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Top 14 WHIP of all-time

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Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,446
170
Was on baseball-reference and found this really interesting. Take the top 10 SP WHIPS of all time (minimum 1000 innings pitched) and look at when they pitched:

1. Addie Joss 1902-1910
2. Ed Walsh 1904-1917
3. Monte Ward 1878-1884
5. Christy Mathewson 1900-1916
6. Walter Johnson 1907-1927
7. Mordecia Brown 1903-1916
8. Charlie Sweeney 1883-1887
9. Reb Russell 1913-1919
10. Jim Devlin 1875-1877
11. Smoky Joe Wood 1908-1920
12. George Bailey 1875-1884
13. Tommy Bond 1874-1884
14. Babe Adams 1906-1926

You may have noticed I skipped #4...

4. Pedro Martinez 1992-2009
 
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MisterT

Well-known member
Mar 7, 2011
2,609
36
Virginia
All but Pedro make sense. Let's not forget that it was called the dead ball era for a reason. They used the same ball all game. It got harder and harder to hit as the game went on (dirty, soft, uneven, etc.)

As was said above, Pedro is the man. I guess I did not fully appreciate what I was seeing when I watched him.
 

rawonion

Member
Feb 7, 2010
64
0
Lawrenceville, GA
It's hard to use WHIP to compare pitcher's from about pre-1920 to post-1920.

1. Five of those top pitchers pitched before 1889, when four balls became a walk. Before that it was 8 until 1884 when it became 6 and then 5 in 1887.
2. In 1893 the pitchers mound was moved from 50 to 60 feet 6 inches, where it is today.
3. There was no restriction on the height of the pitchers mound until 1904 when it was to be at most 15 inches. That was how it was until 1969 when it was lowered to 10 inches, where it is today.
4. Pitchers didn't really have any restrictions on pitching that they have today when it comes to their delivery until about 1920.
5. All freak deliveries, including the spitball, were outlawed in 1920. Not sure exactly what deliveries other than a spitball were of the "freak" variety.

This doesn't take anything away from Pedro. To be on this list and not have the advantages the others had speaks volumes to what he did during his career.

Source: Baseball Rule Change Timeline
 

sportscardtheory

Active member
Aug 16, 2008
8,461
2
Buffalo, New York
It's hard to use WHIP to compare pitcher's from about pre-1920 to post-1920.

1. Five of those top pitchers pitched before 1889, when four balls became a walk. Before that it was 8 until 1884 when it became 6 and then 5 in 1887.
2. In 1893 the pitchers mound was moved from 50 to 60 feet 6 inches, where it is today.
3. There was no restriction on the height of the pitchers mound until 1904 when it was to be at most 15 inches. That was how it was until 1969 when it was lowered to 10 inches, where it is today.
4. Pitchers didn't really have any restrictions on pitching that they have today when it comes to their delivery until about 1920.
5. All freak deliveries, including the spitball, were outlawed in 1920. Not sure exactly what deliveries other than a spitball were of the "freak" variety.

This doesn't take anything away from Pedro. To be on this list and not have the advantages the others had speaks volumes to what he did during his career.

Source: Baseball Rule Change Timeline

That's pretty much his point... that Martinez being 4th among all those players who played in that era is absolutely amazing.
 

WildGinge

New member
Jan 25, 2013
27
0
I'm not old enough to remember Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson, or even Sandy Koufax tbh, but I'll go to my grave convinced that Pedro at his peak was the best ever.
 

scotty216brs

Active member
Apr 15, 2012
3,524
16
MA
I'm not old enough to remember Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson, or even Sandy Koufax tbh, but I'll go to my grave convinced that Pedro at his peak was the best ever.
Having watched almost all of his Red Sox starts, I tend to agree. He made decent teams look like a bunch of little leaguers. He had such command of the strike zone and his knowledge of the game was second to none. He was amazing to watch and I am very glad he is now helping out the organization. Rubby De La Rosa is going to be one hell of a pitcher with Pedro as his mentor, I'll tell you that.
 

archiebunkerjr

New member
Dec 11, 2008
1,749
0
Even more impressive is that PJ did it during the peak of the steroid era. Everyone and their grandma were putting up incredible offensive numbers then.
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,446
170
Rivera is second if you don't count only SP.

I left out relievers because I think what they do is different enough that it is not fair to compare. Still insanely impressive though.
 

budvandall

New member
Mar 11, 2012
252
0
Myrtle Beach, SC
Pedro had one of the best (if not the best) pitching season I have ever seen. The 1999 season was just crazy. The performance in the all-star game was awesome. After all the hype surrounding the all century team, he went out and struck out the best power hitters in the game. At the peak of the roids era too!
 

MojoDan

Active member
Aug 22, 2008
30,348
0
I looked at that list TWICE without scrolling down, and couldn't believe I didn't see Pedro's name.
 
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