Eighty-three pitchers have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Fewer than half of them — only 36 — were active at any point in the Modern Era, including 11 whose big-league careers began prior to the era’s inaugural season of 1961.
The collective record for all 36 post-1960 aces is, as you would expect, truly astounding. Consider these basic stats:
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Wins and losses. The Modern Era Hall of Famers finished 1,938 games above .500, piling up 7,329 wins against 5,391 losses. That translates to a winning percentage of .576, good enough to make the playoffs in any season you choose.
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Earned-run average. Thirteen of the 36 pitchers finished with career ERAs below 3.00. The joint average for the entire group was a solid 3.19.
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Bases per outs. This is my favorite measure of pitching efficiency, as you know. The typical big-league pitcher yielded .690 bases per out last season, just to give you a benchmark. The Modern Era Hall of Famers were precisely 100 points better than that with a collective BPO of .590.
These stats, by the way, do not cover the pre-1961 performances by the 11 pitchers who straddled two eras.
The cutoff eliminates the best seasons for Whitey Ford, Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, and Early Wynn. (They notched 938 wins prior to 1961, compared to just 247 in the Modern Era.) It also wipes out the six mediocre years at the start of Sandy Koufax’s career, leaving a half-dozen that were outstanding. (He went 36-40 between 1955 and 1960, then 129-47 from 1961 through 1966.)
There are several possible ways to rank the era’s Hall of Fame pitchers. I’ve opted for BPO. Koufax leads the resulting list with a microscopic ratio of just .466 bases per out.
The upper half of the following breakdown is dominated by starters from the 1960s — certainly the most golden of years for outstanding pitchers — with a few relievers tossed in. Each player is listed with his win-loss record, earned-run average, and BPO, confined to regular-season games during the Modern Era.
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Modern Era Hall of Fame pitchers
1. Sandy Koufax (1961-1966): W-L 129-47, ERA 2.19, BPO .466
2. Mariano Rivera (1995-2013): W-L 82-60, ERA 2.21, BPO .473
3. Hoyt Wilhelm (1961-1972): W-L 70-64, ERA 2.17, BPO .497
4. Juan Marichal (1961-1975): W-L 237-140, ERA 2.90, BPO .543
5. Trevor Hoffman (1993-2010): W-L 61-75, ERA 2.87, BPO .545
6. Don Drysdale (1961-1969): W-L 143-112, ERA 2.83, BPO .547
7. Bob Gibson (1961-1975): W-L 245-163, ERA 2.84, BPO .553
8. Whitey Ford (1961-1967): W-L 103-47, ERA 2.80, BPO .555
9. Pedro Martinez (1992-2009): W-L 219-100, ERA 2.93, BPO .558
10. Gaylord Perry (1962-1983): W-L 314-265, ERA 3.11, BPO .567
11. Tom Seaver (1967-1986): W-L 311-205, ERA 2.86, BPO .569
12. Rollie Fingers (1968-1985): W-L 114-118, ERA 2.90, BPO .571
13. Jim Palmer (1965-1984): W-L 268-152, ERA 2.86, BPO .572
14. Bruce Sutter (1976-1988): W-L 68-71, ERA 2.83, BPO .574
15. Don Sutton (1966-1988): W-L 324-256, ERA 3.26, BPO .580
16. Greg Maddux (1986-2008): W-L 355-227, ERA 3.16, BPO .584
17. John Smoltz (1988-2009): W-L 213-155, ERA 3.33, BPO .587
18. Catfish Hunter (1965-1979): W-L 224-166, ERA 3.26, BPO .595
19. Roy Halladay (1998-2013): W-L 203-105, ERA 3.38, BPO .596
20. (tie) Fergie Jenkins (1965-1983): W-L 284-226, ERA 3.34, BPO .601
20. (tie) Rich Gossage (1972-1994): W-L 124-107, ERA 3.01, BPO .601
22. Jim Bunning (1961-1971): W-L 154-131, ERA 3.23, BPO .602
23. Nolan Ryan (1966-1993): W-L 324-292, ERA 3.19, BPO .603
24. (tie) Steve Carlton (1965-1988): W-L 329-244, ERA 3.22, BPO .606
24. (tie) Bert Blyleven (1970-1992): W-L 287-250, ERA 3.31, BPO .606
26. (tie) Warren Spahn (1961-1965): W-L 75-63, ERA 3.44, BPO .612
26. (tie) Jim Kaat (1961-1983): W-L 282-230, ERA 3.42, BPO .612
28. (tie) Early Wynn (1961-1963): W-L 16-19, ERA 3.78, BPO .616
28. (tie) Lee Smith (1980-1997): W-L 71-92, ERA 3.03, BPO .616
30. Randy Johnson (1988-2009): W-L 303-166, ERA 3.29, BPO .617
31. Mike Mussina (1991-2008): W-L 270-153, ERA 3.68, BPO .618
32. Phil Niekro (1964-1987): W-L 318-274, ERA 3.35, BPO .620
33. Dennis Eckersley (1975-1998): W-L 197-171, ERA 3.50, BPO .631
34. Tom Glavine (1987-2008): W-L 305-203, ERA 3.54, BPO .633
35. Robin Roberts (1961-1966): W-L 53-56, ERA 3.49, BPO .640
36. Jack Morris (1977-1994): W-L 254-186, ERA 3.90, BPO .653
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