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A debate has begun about whether or not Randy Johnson is the greatest lefty ever, so I've been doing some research. Johnson trails only Spahn, Carlton, Plank and Glavine in Wins. No fewer than 83 lefties had a better ERA including HOFers Spahn, Carlton, Plank, Ruth, Waddell, Ford, Koufax, Hubbell, Newhouser and Grove (bear in mind that many of the 83 pitched in the deadball era). Eight past and present lefties have a better winning percentage: Ford, Gullett, Santana, Grove, Ruth, Koufax, Guidry and Gomez. In innings pitched Johnson trails only Spahn, Carlton, John, Kaat, Plank, Rixey, Glavine and Tanana. He is first in K's, and only Santana has a better K/BB ratio. I think Johnson is a first ballot HOFer but that Koufax and Carlton were slightly more overpowering in their prime. Spahn (the winningest lefty ever) was a finesse pitcher. Any thoughts?
If only Sandy Koufax's arm could have lasted. His first couple years with the Dodgers were inconsistent, but those last 5 or 6 years-man oh manichevitz! Those years were just powerful. I'll never forget the 1963 World Series opener with Koufax pitching. He just completely dominated the Yankees like nothing I ever could have imagined. And he was going up against a fellow future HOFer himself-Whity Ford. That over the top curve ball of his-SHEESH! And his fastball-you kidding me?
If only he could have pitched in this era and the surgery and medical techniques they have now as supposed to getting pain shot after pain shot which was basically all you had back then.
I agree with Double H on Koufax. Few have ever had a stretch of dominance like Koufax had in the early sixties. If his career had been equivalent in length to those of Carlton, Glavine, Johnson and others, I can't begin to imagine what his numbers would look like.
Koufax was the best lefty I have seen if looking at "peak" pitching performance.
Over the course of a career, I'd probably go with Spahn though. I only got a look at him towards the end of his career, but he was still getting 20 wins when he was over 40 years old. Also, had over 20 complete games in a season when he was over 40. Think many pitchers can go over 250 innings today? Spahn did it 16 out of 17 seasons, just missing by four innings at age 34.
Keep in mind, though he won 363 games, he lost three plus prime seasons to military service.
New to CA. makes a solid point. Longevity. 363 wins over two decades-AWESOME! Another thing that is awesome is that Warren, like a lot of players, enlisted in the service during WW-II.Like New to Ca pointed out, he missed three seasons very early in his career, was in a number of battles, notably the Battle Of The Bulge. If he had those three years to work with, he would have gone over 400 wins easily. I was lucky to see him pitch as a kid. I grew up in Denver and for a couple years Denver was the AAA farm club of the Braves. The Braves came in for an exhibition game and Spahn pitched three innings, as did Lew Burdette. It was really cool!
A quick note on Spahn. In one game (I'm thinking the '64 season, maybe earlier), Spahn and Juan Marichial hooked up in a 15 inning game that San Francisco eventually won in the 15th inning when Willie Mays hit a home run to win it. That would never happen in todays game as the pitchers hardly ever go nine innings, much less 15 innings. He was an incredible pitcher.
New to CA. makes a solid point. Longevity. 363 wins over two decades-AWESOME! Another thing that is awesome is that Warren, like a lot of players, enlisted in the service during WW-II.Like New to Ca pointed out, he missed three seasons very early in his career, was in a number of battles, notably the Battle Of The Bulge. If he had those three years to work with, he would have gone over 400 wins easily. I was lucky to see him pitch as a kid. I grew up in Denver and for a couple years Denver was the AAA farm club of the Braves. The Braves came in for an exhibition game and Spahn pitched three innings, as did Lew Burdette. It was really cool!
A quick note on Spahn. In one game (I'm thinking the '64 season, maybe earlier), Spahn and Juan Marichial hooked up in a 15 inning game that San Francisco eventually won in the 15th inning when Willie Mays hit a home run to win it. That would never happen in todays game as the pitchers hardly ever go nine innings, much less 15 innings. He was an incredible pitcher.
That was a very remarkable performance, July 2, 1963. Here is the boxscore, in case anyone is skeptical:
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Lefty!
