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Clayton Kershaw: Hall of Famer?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jul 27, 2014.

  1. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    Obviously, there are people who have used recreational drugs who got into the Hall, but I think drugs ruining your career is probably not looked up very favorably by voters. That said, his ERA and record are very good despite everything. I think he was two more good seasons from getting in.
     
  2. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Man, I hate this narrative about Gooden. He was coked out of his mind in both 1987 and 1988, and pitched great.

    His career was derailed BECAUSE HE BLEW OUT HIS SHOULDER in 1989 (probably by being overused by Davey Johnson), not because of drug use.
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    See, I suspect that the Mets having him throw an ungodly number of innings at age 19 and 20 is likely just as responsible for his drop-off as recreational drugs. He threw 276 innings at age 20, and 250 at age 21.

    The Nationals probably won't let Strasburg break the 150 innings mark until he's 35.
     
  4. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Quoting this because I bumped the thread to the next page, and we made the same point almost simultaneously.
     
  5. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Exactly. Drugs & alcohol ruined a ton of careers, including Gooden's teammate Darryl Strawberry.

    Gooden got hurt.
     
  6. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I'm guessing multiple drug suspensions that made him miss a nice chunk of time from 1992-95 didn't help his Hall chances.
     
  7. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    780 innings before his 22nd birthday.

    Man, they let 'em go back then, huh? But that 1985 season was something else.
     
  8. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    He was a beast.
     
  9. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    He also threw 191 innings in Class A at age 18:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gooden001dwi
     
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    '85. This crushed me for weeks. That slow, cocky trot to boot.

    http://m.mlb.com/video/v20045845/
     
  11. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Back to Kershaw for a second ... what's setting him apart (and, yes, from even The Great Santana) is the SO/W of 9.400 this season. That's crazy. That would be eighth all-time if the season ended today, with a chance to get into the top five. (Iwakuma, BTW, is pushing Saberhagen's 1994 for best ever, at 11.0.)

    He is second in the majors in K/9 and yet still third in fewest pitches per inning.
     
  12. Rainman

    Rainman Well-Known Member

    It's a darn shame about Santana.

    In 2006 he had 233.2 IP, a 162 ERA+, a WHIP of 0.997, a K/9 of 9.4 and he led the league in wins... with 19. He started 34 games that season, led the league. Put him in the 60s/70s and he would have had 4-5 more starts a year to play with.

    Look at Johan's numbers compared to Dizzy Dean and they actually compare favorably IMO. Johan's numbers are spread out a bit more among his 12 seasons than Dean's in his 12 seasons... but they're close in IP, win%, ERA+ and WHIP. Both of them had 3-4 consecutive seasons where they led the league in strikeouts. Dean has his 150 wins, Santana may not get there.
     
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