"Baddest pitcher in MLB history?

[maveric]

Poll question: "Baddest pitcher in MLB history?

That being the most fearless, powerful and intimidating.
Here's my guy.

I cant recall anyone EVER charging the mound after a Gibson knock-down pitch.

Here's my 2nd choice.
Manager Walt Alston would tell Drysdale to intentionally walk a batter and he'd just hit him, citing that he didnt want to waste 3 pitches.

[maveric]

1. 23 more winss and Clemens wil be the winningest pitcher of the modern era.

He'll pass the great Warren Spahn who has 363.

[mac56]

2. Gibby, no contest.

Pitched AND WON an entire game after being hit by a line drive and breaking his leg.

[maveric]

5. And he'd win a game by hitting a home run too!

When the Sox played the cards in the 67 fall classic, we didnt know much about Gibson other than he missed most of the season with a broken leg. He just came in and won 3 games and hit 2 HR's. In the 68 series against Detroit he struck out 17 Tigers in one World Series game. He was also a college grad and a Harlem Globetrotter too.

If I had to pick one pitcher for the big game, it would have to be Bob Gibson.

[GOPisEvil]

3. Gibson, but I'm a Cardinals homer.

:)

I still think his epic 1968 season had a little something to do with Dr. King's assassination April 4 of that year.

[bertha katzenengel]

4. The Ryan Express, Baby!

(but I'm not biased O8))

edited to post an image instead of a link :dunce:

[maveric]

11. How many wins would he have had if he played for teams that score runs.

In 1986 we went 8-16, but still had the best ERA in the majors.
Those Houston and Angel teams just didnt put runs on the board for him.

[bertha katzenengel]

36. No kidding. What a shame -- one of the greatest ever, and no

WS ring. :(

[TomClash]

6. Koufax

Led the NL in wins, ERA and strikeouts in 63, 65 and 66.

No one else has done that more than twice in the modern era.

That's bad. Real bad.

[maveric]

7. And he refused to pitch on the sabbath during the World Series too.

Took some haet for that.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Yeah, but based on the criteria

Koufax never threw at anybody in his life. Didn't need to.

In this one, I gotta go with Gibson. Drysdale was just as mean, but Gibson had a little bit better stuff.

He also had that ungodly 1.12 ERA in '68.

And I say this as a Koufax worshipper.

[Punkingal]

8. Koufax, without a doubt!

If he hadn't had arthritis in his elbow, there is no end to the records he would have set!

[maveric]

10. He retired at age 30.

Youngest player ever inducted into the Hall of Fame.

[WCGreen]

31. They also lowered the mound after he left....

[Arkham House]

12. Carl Mays--if we're talking "all time"...

He was the one who killed Ray Chapman with the pitch back in 1920, which more than any other single factor inaugurated the so-called "lively ball" era. He was known as a head-hunter, and would boast of the pitch that killed for years afterward--said it was a good pitch, that Chapman should have gotten out of the way, and urged pitchers to head hunt. As an added bonus, he almost certainly threw at least one game in the 1921 World Series, a practice that went on for some time after the Black Sox scandal... altogether, a nasty piece of work...

[Oeditpus Rex]

42. And did it sidearm, to boot

Nasty, indeed. :scared:

[DemNoir]

13. Gibson

He pitched angry. Getting people out wasn't enough, he wanted to humiliate the hitter.

[TomInTib]

14. Fergie on acid

[maveric]

15. Actually it was Dock Ellis.

He pitched a no-hitter against the Padres fried on LSD.
An amazing pitching performance considering.

[mtowngman]

18. I heard he hit eight consecutive batters that day

[TomInTib]

21. Duh...the older I get, the more this shit happens.

[BrotherBuzz]

16. Stu Miller was fearless until he was blown off the mound by strong winds..

I guess Candlestick ended up being more intimidating.

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. One of baseball's bigger fables

Miller wasn't actually "blown off" the mound during the first 1961 All-Star Game. A gust came up while he was in mid-delivery and threw him off enough to cause a balk.

The way it's been passed down in baseball lore, it sounds as if Miller wound up penned against the left-field fence with all those hot-dog wrappers.

[mtowngman]

17. When I was 10 years old I saw Tom Seaver strike out 10 San Diego Padres

I believe that record still stands. Here's the amazing thing: if I'm not mistaken, they were the LAST 10 batters or the game. He was a badass that day. Then, of course, there's the story about Pittsburgh's Doc Ellis taking the mound on LSD and hitting eight consecutive batters. That was pretty bad.

[NewJeffCT]

19. For attitude, Gibson... for pitching itself, Ryan

Ryan for years was not very good with his control - so, imagine a 100mph fastball thrower without good control. You never know if the next pitch is coming at your head or not

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. With Gibson or Drysdale

it worked out the same. Not knowing if a pitch is coming at your head because of poor control isn't any different than not knowing if it's gonna come intentionally.

Come to think of it, the latter would be worse, because a purpose pitch is gonna be right at your head, or behind it if the pitcher is really serious, whereas the "oops" pitch could go anywhere.

And a purpose pitch is always gonna be a hard one, but a breaking ball will get away from a pitcher more than his heater.

