In the history of baseball, no position has been more misunderstood by Hall of Fame voters than relief pitcher. Let me give you the most graphic illustration I can. Here are two relief pitchers, A and B, who both pitched from the late 1970s through the late 1980s.
Pitcher A - In 12 seasons he posted a .489 winning percentage, 300 saves, 5 save titles, 1042 innings pitched in 661 games, and a 2.83 ERA. He managed 5 top-10 MVP finishes, 5 top-10 Cy Young Award finishes, 4 Rolaids Relief Awards and 6 All-Star selections. In the post-season he posted a 3.00 ERA in 6 games, with a 2-0 record and 3 saves.
Pitcher B - In 12 seasons he posted a .549 winning percentage, 244 saves, 5 save titles, 1043.3 innings pitched in 674 games, and a 2.76 ERA. He managed 4 top-10 MVP finishes, 5 top-10 Cy Young finishes, 5 Rolaids Relief Awards and 3 All-Star selections. In the post-season he posted a 3.30 ERA in 18 games, with a 3-4 record and 3 saves.
In addition to these numbers, each man was part of one World Championship team and was known for the invention of a new pitch or pitching style. Each man threw a sinker as his out pitch. Each pitched for three teams.
You're probably not going to find two pitchers with more similar results, particularly since their careers overlapped. Pitcher A is Bruce Sutter while Pitcher B is the late, great Dan Quisenberry.
Obviously the two men had widely divergent styles, with Sutter being a power pitcher and Quiz a finesse pitcher, but results are results. The only thing Sutter did that Quisenberry didn't was win a Cy Young Award, but that's a pretty dubious distinction when we realize the Quiz finished 2nd to a woefully undeserving LaMarr Hoyt in 1983 and 3rd behind equally undeserving Pete Vuckovich and Jim Palmer in 1982.
Why, then, did Sutter receive 137 votes for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility while Quisenberry received just 18? Why is Sutter still on the ballot, with his support growing to a peak of 245 votes last year, while Quisenberry was removed after his first year for not receiving the necessary 5%? Because Sutter struck out more hitters? Using that argument means that Mark Langston must be more qualified for the Hall of Fame than Carl Hubbell or that Frank Tanana was better than Whitey Ford.
No, it's simply a screw-up by the voters. Sutter and Quisenberry had interchangeable careers but the voters are too dim to realize it.
They're also too dim to realize that they're voting for the wrong reliever. I don't believe either Sutter or Quisenberry should be in the Hall of Fame, but with the momentum he's been gaining it's pretty clear that the voters will either elect Sutter or at least make him a near miss. And since past history indicates that it's highly unlikely that two pure relievers are going to be elected together, every vote for Sutter is effectively a vote against Rich Gossage. Unfortunately, Gossage is the reliever that most deserves election.
There are only two pure relievers in the Hall as of now. The reasons for this are myriad, beginning with the fact that the relief specialist role didn't really evolve until Hoyt Wilhelm came along. The save wasn't recognized as an official statistic for many years and is considered to be a meaningless statistic by many to this day. After all, how meaningful can it be if the top save man ever in a single season is Bobby Thigpen?
I understand these reasons, but it's about time Hall of Fame voters woke up and realized that the role of relief specialist isn't going away. That being the case, they had better start recognizing those that set the standard for the role.
They have already done so by electing Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers. Well, if Wilhelm and Fingers are the standard for Hall relievers, then inducting Gossage is the next logical step. Here is his case:
Gossage pitched for 22 seasons, more than either Fingers or Wilhelm. His winning percentage of .537 is better than Fingers (.491) and almost identical to Wilhelm (.540). After adjustments for his leagues and his home ballparks, Gossage's career ERA+ of 126 (the higher the number the better), was better than Fingers (119) but trailed Wilhelm (146). He had more saves, 310, than Wilhelm (227) but trailed Fingers (341). He struck out more men per nine innings than either man while surrendering fewer hits per nine innings than Fingers. His career total of 1,002 games is 6th all-time, more than Fingers (944) but less than Wilhelm (1,070).
Clearly, statistics for the three indicate that Gossage compares well. Accolades for the three were mixed, with Gossage and Fingers being essentially equal and Wilhelm trailing behind. Gossage was a 9-time All-Star and compiled two top-10 MVP finishes and five top-10 Cy Young finishes. Fingers went to just 7 All-Star games, had two top-10 MVP finishes and four top-10 Cy Young finishes, but he won the AL MVP and Cy Young in 1981. Almost certainly due to his trailblazing status, Wilhelm didn't receive nearly as much recognition. He was selected to 5 All-Star games, but managed just one top-10 MVP finish and was never in the top-10 in Cy Young voting.
All of these facts are convincing, along with the fact that each man was part of at least one World Champion, had solid post-season numbers and weren't one-innings specialists. (Each man averaged about two innings per appearance.) But the absolute clincher for me is a measurement invented by Bill James (aren't they all). It's called Similarity Scores and it is essentially designed to determine which players were similar to each other, with 1000 being a perfect match and 0 being no match at all.
So, who is the pitcher most similar to Hoyt Wilhelm? Why Rich Gossage of course. The two have a Similarity Score of 889. And who is the pitcher most similar to Rollie Fingers? That, too, would be Rich Gossage. He and Fingers combine for a 918 score. (FYI - Sutter and Quisenberry combine for a score of 902.)
With few exceptions (i.e. ERA+ and Similarity Scores), every statistic listed above is among the group that Hall voters regularly consult when they make their selections. So why on Earth did more of them vote for Bruce Sutter than Rich Gossage in each of the last two elections? Beats me.
Despite the fact that I have spent my entire life despising the New York Yankees, I can't deny the fact that The Goose belongs in Cooperstown.
Now if only the voters would quit denying the obvious too.
» You can read more of Paul's work at www.lostinleftfield.com.
Also by Paul White
» My 2002 Hall of Fame Ballot - The Starters I Left Behind
» My 2002 Hall of Fame Ballot: Slot #4, Jim Rice
» My 2002 Hall of Fame Ballot: Trammell & Smith
» My 2002 Hall of Fame Ballot: Slot #1, Gary Carter
» Happy Birthday Bob Elliott
» 3,000 Hits That Don't Belong in Cooperstown
» Frankie Frisch's Sad Legacy: The Cheapening of The Hall of Fame
» Babe's MVP Snubs
» The Schalk-Schang Redemption: Two Men Who Prove That The Hall of Fame Veterans Committee Was a Sham
» Being Tony Muser
» More submissions
Copyright © 2002 by Paul White. Posted January 3, 2002.
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