Clayton Kershaw: Hall of Famer?

Agreed on all counts ... and this from a Giants fan.

 

1. Kershaw ain't retiring tomorrow.

2. If there were some abrupt and tragic end to his career in the next couple years, Addie Joss would probably be the strongest historical precedent:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jossad01.shtml

3. If he pitched five more years as a .500 pitcher, he's in in a breeze.

 

If Kershaw got hurt, retired or died tomorrow, he's not eligible for the Hall of Fame. You have to play 10 years. He's only played seven.

But yes, he's certainly on a Hall of Fame track.

 

I agree with this. And people need to stop using Koufax for the comparison to modern-day pitchers, especially when Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez exist.

Koufax' career ended for reasons having nothing to do with anything that happened on the field. That is treated differently than someone whose career is altered for something that happens on the field.

 

I don't believe Koufax ruined his elbow taking out the trash or working on his car.

 

I thought he had an eye issue too. Maybe I was thinking of someone else.

 

Kirby Puckett.

 

I knew about Puckett, but for some reason, I thought Koufax had some eye issue as well. Obviously, I was wrong.

I still think the Koufax comparison for current pitchers is a bad one, much like when running backs who have short careers point should not be compared to Gale Sayers.

 

Johan Santana should make it, if this thread is any indication.

 

No, Koufax quit because of his elbow. At the time it was described as "arthritis," but many have speculated, including some doctors, that he was pitching with a torn UCL by the end.

These days, he would have been fixed with Tommy John surgery. But he was eight years too early for that.

 

I think he probably will.

 

Because the lowest ERA of his career was 2.53 or because his overall number is 4.85?