Ryan and run support

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Batting average against is misleading. WHIP is a better indicator, since it takes walk into account. Palmer was better than Ryan 1.141 to 1.227

Possibly.

One thing that I don't like about modern stats is that while slightly better than the traditional ones, they have difficulty accounting for pitching types, (Or batting types)
Ryan was very much a power pitcher, and was as many were a bit wild at times.
Palmer seemed to have more control, and with his infield just keeping the ball down would make a big difference.
B.Robinson, Belanger, and Grich compared to Al Gallagher, Rudy Meloi, and Sandy Alomar. That could be the difference right there.

A slightly wild pitcher that pretty much has to keep the ball out of play will always suffer under WHIP in comparison to one who can rely more on his team.
I will totally grant that in 73 Palmer was the more complete pitcher.

Both seasons were great ones, part of the fun of baseball is debating just how great.