Best Pitchers Not in the Hall of Fame

Last year, I took a look at the top ten eligible position players who are not in the Hall of Fame, based solely on the Wins Above Replacement Player statistic. Now, I decided to take a look at the top ten pitchers who have not yet made it into Cooperstown. Whether or not they deserve to be included remains to be seen, although I would argue that at least a few of them certainly are deserving. The list excludes a number of recently retired players (Maddux, Clemens, Glavine, Schilling, etc.) who would be ranked higher than these pitchers. Because they are not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame, they are not included here.

10. Larry Jackson 1955-1968 (55.6)
9. Charlie Buffinton 1882-1892 (56.1)
8. David Cone 1986-2003 (57.5)
7. Jerry Koosman 1967-1985 (58.8)
6. Tommy John 1963-1989 (59.0)
5. Luis Tiant 1964-1982 (60.1)
4. Jim McCormick 1878-1887 (64.7)
3. Kevin Brown 1986-2005 (64.8)
2. Tony Mullane 1881-1894 (65.1)
1. Rick Reuschel 1972-1991 (66.3)

For purpose of comparison, Cy Young is the all-time pitching WAR leader, at 146. Roger Clemens and Walter Johnson are second and third, respectively, with 128.4 and 127.7. Interestingly, while most of the top position players who are not in the Hall of Fame are recently retired, only Cone and Brown have just recently become eligible. All of the other players have had years of consideration for the Hall of Fame, with some, such as Tiant and John, becoming controversial borderline candidates. If it were up to me, both of them would be in Cooperstown, and I would probably give some consideration to Tony Mullane, although I'm not too familiar with him or other 19th century players. The other seven, however, I would say would not end up on my ballot if I had a say in it.