Reading throughout the post about the All-Century team I continually noticed Koufax popping up as a top 5 pitcher of All-Time. I remember watching the Ken Burns documentary as they discussed Koufax and his 5 years of pitching dominance which will probably never be matched. I never really knew much about Koufax so I did some research because I was going to post about the best pitcher of All-Time. Now I realize that maybe Koufax can't be considered the top pitcher of all time, not ever top 5, 10, 15, or 50th. How is he in the hall of fame? Let me lay out some career stats.
GS-314
W-165
L-87
ERA-2.76
K's-2396
BB's-817
Looking at this I am amazed by his numbers. What a great line to have for a pitcher. Well on his way to 3,000 K's, 300 wins, and 500 starts. Unfortunately Koufax's career was shorted by two things. The first was that for his first 6 season he never recorded more wins than losses. He started his career slow with most of his problems revolving around the control of his blazing fast fastball. He was crazy with the way he threw, "rearing back and hammering out fastballs not caring where it ended up". Coaches warned him to slow down his fastball and get more accuracy but he ignored this. In his first 6 seasons, from 1955 to 1960 he was 36-40 with a 4.04 ERA. During the winter of 1960 he tuned down his speed of his fastball and worked on his accuracy hoping to spark his career. The Dodgers gave him another chance banking on his fastball speed and signed him to a 3 more years. In 1960 he went 18-13 with a 3.52, pretty damn good and he also made his first All-Star game. The next 5 years are perhaps the greatest 5 years in pitching history...
1962- 14-7, 2.54, 216 k's
1963- 25-5, 1.88, 306 k's
1964- 19-5, 1.74, 223 k's
1965- 26-8, 2.04, 382 k's
1966- 27-9, 1.73, 317 k's
Over 5 years he went 111-34 with a 1.96 ERA!!! Unbelievable! He won 3 CY Young's during this time and made 5 All-Star teams while also winning the MVP once and finishing 2nd in MVP votes twice. His postseason is impressive as well going 4-3 with a .95 ERA. This perhaps best solidified his name as legendary when he owned batters during post season play. This bring me to my second point of what shortened his career. Throughout 1964-1966, Koufax was using the new test drug of Cortisone and getting injections in his throwing elbow. Coaches warned him that he threw to hard and they advised him to slow down and learn some other pitches to lengthen his career. "Cocky Koufax" ignored everyone, threw as hard as he could, and cranked out an amazing streak of seasons. He eventually blew his arm out and retired at age 30 after 12 seasons.
It's hard for me to shrug off those 5 season and his post season play but you HAVE too. Considering him in the top 50 and even considering him for the hall of fame is ridiculous. His career numbers are not that great. Tom Seaver and CC Sabathia have similar numbers. He had 5 AMAZING seasons...that's it. That like saying Ricky Williams should go to the Hall of Fame because of his 4 good years. Or that Mickey Mantle and Lour Gherig are the best players ever because they would have smashed records without injuries. What if Ted wouldn't have gone to WWII? What if Griffey would not have gotten hurt? Playing the "what if game" is fun and interesting in sports but it never has effected real life things like Hall of Fame and All-Century teams. It just seems like Koufax was put in because he had the potential to be the best but that's not what is what about.
Now, don't freak out at this comment but is worth discussing. Koufax was a well known Jew and was a leader in the Jewish community. Could his Jewish prominence been a factor in not only his celebrity but also his recognition? Maybe. At the end of the day Koufax was a cocky punk who wouldn't listen to his coaches and continued to throw hard until he blew his arm out. He didn't get 170 wins! He didn't get 2500 K's! If he's in the hall of fame then CC could retire after next season with these numbers and be in:
GS- 341
W-191
L- 106
ERA- 3.50
K's- 2190
BB- 798
More wins, more starts, less walks. Short on K's by a couple hundred and a higher ERA but couldn't CC be considered? I dunno, just seems dumb to reward a guy for a great HALF career.
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I totally agree. And really, that first year of the five isn't that great...14-7. That's like 3rd-5th starter's numbers. Great ERA though. In today's game, if your ace won you 14 games I would assume you won 68 games as a team.
ReplyDeleteReal quick, to go along with your point...not sure why this guys career popped into my head, but check it out:
5 yr comparison 1996-2000. Age 31-35
YR W-L ERA GS CG SHO IP SO
'96 17-11 1.89 32 5 3 233 159 A.S.
'97 16-8 2.69 33 6 2 247 214 A.S.
'98 18-7 2.38 36 7 3 257 225 A.S.
'99 18-9 3.00 35 5 1 252 210
'00 13-6 2.58 33 5 1 230 216 A.S.
Career:
211-144 3.28ERA 72CG 2397 SO
Won 21 games in '92, six time A.S.
While I definitely recognize that over that 5 yr span, Koufax's numbers are better (some by a lot) this guy's numbers are [career wise] better. And this pitcher was pretty damn nasty for a few years, but by no means going to be remembered by future generations beyond ours.
Who is it? Kevin Brown. He received 2.1% of Hall of Fame votes his first year eligible.
Wow. I wish Noah wrote on here more often!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the overall post. Koufax ending his career due to whatever it was (minus maybe WWII) doesn't justify an inclusion into the Hall. Puckett got that nudge too with the pity over his glaucoma in his eyes that suddenly shut down his career when he had 114 RBI's in 113 games when the league went on strike. The Hall would have another hundred members if you started adding people on "what if's." What if we allowed blacks into the league? Probably have a lot more people in the Hall of Fame. Anyway, I agree.
ReplyDeleteOn Noah's first point on his first few years:
Koufax wasn't the ace when he came up. He was 19 years old and couldn't throw a strike to save his life. He barely pitched too.
First three seasons he barely topped 200 IP combined. But walked 108 batters! In 1958 he pitched 158 IP and had 108 walks. Not stellar by any means. He talked the Dodger organization into letting him pitch more often, worked on his changeup and curveball and finally went for more accuracy over power. Then magically he started to dominate. Less walks, more strikeouts, more success.
Still, regardless of where he was the first few years the last five, although arguably the best ever for a five year span, do not justify an inclusion into the Hall.
Is it a coincidence he's Jewish and is in the Hall? I don't know. How many Jewish writers have Hall votes? Hard to say really, there are always "injustices" in the voting (Ricky Henderson not getting 100% because some Tucson writer "didn't like him") for everything. Kevin Brown was NASTY for a long time. Should he be in the Hall? No. Neither should Koufax.
Makes you think the HOF is a joke.
ReplyDeleteThere are about 100 guys in there that shouldn't be and a bunch more that should be in, Pete Rose, Joe Jackson.
Lets do a re-vote on HOF.