Kevin Brown – SP – 1986-2005 – 2.1% in 2011
I don’t like writing in the first person, but I’ll make an exception: I don’t care one iota that Kevin Brown was named in the Mitchell Report. He is absolutely a Hall of Fame pitcher. The arguments for and against PED users in the Hall of Fame, whether it’s steroids or amphetamines or whatever, have been laid out in great detail pretty much anywhere you want to look. I land firmly on the side of complete indifference.
Brown had just 211 wins and 2,397 strikeouts, but peak Kevin Brown was absolutely dominant. During his time in the National League, from 1996-2003, Brown went 109-58 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.08 WHIP to go with 1,405 strikeouts in 1,600 innings. This was good for an outstanding 157 ERA+ over that timeframe. On the same day Jim Edmonds made his career-defining catch (June 10, 1997), Brown made his career-defining start, a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins against the Giants. Brown would win the World Series with the Marlins that year, and would make it to the World Series again with the San Diego Padres in 1998.
Following the 1998 season, Brown made history by signing a seven-year, $105 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That contract, the first $100+ million contract in baseball history, would be the second biggest contract this offseason if it were to be signed today. Brown pitched for parts of 19 seasons, but his incredible peak is what makes him Hall of Fame caliber. Peak matters. Brown’s seven best seasons were worth 45.4 bWAR. Fellow Dodger Sandy Koufax? 46.1 bWAR.
Brown had career totals of 68.3 bWAR and 76.5 fWAR. The only pitchers with higher totals in both not in the Hall of Fame are Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling. Now that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens appear to be on the upswing with their vote totals, one wonders if Brown would have fared better if on the ballot today. An interesting case will be Andy Pettitte two years from now. Pettitte was demonstrably inferior to Brown in most statistical regards, and he openly admitted to using PEDs. However, he played most of his career with the Yankees.
No voting system is perfect, but it’s inexcusable that these 10 players did not receive so much as a second year of consideration for the Hall of Fame.