Which pitcher had the best stuff

lightningboy

Of all the pitchers you have seen, which one had the best "stuff" regardless of how their career played out.

Watching baseball from the 70's tp present I've seen some of the all time greats. But the one that stands out to me is Dwight Gooden. Ridiculous high heater and his off the table curve.

LarkinCollector

gemint

Bert Blyleven's breaking ball stands out for me. He would start that thing off ten feet behind the batter's back and it would land on the outside corner.

Another that stands out is Tim Kovac. He grew early such that he towered over us in little league. He ended up being only about 5'10" but he was about that height at 11 years old. He threw so fast with those close little league mounds that one time he bounced a ball over the plate and the ump still called me out because he didn't see it had bounced.

ElMagoStrikeZone

Virtually no one could hit Sandy Koufax stuff at the peak of his career.

doubledragon

I always enjoyed watching Maddux disect the home plate. Maddux also was an unbelievable fielder at his position. Ridiculous.

waxman2745

@ElMagoStrikeZone said:
Virtually no one could hit Sandy Koufax stuff at the peak of his career.

1963 World Series: Mantle went 1 for 7 with 3 strikeouts against Koufax.

Mantle said to Roseboro: "How in the (heck) are you supposed to hit that (stuff)?'”

doubledragon

Koufax is just lucky that Mr. Dave Kingman never stepped in that batters box.

PatsGuy5000

Really enjoyed Greg Maddux master location, pitch selection, fielding, etc., nothing over powering - steady, professional, top notch player.

effe

Bob Uecker was a career .429 hitter against Koufax

ElMagoStrikeZone

@effe said:
Bob Uecker was a career .429 hitter against Koufax

Pee Wee Herman was a movie star. Some things are simply unexplainable.

lawnmowerman

Ricky Vaughn

graygator

Steve Dalkowski

georgebailey2

@LarkinCollector said:

The Astonishing Pietro (obscure The Monkees reference, google it)

Considering the four dimensional concept of reality, the fact that this ever happened is almost incomprehensible. The unluckiest bird in the universe.

On topic (waiting for someone to say this belongs in Sports Talk - oh, wait, that would now be me), Steve Carlton had the best slider. Ask Jose Cruz.

krisd3279

The real question is was it hunting season and did Randy have his license?

georgebailey2

@krisd3279 said:
The real question is was it hunting season and did Randy have his license?

Tree-hugger.

I am sure the bird didn't care.

(written in a joking spirit if that wasn't clear)

dan89

Pedro Martinez with fastball, curve and a Buggs Bunny change up.
Maddux was an absolute surgeon, a strategic master of his craft.
Koufax was indeed unhittable for a stretch.
Big Unit is totally unappreciated, dude was a bad man
Jim Palmer, Catfish Hunter.

Don’t know if the true old timers had “stuff” I mean forkball, change up, heater, drop off the table curve so I reserve judgement on the. I personally just don’t know enough.

Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth comparisons.

krisd3279

@georgebailey2 said:

@krisd3279 said:
The real question is was it hunting season and did Randy have his license?

Tree-hugger.

I am sure the bird didn't care.

(written in a joking spirit if that wasn't clear)

No tree-hugger here lol.

Feathers already removed and no shot to worry about....

dennis07

@lawnmowerman said:
Ricky Vaughn

Sidd Finch. Literally unhittable.

lawnmowerman

@dennis07 said:

@lawnmowerman said:
Ricky Vaughn

Sidd Finch. Literally unhittable.

I fell for that. I still remember hearing about him in 10th grade health class haha

DBesse27

Friggin dalkowski. Gross. Too bad we can’t use eye roll or vomiting emojis here. The dude didn’t throw 110. Prob didn’t even throw 100. He was AJ Burnett, only Burnett was better.

JoeBanzai

Nolan Ryan when he had his curveball "working".

Nathaniel1960

Mike Scott split finger fast ball.

Desert_Ice_Sports

Pedro Martinez, from 1997-2003, which was the height of the Steroid Era, playing in the AL East for 6 of 7 years, did this...

118-36 record (.766 win %)
2.19 ERA
0.94 WHIP
5.6 K/BB ratio
213 ERA+
3 Cy Young Awards, 2 2nd Place Cy Young and a 3rd Place Cy Young

JoeBanzai

Johan Santana 2003-2008

Not as good as Pedro, but pretty darn good!

lightningboy

Oh yeah, I remember that window where Mike Scott was ridiculously unhittable. Youd had a better chance waiting for it to hit the ground and using a 3 wood.

