One and done: Kevin Brown
The case for Kevin Brown is substantial.
He had a career 211-144 record, including a league-leading 21 victories for Texas in 1992. In 1996 for Florida and again in 2000 for Los Angeles, he led the National League in ERA, at 1.89 and then 2.58.
Across a 19-season career, Brown started 476 games and completed 3,256 innings. Of pitchers whose careers began since 1989, that innings workload is top 10.
For five seasons in the late 1990s, Brown was in a class with Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Roger Clemens. Between 1996 and 2000, he piled up a 36.7 WAR, averaging 242 innings.
He struck out 2,397 batters and was a six-time All-Star. The ace of the 1997 World Series-winning Florida Marlins, Brown was only an indifferent postseason pitcher, with a 5-5 record and 4.19 ERA in 13 starts.
Brown’s 68.2 career WAR is competitive with Jaffe’s finding that 66 already enshrined starters averaged 73.0 WAR. James’ Hall of Fame monitor gave him a score of 93, a bit below the status of a likely Hall of Famer but certainly in the running.
Nevertheless, Brown’s stay on the Hall ballot was a brief one. He debuted in 2011, but drew support from only a dozen voters, just 2.1 percent of the electorate.