Who are the five greatest lefties of all time?

Question

I know the same ten questions get asked repeatedly in here on a daily basis, yet oddly in the months I've been here, I don't think I've ever seen this question.

Who are the five greatest left handed pitchers of all time? I say:

1. Spahn (anyone who doesn't have Spahn at number one doesn't know baseball)

2. Carlton (4 Cy Youngs, arguably the best of his day)

3. R. Johnson (5 Cy Youngs in the age of steroids)

4. Grove (for those of you who don't know him, look at his stats and how many single diget loss seasons he had)

5. Glavine (over Plank - 2 Cys, one of the best during the steroid era - made 300 wins when everyone said there'd be no more 300 win pitchers and did it with the five man rotation)

Koufax only had five great seasons (the rest were average or below average), compared to these fellows how had great careers (people who claim he's the greatest of all time have no idea what they're talking about). Plank did pitch during the dead ball era. Hubbell would barely make the top ten lefties list.

List yours and why. (please note: I'm only looking for knowledgeable baseball people, I don't want a list of people who've only been playing 5 years, thanks).

Answer 1

How about Whitey Ford?  Among pitchers with at least 300 career decisions, Ford ranks first with a winning percentage of .690.  He was 236-106 lifetime with a 2.75 ERA.  He also notched 10 World Series victories.

Answer 2

1.) Koufax. He was truly amazing and was so dominant.

2.) Spahn. Great pitcher aswell.

3.) Carlton. Amazing pitcher who dominated hitters and was one of baseball all around best pitchers.

4.) Johnson. Great pitcher but wasnt great in pressure situations

5.) Grove. Good pitcher and was very consistent.

Answer 3

Well Chip I am going to have to say I disagree with you, and I am pretty sure I know baseball so I will ignore that comment.

This is the order I would have.

1. Lefty Grove- Some reasons why I have him number one, he led the American league in strikeouts 7 times, and after being traded to the Red Sox with a tired arm he still managed to lead the league in ERA 4 more times.

2. Warren Spahn - I do agree with you that Spahn is great, just not number one for me. The most interesting statistic I find about him is that in career he had a Batting average ball in play average of .265 which is just amazing.

3. Eddie Plank - Sometimes I think that Plank gets overshadowed by Walter Johnson, but he was still amazing.

4. Steve Carlton - Was the best pitcher of the 70's enough said.

5. Randy Johnson - Johnson does have 5 Cy Youngs and was impressive but until he retires and the whole steroid age shakes out I am going to have to leave him at number 3.

Answer 4

I'd have to go with Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Lefty O'Doul, Lefty Stewart, and Lefty Davis.

(Sorry - couldn't resist.)

Answer 5

I think its a toss up for number 1 between Spahn and Carlton.

Spahn 363 Wins 2,583 K's 3.09 ERA with one WS win

Carlton 329 Wins 4,136 K's 3.22 ERA with 2 WS wins includng the winning pitcher in the clinching game of the 1980 WS.

So, that all said its REAL tough to say that "anyone who doesnt have Spahn number one doesn't know baseball." Its close

Koufax was good, but you are right. He only played 12 years had some crazy sick years but didnt even win 200 games. He did however win 3 WS titles but he cannot be on the top five list...

I like ur list but I think the Carlton-Spahn thing is a lot closer than you would agree.

Eddie Plank?! no way... 1901-1917... cannot be considered as far as im concerned.

Answer 6

your answer judging by stats alone is suffiicient. Judging by who was the greatest pitcher as in who was the most feared, or the surest bet to win when he was on the mound ya gotta put koufax on the list (I'd replace Glavine).

and Spahn was the number one guy. At 41 he won 20 games and pitched 21 complete games.  

Answer 7

Grove, Carlton, Spahn, R. Johnson, and Koufax, though Sandy only makes this list due to peak and not full career.

Answer 8

My listing follows:

1. "Lefty" Grove was the  "greatest lefty" of all time. He won 300 games and lost only 141, a lifetime winning percentage of .680

Think about it,

Only "Lefty" Grove was called "Lefty"!!! It is in all the record books.



He had a relatively short career 1925 through 1941.

He was durable, 298 complete games.

See my list below)

2. Carl Hubbell wasn't called Lefty.

3. Spahn wasn't called Lefty

4. Carlton wasn't called Lefty

5. Koufax wasn't called Lefty

Plank wasn't called Lefty. A poor choice here among the "immortal" left handed pitchers

6. Randy Johnson isn't called Lefty. Being number six on my list is a compliment

Only Robert Moses Groves was called "Lefty" Grove

"No" other pitcher that won 300 or more games, Righties or Lefties, and is in the Hall of Fame had a lifetime winning percentage of .680

No other pitcher ever lead any Major League in strikeouts seven consecutive seasons.

No other "Hall of Fame" pitcher ever lead his league in strikeouts, seven times, consecutive or not.

Only Lefty Grove lead his league and both leagues 9 times in winning percentage.

Only "Lefty Grove" lead both leagues 5 times in ERA.

Lefty Grove was versatile and both started and relieved.

He won 33 games in relief and saved 55 other games.

He pitched his whole career in hitters parks.

He pitched his whole career during the lively ball era, 1920 through 1941, allowing only 162 home runs!  Just for comparison, Roger Clemens allowed 263 during his career.

Lefty Grove won 159 games more than he lost.

Warren Spahn, "A very good pitcher", won only 118 games more than he lost.

Spahn: Wins, 363, Losses, 245, a life time winning percentage of only ".597"

Spahn pitched his whole career during the low scoring late 1940,s and all through the low scoring 1950,s and the early 1960's.

Warren Spahn pitched his whole career in "pitcher's parks"

PS. Warren Spahn was great for his longevity (21 years) and his number of wins 363 is impressive, but 245 losses is not impressive.

I am not dumping on Warren Spahn, a great Hall of Famer.

But Lefty Grove is the geatest left hand pitcher of "All Time".

I have been a baseball fan since 1946, so please don't talk 5 years to me.

Answer 9

i think the same, thats amazing