2015 Hall of Fame Pitchers vs. 1936 Hall of Fame Pitchers
By Tim Boyle
The 2015 Hall of Fame ballots have been tallied. The top vote earners were two of baseball’s best pitchers from the 1990s and 2000s. The dominant, larger than anyone else, left-handed hurler Randy Johnson got top billing in the vote. Following closely behind was the equally as extraordinary Pedro Martinez.
Both pitchers were locks to get into the Hall of Fame on their first opportunity. There was very little doubt either pitcher would spend more than a year on the ballot.
The 2015 class was special too in that it included one of the largest number of players. In only one year, the inaugural class of 1936, were more players voted in by the BBWAA.
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In 1936, obvious choices like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner led the way in voting. Just behind them were two of baseball’s greatest pitchers – Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson.
Even with little knowledge of Walter Johnson, there are some very obvious similarities with Randy Johnson. From their great nicknames – The Big Unit and The Big Train – to how often they struck out men who thought they had a chance for a hit, Randy Johnson was virtually a left-handed version of Walter Johnson in a different era.
As far as strikeouts are concerned, Randy Johnson had more than his similarly-named predecessor. In fact, only Nolan Ryan ever had more strike threes than him. Walter Johnson was not far behind, ranking ninth on the all-time list, albeit at a much fewer 3,508 compared to Randy Johnson who finished his career with 4,875.
Interesting and unfortunate at the same time, these two played in completely different eras so career statistics lose some value. Walter Johnson had the benefit of pitching through the Dead-ball Era while Randy Johnson had the misfortune of stepping on the mound during the height of the home run. There were also far fewer awards for Walter Johnson to win as the Cy Young Award was a few decades from existence. Walter did, however, win an MVP in 1913 with a ridiculous 36-7 record and 1.14 ERA.
Once again, baseball limits ways to compare the two as players were only allowed to be the league’s most valuable player once no matter how much they improve.
The best way to compare the two might be by how many times they led the league. I believe this is a good measure of how they compared to everyone else who played at the same time. Of the major categories – wins, ERA, strikeouts and WHIP – this is how Randy Johnson and Walter Johnson compare:
Wins:
- Randy Johnson – one-time league leader
- Walter Johnson – six-time league leader
ERA:
- Randy Johnson – four-time league leader
- Walter Johnson – five-time league leader
Strikeouts:
- Randy Johnson – nine-time league leader
- Walter Johnson – 12-time league leader
WHIP:
- Randy Johnson – three-time league leader
- Walter Johnson – six-time league leader
There’s no question Walter was the better Johnson. His 152.3 career WAR ranks second to only Cy Young for pitchers. Meanwhile, Randy Johnson is ranked ninth all-time, a reversal of where they are in career strikeouts.
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Then there’s Martinez and Mathewson. Other than both names starting with the same two letters, there’s very little these two have in common. Mathewson was born in Pennsylvania while Martinez is a native of the Dominican Republic. The two could not be different if they tried.
Like the Johnsons, Martinez and Mathewson pitched in completely different eras of baseball. Sadly, Mathewson had already passed away before the 1936 Hall of Fame election. When he did, a museum of baseball greats was nothing more than an idea.
To a great extent, Mathewson is the perfect complement to Walter Johnson like Martinez is to Randy Johnson. Mathewson falls short in many statistics, but was great in his own right. He never won an MVP Award although he almost did once. He was the closest in 1912 when he lost to a forgotten outfielder from the Chicago Cubs named Frank Schulte.
Using the same breakdown as I did for Randy Johnson and Walter Johnson in league leader categories, this is how Martinez and Mathewson turned out:
Wins:
- Martinez – one-time league leader
- Mathewson – four-time league leader
ERA:
- Martinez – four-time league leader
- Mathewson – five-time league leader
Strikeouts:
- Martinez – three-time league leader
- Mathewson – five-time league leader
WHIP:
- Martinez – six-time league leader
- Mathewson – four-time league leader
Once again, the old guy wins – this time by a slimmer margin.
There’s no debating Mathewson was a better pitcher than Martinez though. However, based on this, was Randy Johnson better than him?
Finally for the third time, using the times they led the league in each category, here is how Randy Johnson compares to Mathewson:
Wins:
- Randy Johnson – one-time league leader
- Mathewson – four-time league leader
ERA:
- Randy Johnson – four-time league leader
- Mathewson – five-time league leader
Strikeouts:
- Randy Johnson – nine-time league leader
- Mathewson – five-time league leader
WHIP:
- Randy Johnson – three-time league leader
- Mathewson – four-time league leader
If we gave each category an equal value and each time leading the league was worth one point, Randy Johnson’s score would be 17 and Mathewson’s would just beat him at 18. Up for debate, The Big Unit is closer to Mathewson than most might suspect.
Fortunately the Baseball Hall of Fame is not about who ranks where among each other. Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver have the highest percentage of votes yet nobody would consider them baseball’s best two players.
Based on this, the ranking of these four would be
- Walter Johnson
- Christy Mathewson
- Randy Johnson
- Pedro Martinez
Oddly, the voting did not come out the same way. Randy Johnson received the highest percentage at 97.3 percent followed by Martinez at 91.1 percent. Finishing third was Mathewson with 90.7 percent and in fourth was Walter Johnson at 83.6 percent.
Rank them however you want based on everything we know. After today the only thing that matters is all four are officially members of the Hall of Fame.