Quote:
|
Originally Posted by IatricSB
Sandy's 1962-1966 an ERA of 1.95 with a league ERA of 3.29 (1.34 better)
Pedro's 1997-2002 and ERA of 2.20 with a league ERA of 4.64 (2.44 better)
Pedro's 2000 season of a 1.74 ERA in a league with an ERA of 4.97 is just incredible.
Sandy was a true artist from what I've seen (a few broadcast games, none live). I just think we should all appreciate what we've been able to see of Pedro this last decade as it's been at times historical.
|
No doubt its incredible, and I'm on the side who thinks Pedro is probably the best peack-pitcher ever. But something must be said for the law of diminishing returns, as it were. Sandy was pitching in an era so pitching-heavy that it was incredibly hard to be an outlier. Pedro's time is so offensive that greatness has more room to work on the lower side of the ERA spectrum. In order for Sandy to have matched Pedro's 285 ERA+, he would have had to have an ERA of 1.06. It simply isn't possible to post an ERA of 1.06 with any sort of consistency. The game of baseball will almost never allow it, with very, very rare single-season instances.
I mean, for chrissakes, Gibson's 1.12 was 'only' a 258 ERA+. I defy anyone to say if you put Pedro in 1968 he would have put up an ERA of 1.05, which is what a ERA+ of 285 would have needed. Same with Walter Johnson in 1913.
As you getter closer to a 0 ERA, every .01 taken off your ERA is even more impressive than the last one.