RailsideCards

There is a great new read on this K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner. One of the best baseball books I've read.

doubledragon

I remember when Nolan Ryan put Robin Ventura in a headlock. I used to love to watch Ryan pitch also. He had a habit of grunting when he threw the heater. Batters always talk about hearing him grunt real loud when he threw the heat, because he put everything he had into it.

dontippet

When I read the post, Dwight Gooden was the first to come to my mind too. But, when I just read the title, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax came to mind.

craig44

@RailsideCards said:
There is a great new read on this K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner. One of the best baseball books I've read.

I agree, great book!!

craig44

too hard to narrow it down to one guy. I would say of the pitchers I personally saw, in no particular order:
Pedro Martinez
Roger Clemens
Randy Johnson

burghman

Mariano Rivera. The guy threw one pitch, everyone knew what was coming and what the ball was going to do, and they still couldn’t do anything with it.

Desert_Ice_Sports

As good as Sandy Koufax was, he pitched during an era when pitchers dominated while Pedro Martinez pitched during an era when hitters dominated; the height of the Steroid Era... The stat that takes into account league ERA and a player's home ballpark is ERA+

In Koufax's BEST season, his ERA+ was 190

Pedro Martinez averaged ERA+ of 213 during a 7 year stretch.

And... Pedro's best ERA+ for one season?? 291... That's 53% higher than Koufax's best season... Crazy.

rtimmer

Maddux was the best I ever saw live but I think Clemens might have been better but both masters for sure.

Tabe

@craig44 said:

@RailsideCards said:
There is a great new read on this K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner. One of the best baseball books I've read.

I agree, great book!!

Great to hear. Just got a copy a week ago for my birthday.

doubledragon

This pitcher has the best stuff.

Desert_Ice_Sports

@doubledragon said:
This pitcher has the best stuff

Looks domestic to me, so you would be WRONG!!

steel75

J.R. Richard

LOTSOS

I’m not a baseball guy but the answer is clear to even me. Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh Period.

ahopkins

@LOTSOS said:
I’m not a baseball guy but the answer is clear to even me. Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh Period.

I just watched it last night. Haha

rounding3rd

Bob Gibson

JimMeant

Watching the the first few innings of the 1999 MLB All-Star should give fans a reminder of the greatness of Pedro Martinez. His stuff was unhittable for years.

gemint

@ElMagoStrikeZone said:

@effe said:
Bob Uecker was a career .429 hitter against Koufax

Pee Wee Herman was a movie star. Some things are simply unexplainable.

Along those lines, Lyle Lovett married Pretty Woman.

fiveniner

Dwight Golden, then
Charlie Morton , now

nags

@JoeBanzai said:
Johan Santana 2003-2008

Not as good as Pedro, but pretty darn good!

For a couple years it was comical to watch batters flail at his changeup.

mapleman

@dontippet said:
When I read the post, Dwight Gooden was the first to come to my mind too. But, when I just read the title, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax came to mind.

Both came to me as well But I was in Shea standing lower deck behind the plate watching Seaver k 19 Padres. Unforgettableable.
Louis Arroyo perhaps?

Desert_Ice_Sports

@fiveniner said:
Dwight Golden, then
Charlie Morton , now

Dwight Golden... Wasn't he the one who swept out the Indians' clubhouse in Major League??

DBesse27

@mapleman said:

@dontippet said:
When I read the post, Dwight Gooden was the first to come to my mind too. But, when I just read the title, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax came to mind.

Both came to me as well But I was in Shea standing lower deck behind the plate watching Seaver k 19 Padres. Unforgettableable.
Louis Arroyo perhaps?

I’m not saying Chris Sale deserves this title, just wanted to say I was at his 17K performance last month and it was incredible!

mapleman

@DBesse27 said:

@mapleman said:

@dontippet said:
When I read the post, Dwight Gooden was the first to come to my mind too. But, when I just read the title, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax came to mind.

Both came to me as well But I was in Shea standing lower deck behind the plate watching Seaver k 19 Padres. Unforgettableable.
Louis Arroyo perhaps?

I’m not saying Chris Sale deserves this title, just wanted to say I was at his 17K performance last month and it was incredible!

A night or two after Seavers feat
Steve Carlton did it to the Mets! No tv in ny I heard,it on radio. Mets won 4-3 lol.
69 miracle Mets.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

krisd3279

Just this

ElMagoStrikeZone

@1970s said:

@lightningboy said:
Of all the pitchers you have seen, which one had the best "stuff" regardless of how their career played out.

Watching baseball from the 70's tp present I've seen some of the all time greats. But the one that stands out to me is Dwight Gooden. Ridiculous high heater and his off the table curve.

Dwight Gooden always had the best stuff. He would share with his good friend and team mate Daryl Strawberry. They both enjoyed his good stuff throughout their careers. Steve Howe was known to have good stuff too.

of course, Keith Hernandez would appreciate some props, and perhaps another cigarette.