Kevin Brown, RHP, 1986-2005
Career Stats: 211-144, 3.28 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 2,397 strikeouts
Brown’s most memorable moment for most fans was becoming the first player to sign a contract worth over $100 million. He then had two and a half tremendous seasons for the Dodgers before suffering injuries that then affected him until the end of his career.
Brown had a run from 1996-2000 that was absolutely incredible. He won 82 games over the 5 seasons with a 2.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 1,058 strikeouts over 1,209.2 innings while completing 28 games with a 4.17 K/BB ratio. In that time, he was the ace on a team that won the World Series in 1997 with the Marlins and the ace of a team that made a surprising run to the World Series in 1998 with the Padres.
Brown’s long career had multiple iterations as he started late, not having his first full season until he was 24, starting out as a ground ball-inducing inning-eater with the Rangers before re-inventing himself with the Marlins to become the ace he was for those seasons. He was also an excellent defender on the mound.
While pitchers like Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina are getting pushes for the Hall of Fame, neither had a peak comparable to Brown’s and their career numbers are not demonstrably better than Brown’s either, yet he fell off the ballot in his first year, getting only 2.1% of votes.
Brown’s black ink was 19 versus 40 for the average HOF pitcher. His gray ink was 166 versus 185 for the average HOF pitcher. Brown’s Hall of Fame Monitor score was 93 while a likely HOF pitcher would score 100. His Hall of Fame Standards score is 41 versus 50. Brown has a 56.9 JAWS score while the average Hall of Fame pitcher has a 62.1 JAWS score.
Next: Coverage of Rounds 1 and 2 of the MLB Draft
In all of these cases, there are definite arguments both for and against the players, but I’d wager each of these players would surprise you that they’re even that close to being considered!!