser 32.8
Clemens 32.3
Ryan 30.8
Gooden 30.2
Tudor 29.7
Saberhagen 29.0
Hough 28.7
Morris 27.9
A lot of good pitchers on this list NOT in the HoF. (ETA: and several pitched only a portion of the 80s).
I get that fWAR says differently so let's head back to my first point. Morris's total fWAR is 55.8 (avg of 3.1) but his best 10: only 42.1. How is an average of 4.2, for his very best years, HOF material, unless you can argue that the 1980s AL was some kind of hitters' paradise (which we all know is untrue)?
Why is Morris in when Mussina, Reuschel, Gooden, and Kevin Brown (among others) aren't, with higher fWAR and fewer innings? Saberhagen another interesting example, with virtually same fWAR on 1000 fewer IP than Morris. Try making an argument without saying "cuz 80s".