Hall of Fame Locks: Pitchers
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by user Jgov05
More so than the batters, we are seeing many all-time great pitchers today. We arguably are seeing the best starter ever in Roger Clemens and the best closer ever in Mariano Rivera. In fact, there are 8 total pitchers, who, in my opinion, deserve a Hall Call. Let's take a look at them and their major stats to see how they stack up.
| Pitcher Name | Wins | ERA | WHIP | Saves | All Stars | Cy Youngs | World Series Titles | Playoff ERA |
| Roger Clemens | 345 | 3.12 | 1.17 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 3.71 |
| Greg Maddux | 328 | 3.06 | 1.13 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3.22 |
| Randy Johnson | 276 | 3.19 | 1.16 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 3.28 |
| Pedro Martinez | 206 | 2.77 | 1.02 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3.40 |
| Tom Glavine | 287 | 3.46 | 1.31 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3.58 |
| John Smoltz | 187 | 3.26 | 1.17 | 154 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2.66 |
| Mariano Rivera | 58 | 2.29 | 1.04 | 410 | 5 | 0 | 4 | .81 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 49 | 2.73 | 1.05 | 467 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3.75 |
As you can see there are a few absolute stone-cold locks, including Clemens and Maddux. Rivera and Johnson are just slightly behind but shoo-ins as well.
Then come the iffy pitchers. While Glavine and his near-300 win total will (and should) get him in, Smoltz is questionable. I chose him because he has been an anchor during the Braves' 14 year division title run and has proved himself dominant as a starter and closer. His resume, with nearly 200 wins and 154 saves, is certainly unique.
With Hoffman, many will not vote him in based on his lack of playoff appearances. However, he will retire the all-time saves leader and his stats prove more dominant than many may remember him. If he reaches 500 saves (which he should), that will be an eye-popping statistic.
Martinez needs a few more years to acheive "retire today and get in status," but his excellent play has been well-chronicled on these pages. You know why he should make it. His run from 1997 to 2003 was incredible.
So that wraps it up. These are your future Hall of Famers and you get to see them every week. Make you feel a little more lucky now?
Next week I'll do the batters.
Date
Wed 08/16/06, 6:20 pm EST
