All-Time Lineup: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers: #1 | #2 | #3
"And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
It's not my problem"Bob Dylan, Positively 4th Street
So far the votes for our starting pitching staff have been runaways, but these top three are pretty solid.
All-Time LA Dodger Starting Pitchers |
||
| No | Player | Pos |
| 32 | Sandy Koufax |
LHP |
| 53 | Don Drysdale | RHP |
| 55 |
Orel Hershiser | RHP |
Will we have our first close vote, for the fourth starter? To determine the #4 starter, the voting is the same as before, except that Koufax, Drysdale, and Orel are no longer eligible.
Eric's Pick
I'm sticking with Don Sutton, but let's look at some numbers, with Claude Osteen and Happy Hooton replacing Orel on the charts. Here are the top 5 seasons by ERA+
| Osteen | Hooton | Sutton | Valenzuela | Brown | Messersmith |
| 127 | 147 | 161 | 141 | 169 | 149 |
| 124 | 146 | 160 | 135 | 169 | 132 |
| 117 | 130 | 144 | 122 | 143 | 129 |
| 115 | 123 | 127 | 116 | --- | --- |
| 105 | 121 | 121 | 110 | --- | --- |
Here are at the best five seasons using VORP:
| Osteen | Hooton | Valenzuela | Sutton | Brown | Messersmith |
| 69.4 | 57.8 | 54.6 | 62.3 | 82.6 | 84.4 |
| 54.5 | 51.6 | 48.9 | 61.0 | 71.6 | 67.3 |
| 47.2 | 46.3 | 44.4 | 57.5 | 63.4 | 46.9 |
| 35.2 | 34.1 | 43.3 | 52.0 | 32.5 | 1.1 |
| 33.7 | 30.9 | 32.1 | 51.5 | 0.8 | --- |
I think Sutton is still the cream of the crop. However, the first three on our all-time pitching staff have won Cy Young Awards, and the only other LA Dodger starter to win the award, Fernando Valenzuela, is also out there. Claude Osteen actually has the second-highest 5-, 6-, 7-, and 8-year VORP of this group, behind Sutton. For this vote, I'm sticking with Suttonmania.
Phil's Pick
Fernando but I'm feeling sad for Osteen. Didn't he have huge ears like Sutton? Don't a lot of pitchers have big ears?
Who's your pick?