Yesterday, he left Pedro Martinez off his list of the 20 current players he thinks are most likely to get into the Hall of Fame. I'll be honest. Today, I really, genuinely expected some sort of retraction. An embarrassed apology. A heartfelt mea culpa.
I got something better. Today, he went through Hall candidates #21-40 -- players he decided were all less deserving than the top 20. Before you read the first sentence of this next entry, keep in mind he included Miguel Cabrera on the first list at number 12.
21. Pedro Martinez
Only five starting pitchers in the Hall have fewer wins than Pedro's 194: Dizzy Dean (150), Addie Joss (160), Sandy Koufax (165), Lefty Gomez (189) and Rube Waddell (193).
>> He's 33 years old! He's 33 years old. How can I make this more clear? He's not dead. He's 33 years old. His career is not over. He's not stuck on 194 wins.
How about this? Only zero left fielders in the Hall have fewer RsBI than Miguel Cabrera's 249. Only zero left fielders in the Hall have fewer runs scored than Cabrera's 212. Only zero left fielders in the Hall have fewer steals than Cabrera's 6.
Every starting pitcher in the Hall has at least 100 complete games. Pedro has 44.
>> Every left fielder in the Hall is over 50 years old. In fact, Hall of Famer Jesse Burkett has been dead for over 50 years! Miguel Cabrera is 22 years old.
This is a ridiculous charge. It's a different era. Starting pitchers are used differently. John Smoltz, who Schoenfield inexplicably selected as his #5 choice, has 50 complete games, and he's 38. Tom Glavine, Schoenfield's lock at #4, has 53 at age 39.
Pedro should have been the third highest pitcher on the list, behind only Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux.
The crazy thing is, Schoenfield's presumably seen this chart. It's a list of the Career Leaders in Adjusted ERA+. Take a look at it. The reason I think he's at least glanced at it is because he cuts and pastes from the chart of Career Leaders in Adjusted OPS+ to make a case for Gary Sheffield. Plus, he writes himself that "[Pedro] has three of the top 15 seasons ever for adjusted ERA (ERA compared to the league average)".
Now look at the Career ERA+ chart again. Notice whose name is at the top? Did you notice that Pedro's lead over Walter Johnson is as large as the lead Tom Glavine has over the average starting pitcher?
It's mind-boggling.
Also, players sharing the borderline 21-40 list with Pedro include Omar Vizquel, Joe Mauer, and Hank Blalock. Yet he makes sure to say that the following players are, as he puts it, OUT: Rich Harden, Mark Teixeira, and Scott Rolen.
Labels: david schoenfield, hall of fame, pedro martinez