[Va Lefty]

20. Bob Gibson

He once threw at a batter in the on deck circle who was trying to time his swings with Gibson's pitches. Drysdale would be a close second.

[Beware the Beast Man]

22. Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pitched a no-hitter while high on LSD.

[Richardo]

34. You the man, BtBM...

:thumbsup:

[Blue_Tires]

23. not one mention of Cy Young?

[Allenberg]

24. Ryan Express if only for

beating the piss out of Robin Ventura who was half his age.

[maveric]

26. He used Ventura as a punching bag.

He never had a chance.

[SaveElmer]

25. You picked MLB...but Satchel Paige probably the best

I voted for Clemens...but if you had included Negor Leagues I would have said Paige. Although he played in the MLB late in life, it was past his prime!!!

[WCGreen]

27. Walter Johnson was a mean muther.,.....

[maveric]

28. He won 416 games on really bad teams.

The Senators did win one World Series but every other year they were cellar dwellers.

[Oeditpus Rex]

41. Johnson was one of the nicest guys

to ever put on a uniform. He could've been even more effective if he had thrown at hitters, but he pitched in fear of beaning someone. Ty Cobb recognized this and crowded the plate, and hit something like .320 lifetime against him because Johnson would work him only outside.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

29. Wasn't Dave Stewart (A's) pretty intimidating? Good pitcher too...

I think Clemens is fairly intimidating, and Randy Johnson too.

[Bill McBlueState]

30. of course it's Gibson

I read your title without even looking at the choices and I knew I had to vote for Gibson.

[jrandom421]

32. Satchel Paige has got to be it.

At 17, he instantly became the star of the Negro Leagues. He had 5 different pitches, each with 4 different speeds and 3 different deliveries, being the first of the power finess picchers. Dizzy Dean called him the best pitcher in baseball.
In one exibition game, he intentionally walked three batters and picked off each and every one of them. In an exibition (I think it was during the 1934 World Series), with a National League umpire behind the plate, he threw 10 consecutive strikes over a gum wrapper. When he went to the Indians in 1948, much of his velocity and power were gone, but his finess and control were legendary. Bill Veeck would shout "Get the runs now, Father Time is coming!" Finally, at age 59 (?) in 1965, he threw 3 innings, strking out 3 and walking 2.

My second choice is JR Richard of the Astros. Big at 6'8" and 260 lbs, he had a monstrous fastball, a wicked slider, tenous control and a nasty streak on the mound. In one season, he was the only pitcher to challenge Nolan Ryan for the strikeout title, striking out 313 in one season. His career was tragically cut short by a massive stroke.

[AllegroRondo]

35. He was my selection too.

It was common for him to play a double header, pitching the first game, then playing outfield for the second.

[azmouse]

33. Randy Johnson

[Shakespeare]

38. Dennis Eckersly.

When Eck started warming up to close, everybody started packing up.

"That brought up Gil Flores, who repeatedly stepped out of the batter's box as photographers inched out of their wells, eager to capture the final out. Eckersley, always ready to pitch, began screaming at Flores, "Get in there! They're not here to take your picture! You're the last out!"

Eckersley, sitting poolside at a hotel in Cooperstown nearly 27 years later, became characteristically animated as he told the story.

"I was chomping at the bit, and he was messing up my life right there," he said. "To this day, everyone says I always told batters to 'Get in there!' Spare me. I told one guy to 'Get in there!' He got in there, struck out, get outta here, game over." "

Ooooh, that Eckersly stare....first he pointed at you, then he fixed you with that stare, then he struck your ass out.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/11/SPG2L7JU1L1.DTL&hw=dennis+eckersley&sn=001&sc=1000

[Oeditpus Rex]

43. Everybody but Kirk Gibson

[Shakespeare]

44. Yeah, yeah....that was ONCE.

:P How did I know somebody would post that?

He still intimidated the shit out of most batters. ;-)

That's OK...somebody just posted Pedro; if HE can be considered one of the "baddest" after the way he choked against NY, then Eckersly certainly qualifies.

[Oeditpus Rex]

47. Once is all it takes

Ralph Branca was a pretty damned good pitcher, too.

I'm not taking anything from Eck; he was the most dominating reliever of his time. I'm just saying there was at least one guy he didn't intimidate, and that turned around an entire World Series, which was won — in five games, no less — by the club nobody thought had a prayer.

[Shakespeare]

48. Yup.

Just ask Bill Buckner....heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It just kills me that that's what is so often mentioned concerning Eck, and usually without the balance of noting that he was one bad mofo on the mound. He also overcame some pretty nasty demons and seems to be a truly nice guy. I just like the hell out of him.

[flvegan]

45. How does one hit such a sidearm?

The Eck was one of my faves on the Bosox, but really enchanted me on the A's.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

40. Pedro Martinez

[flvegan]

46. I can't choose. Ryan, Clemens, Eckersley

All well entrenched in my youth for heroism on the mound.

Maybe Ryan edges them out for taking Ventura to task. NEVER charge the mound under the watch of The Express. Nolan will beat you like you owe him money LONG before the catcher gets there to stop you.