Archive for May, 2009
I’ve been reading a very interesting discussion on Baseball Fever about whether or not Kent Tekulve deserves more Hall of Fame consideration. At first, I assumed the answer would be “no way”, but after looking at the numbers it appears Tekulve should have been given a better shot.
Perhaps Tekulve’s most impressive stats are his 1000+ games played and a career ERA under 3.00. He is one of only two pitchers in major league history to have pitched in over 90 games in 3 different seasons. This guy was a workhorse. He only accumulated 184 saves as a closer, but it’s important to remember that the “Holds” stat that is still unofficial today did not even exist back when he was pitching. The biggest argument for Tekulve is that Bruce Sutter made the Hall of Fame. Sutter had about the same ERA as Tekulve but pitched in fewer innings in fewer games. Sutter got the nod because he was a strikeout pitcher, while Tekulve gets nothing because he induced ground balls like no other pitcher of the modern era. He gave up just 63 home runs in his entire career.
I’m going to argue here and now that Kent Tekulve was a more valuable pitcher than Hall of Famers Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage. There, I said it. He may have lacked intimidation and he may have worn those goofy sunglasses to go with the already-clownish Pirates uniforms, but Tekulve got hitters out, period. Most statistically metrics for valuing a pitcher put too much emphasis on wins and saves and leave little for the middle reliever or, as was the case for much of Tekulve’s career, the long reliever who pitched 2 or more innings for a save. If Sutter and Gossage are in Cooperstown, I think Tekulve should probably be there as well.
The American League could learn something from the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates managed to score 2 runs off White Sox closer Bobby Jenks on Sunday to get the come-from-behind win. It was a rare blown save opportunity for Jenks, who is usually lights-out in these situations. The Pirates start a series against the Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field, completing their tour of Chicago.
