Hall of Fame Chokers - Pitchers

Poor Clayton Kershaw. You’d think a surefire Hall of Famer like he is would have a little better record in the postseason. Unfortunately, he’s 9-11 with a 4.43 ERA over 158 innings. And that’s like a whole season of mediocrity.

Same goes for poor Justin Verlander. He’s looking a little better, at 14-11 and 3.40, but is 0-6 and 5.68 in World Series play.

Well, at least he’s a hero to someone

So, baseball’s recent postseason really got me thinking. What actual Hall of Famers could possibly be so bad in the postseason?


Ain’t Been There, Ain’t Done That

Well, first of all you gotta get to the postseason, doncha? Hard to believe, but that eliminates ten Hall of Famers, including:

• Ted Lyons
• Fergie Jenkins
• Jim Bunning
• Jack Chesbro
• Addie Joss
• Rube Waddell

At least for those first three, I guess playing for the White Sox, Cubs, and pre-Mike-Schmidt Phillies didn’t help any.

That’s Sen. Bunning to you, rookie!

The last three simply weren’t up for that many years.

Addie Joss passed away at age 31 of tuberculous meningitis

(and is not looking too good in this picture)

And then there’s the four who played before there really was a postseason:

• Pud Galvin
• Candy Cummings
• Al Spalding
• Amos Rusie

And now you know why they called him “Pud”

Bigtime Losers

Well, one sure way to identify a loser is to find someone with a losing record. So, here they are, from least to most loserific:

• Mike Mussina – 7-8
• Tom Glavine – 14-16
• Randy Johnson – 7-9
• Burleigh Grimes – 3-4
• Trevor Hoffman – 1-2
• Eddie Plank – 2-5
• Phil Niekro, Vic Willis, Juan Marichal, Mickey Welch, Early Wynn, Marquard, Rixey – 0-1
• Dennis Eckersley – 0-3

Oddly, he still wears the same hairdo to this day

Winners Who Are Really Losers

This group includes a couple of pitchers without losing records, but with absolutely no reason to do so. I’m talking about Gaylord Perry, with a record of 1-1 but a 6.14 ERA, and Hal Newhouser, who was 2-1 but with an ERA of 6.53.

Interestingly, Perry would get to the postseason
with only one of those teams – the 71 Giants

Total Losers

Hard to believe but there were a couple of Hall of Famers who were losers both record wise and stat wise as well. 

We’re all probably familiar with poor Lee Smith. The guy with the third-most saves all time also famously choked in the big games. Which is kind of odd, as I have him down for only two postseasons. That said, I do have him down for a 0-1 record and an 8.44 ERA.

Finally!

Our other candidate for complete infamy is a bit of a surprise. Playing back in the day when the postseason was only the World Series, this guy got in only one of those. His team’s ace, he would go 0-2 with a 5.02 ERA. Somehow or other, though, his team would win. And that team hasn’t won the World Series again in 65 years. Have you guessed who I’m talking about?