Johnson, Mathewson, or Young? Which one do you think was the best?

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by rats60

All that tells us that pitching in the AL sucked when Pedro was with Boston. Koufax pitched against Spahn, Gibson, Niekro, Marichal, Perry, Bunning, Jenkins, Carlton all hofers plus teammates Drysdale and Sutton.

Or that might tell us that pitching was king during that generation and there was a reason why rules had to be changed to restore the balance. The fact that Pedro Martinez thrived in the bandbox parks of the A.L. East with roided up batters and the DH is incredible. It's a testament to how great he was as a pitcher, not how terrible pitching was during that era. I can only imagine how 1990s A.L. pitchers like Martinez, Johnson and Mussina would have performed in those massive 1960s ballparks with a free out included!

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Or that might tell us that pitching was king during that generation and there was a reason why rules had to be changed to restore the balance. The fact that Pedro Martinez thrived in the bandbox parks of the A.L. East with roided up batters and the DH is incredible. It's a testament to how great he was as a pitcher, not how terrible pitching was during that era. I can only imagine how 1990s A.L. pitchers like Martinez, Johnson and Mussina would have performed in those massive 1960s ballparks with a free out included!

Other than Maddux, I never saw any pitcher who got more batters to swing at balls off the plate than Pedro. Or who got more balls called as strikes.