Quote: Originally posted by mattedesa on 1/09/2010In case anyone hasn't had enough of the Blyleven debate, this guy puts up some really good arguments (without calling people idiots and blockheads).
I second matt's review. Posnanski wrote one of the best pieces avaliable arguing Blyleven for the Hall. In case people skipped it, I'm going to post a portion of his argument below. In this section, Posnanski responds directly to the people, such as Trentonjoe, concerned about the lack of Cy Young/All Star appearances:
I know many people don’t like giving credit for longevity. And that’s because longevity is kind of boring. They would point out that Blyleven only led the league in strikeouts once rather than pointing out that he had 200-plus Ks eight times (only Hall of Famers have done it that many times). They would point out that Blyelven made just two All-Star teams without noticing that he was a second-half pitcher — he was 115-84 with a 2.93 ERA in August, September and October throughout his career.
People would point out that Blyleven only once led the league in ERA+ without mentioning that he finished second three times and in the Top 5 seven times. They would point out that twice, later in his career, he gave up record-setting home run numbers without pointing out that over a long career his home run rate was better than Niekro, Sutton, Marichal, Bunning, Unit, Morris, Eckersley, Robin Roberts, Fergie and Catfish among many others. People point at wins and losses without considering that Bert Blyleven played for teams that were sub-.500 when he was not pitching. And he lost 99 quality starts in his career (fifth most since 1954) and he had 79 quality start no decisions (11th most). He lost 139 games when he pitched at least seven innings — more than any pitcher since 1954. I’m just saying there might be more than seems obvious at first glance.
The reason I put up the remarkable number of shutouts Blyleven had in an earlier post was not to say that those shutouts should qualify him for the Hall of Fame but only point out … that he had a remarkable number of shutouts. The thing that I think Blyleven has going against him — aside from him falling 13 victories short of 300 — is the enduring image that he was not a great pitcher. He did not win a Cy Young. He did not make many All-Star teams. He did not excite kids when they got his baseball card. The idea that Blyleven was wildly unappreciated in his time does not rest easy in the mind. If he was that good, dammit, we would have noticed.
Well, as far as I know, a shutout is pretty much the best thing a pitcher can do for his team. He doesn’t do it alone, of course, but he’s the main component. And only eight pitchers in baseball history — only THREE pitchers since Deadball — threw more shutouts than Bert Blyleven. Of course, all three of those pitchers — Spahn (three more shutouts), Ryan and Seaver (one more, as mentioned) — were slam dunk, first ballot, no doubt Hall of Famers. In fact, as Rich Lederer has pointed out, every single one of the Top 20 shutout pitchers in baseball history are in the Hall of Fame … except Blyleven.
I’ll give you one more statistic — something to think about (I hope). There are shutouts. And then there are SHUTOUTS. I suspect that if a shutout is great, a super-shutout is even better. What’s a super-shutout? Right: 1-0. That’s the stuff of legend. Your team scrapes together one run and the pitcher makes that run stand up — they’ll write songs for that guy. Jack Morris did it in the World Series and is still remembered for it. Winning 1-0 is magical.
Well, you know what’s coming now.
Bert Blyleven won FIFTEEN 1-0 victories in his career. And I will bet you that no one — certainly no one in fifty or sixty years — had more 1-0 shutouts. I looked at the obvious choices and I have not found anyone yet.
At a glance (since 1954):
Steve Carlton won 12.
Gaylord Perry won 12.
Greg Maddux won 11.
Nolan Ryan won 11.
Fergie Jenkins won 11.
Sandy Koufax won 10.
Bob Gibson won 9.
Jim Palmer won 9.
Don Drysdale won 9.
Tom Seaver won 8.
Juan Marichal won 7.
Phil Niekro won 6.
Whitey Ford won 6
Catfish Hunter won 5.
Jack Morris won 5.
Jim Bunning won 4.
Randy Johnson won 4
Roger Clemens won 3.
Pedro Martinez won 3.
Look, the idea is not to convince you that Bert Blyleven belongs in the Hall of Fame. Of course I believe that. The idea is to convince anyone who cares that there might be more to the career. And that Blyleven was damned good.
Look: There are 38 starters in the Hall of Fame since Deadball. Blyleven’s 118 ERA+ puts him in the middle third, his 287 wins would rank ninth overall, his 3,701 strikeouts would rank third, his 60 shutouts would rank fourth, his won-loss percentage would be low but still ahead of four others. By the readily available Hall of Fame standards, it seems to me pretty obvious he’s a Hall of Famer.