Baseball's Most Overrated Stat

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Posted By: Albie O'Hanian

You cannot simply compare how well a pitcher fares against another by his winning percentage. What was their run support? Who was there mound opponent? In 1978 Ryan and Tanana had virtually the same era - but Tanana was 18-12 and Ryan was 10-13. In 1980 with Houston Ryan had a better era than Joe Niekro - Ryan finished 11-10 and Niekro was 20-12. Personally, I think Maddux was superior to Ryan but Ryan was indeed great.
As for modern pitchers - in historical context Pedro Martinez has the greatest era of all-time and if you were to check records when supported by 3 or more runs you would have a hard time finding anybody better than Pedro.