Running Red Sox thread

Lynn had a few good years

 

Again, Koufax still has some of the greatest pitching seasons of all-time. Rice's peak was great, but nowhere near the best of all-time.

Arguable by Red Sox fans, perhaps. For most of that stretch he was clearly not the best hitter in baseball. It's also worth noting that Rice was helped enormously by playing at Fenway. For that '77-'79 period, Rice's home OPS was an average of 1.105 while his average road OPS was only 0.844. So in Fenway he was the most feared hitter in baseball from 1977 through 1979, but in any other park he was still good but not great.

 

Clearly? Really? Who was better? And while you're making that list, you should probably just go ahead and make another one naming the other players who were penalized for what park they played in.

 

From '77 to '79 you could easily argue that Rice was the best hitter, especially if you choose to overlook home/road splits, although George Foster would give him a real run for his money. He also had another great year in '83. Outside of those, he was eclipsed at various times by Johnny Bench, Ricky Henderson, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Dale Murphy, Pedro Guerrero, George Brett, and later Don Mattingly. Those guys didn't necessarily have better careers or even better peaks than Rice, but at various times they were better hitters in those seasons than he was.

 

Koufax was insane 1963-66, and solid in 61 and 62. That's it. Before that, he was trying to figure things out, then retired cause of a sore elbow. Other players are held back because their career nosedived, yet he retires with 165 wins, and is worshipped? He barely made it to qualify for the Hall of Fame. You need to play in 10 seasons, he pitched in 12 with two apprearing in less than 20 games as a 19 and 20 year old.

Plus, Koufax piled up these stats near the closing of the pitching era, right before the mound was lowered five inches after the 1968 season. He had a couple of pitchers on his heels for those ERA titles, unlike Maddux being a run lower in the roid era.

 

And Koufax did a lot of damage at Dodger Stadium, a great pitcher's ballpark.

 

Ballparks affect the outcome of batted balls, not strikeouts, and Koufax had three seasons of 300+.

 

so did Curt Schilling, and just missed a fourth season with 293. Is he a sure fire HOFer?

 

Good point, although I don't think Schilling was ever perceived as the most dominant pitcher of his era. As for whether or not he's Hall-worthy, I think so, but we'll have to see.

 

youk signed through 2012 for $41 MM with club option for 2013 at another $14 MM. there's a deal and a half. basically half the cost of Teixiera.