Posted by italyprof on 2/22/2015 6:24:00 AM (view original):
Is it just me thinking this?
Nothing to take away from Kershaw, Verlander, Hernandez, Harvey, Wainwright etc. all of whom deserve the praise they receive.
But Johnny Cueto has for some years seemed to me to be right up there in the elite and to not get quite the same notice or respect.
Granted, I live overseas and miss some things, especially in contemporary baseball and often am catching up a season or so late on things: the opposite of the damned in Dante's Inferno who could see the future but not the present or past, so as time moved on they would see less and less and eventually nothing as an eternal punishment (obligatory Italian culture and literature reference).
Here are Cueto's numbers: (lifetime WHIP of 1.17 in 6 seasons and almost 200 games pitched)
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/28955/johnny-cueto
Here is one list from 2013 that did not even list him among the top 11 starters:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1661589-mlbs-best-starting-pitchers-ranking-the-top-10/page/1
You read it here first folks !
Though I am technically rooting for the Mets (since if I don't pretty much everyone I know will kill me - Mets fans have no sense of humor - ask Willie Randolph), and though I would not count them out because....1969 and 1986 (very weird ways to win World Series), a great historic baseball city, and even a nice town like Kansas City winning a Series would not be an entirely unwelcome thing (I write safely 7,000 miles from all my friends who would as aforementioned kill me for writing this). KC fans were at the forefront of the demand for a more equitable distribution of baseball resources in the 1990s, rightly so.
Still it ain't over.
But remember: italyprof, right about Cueto, right about Greinke v. Guidry, right about capitalism. ..
ADDENDUM:
In the interest of fair play and transparency, I feel that I am obligated however to post this box score from just this morning in which Greinke kicked the *** of one of my theme league teams 3-2. Though he only went 6.2 IP and needed bullpen help (Guidry woulda gone the distance against us !):
https://www.whatifsports.com/slb/Boxscore.aspx?gid=25485585&pid=1&pbp=0&tf=9.95
So I stand by my Guidry over Greinke position, consider my view of Cueto confirmed by events, and point out that no new evidence suggesting that capitalism is very nice has come to light recently.
10/29/2015 6:07 AM (edited)