Kirk Buchner and Evan Nolan discuss the questionable selections of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.

Prior to his arrival in Boston, John Clarkson was considered one of the best Pitchers in the National League.  With the Chicago White Stockings (which would later be named the Chicago Cubs), he finished first in Wins twice (1885 & 1887) and was considered an elite Pitcher.  The Boston Beaneaters sure thought so, and they purchased him from Chicago for $10,000, which was a fortune in 1888!  This proved to be a decent choice, and Clarkson had a good 1888 with a 33 Win season (2^nd overall), but exploded the following season with what has to be considered one of the greatest seasons in franchise history.

In 1889, John Clarkson finished first in Wins (49), Earned Run Average (2.73), Games Pitched (73), Innings Pitched (620), Strikeouts (284), WHIP (1.277) and bWAR for Pitchers (16.7).  That 16.7 is the fifth-highest EVER by Pitchers in any season.  Clarkson would have won an award for a Pitcher had there been one in existence back then.  He would have two more good seasons for Boston before he was surprisingly released midway through the 1892 season.

His overall resume with the Beaneaters included a 149-82 record and a 2.82 ERA.

Clarkson would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 by the Veterans Committee.

 

Debuting as a rookie with the Boston Beaneaters in 1898, Vic Willis would win the ERA Title as a sophomore with a 2.50 ERA with 27 Wins.  He was also first for bWAR for Pitchers that season.  1900 was not great, as his ERA ballooned above 4.00, but he rebounded with four straight seasons with an ERA below 3.00, and he finished with Boston in 1905 with a 3.21 ERA.  Unfortunately, in his last two seasons in Boston, he posted records of 30 and 54 because he received limited run support.  He would finish his stint in Boston with a record of 151 and 147 and an ERA of 2.82.

He would later be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he would have four straight seasons of 20 or more Wins and top ten finishes in bWAR for pitchers, including a league-leading 8.1 in 1906.  Willis would also help the Pirates win the World Series in 1909.

Willis would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 by the Veterans Committee.

We return back to the 1880’s (we seem to be in the 1800’s a lot on this franchise list) with Righthander, Jim Whitney who had a 133 and 121 record over his five seasons with the Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters and as a rookie (1881) he was first in both Wins (33) and Losses and would later have two seasons where he was first in FIP (1883 & 1884) and three straight where he was first in SO/BB (1883-85), a stat in which he is still first all-time in the franchise.  Whitney never finished with an Earned Run Average over 3.00 and was in the top ten four times with Boston.

Interestingly, Whitney would finish first in BB/9 three times and first in Wild Pitches, yet his overall control numbers were quite good.

What really helps his ranking is that Whitney was a good hitter for a Pitcher, and he had a batting average of .270 for Boston with 406 Hits.  That can’t be discounted.