Ten Best Starting Pitchers Not In Cooperstown

Honorable mentions: Dolf Luque, Tommy John, Roy Oswalt 

10. Tim Hudson (1999-2015) 

Hudson was about as steady as they came, winning 222 games and losing only 133 for a remarkable .625 winning percentage, yet never won a Cy Young Award. The owner of a 3.49 career ERA, Hudson became the oldest man to start Game 7 of the World Series in 2014 at age 39. 

9. Luis Tiant (1964-1982) 

The son of a former negro league hurler, Tiant was a top pitcher in his day, winning 229 games and leading the AL in shutouts three times. A two-time ERA champ, Tiant is perhaps best known for his performance in the 1975 postseason, going 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA in four starts, including a 163-pitch victory in Game 4 of the World Series. 

8. Bret Saberhagen (1984-2001) 

Saberhagen was one of the most exciting young players in the game during the 1980's, winning two Cy Young Awards before he turned 26. The MVP of the 1985 World Series with a 0.50 ERA, Saberhagen won 167 games and lost 117 for a .588 winning percentage across sixteen seasons. 

7. Mickey Lolich (1963-1979) 

One of the most colorful characters in the game, Lolich won 217 games over 16 seasons and tallied 2,832 strikeouts, at the time a record for southpaws. He won three games in the 1968 World Series (homering in Game 2) and tossed an incredible 376 innings in 1971, the most since 1917, allowing him to win 25 games and rack up 308 K's. 

6. Jack Quinn (1909-1933) 

Jack Quinn had a late start in baseball (debuting at 25), but more than made up for it with his longevity, pitching his last game at 50. He won 247 games in his career, including 26 in 1914 and 18 in 1928 as a 44-year-old. Quinn earned MVP votes in 1931 at age 47 and led the NL in saves in both 1931 and 1932. 

5. Orel Hershiser (1983-2000) 

Nicknamed the Bulldog, Hershiser captured the nation's attention in 1988 when he threw a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings, leading to 23 wins and a Cy Young Award. He had a 2.26 ERA that season and had other seasonal marks of 2.03 (1985) and 2.31 (1989). Hershiser won 204 games in his career and additionally went 8-3 with a 2.59 ERA in the playoffs. 

4. Ron Guidry (1975-1988) 

Guidry enjoyed one of the greatest seasons any pitcher ever had in 1978, going 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and 248 strikeouts as the runaway Cy Young Award winner. He followed up in 1979 with a second ERA Title and led the AL in wins again in 1985. Guidry won 170 games in his career and lost only 91, giving him an astronomical winning percentage of .651, one of the highest marks of all time. 

3. Billy Pierce (1945-1964) 

Pierce was one of the finest pitchers of his day, winning 211 games and making seven all-star teams. He led the Majors with a 1.97 ERA in 1955, a stunning 66 points lower than runner-up Whitey Ford (against whom Pierce had an 8-6 lifetime record). Pierce won 20 games in two different seasons and led the AL in complete games in 1956, 1957, and 1958. 

2. Johan Santana (2000-2012) 

Perhaps baseball's best pitcher in the 2000's, Santana won two Cy Young Awards and three ERA Titles during the decade, leading the AL in a litany of pitching categories. Injuries cost him his entire 2011 season and eventually ended his career, but he returned for a final season in 2012, tossing a no-hitter on June 1. He finished with 139 wins and a .641 winning percentage. 

1. Curt Schilling (1988-2007) 

I haven't written a unique article about Schilling, so I'll spend more time on him here. 

PED users aside, Curt Schilling is undoubtedly the best starting pitcher outside the Hall of Fame. Despite pitching in an artificially offense-heavy period, he had a 3.46 career ERA (127 ERA+), 216 wins, and 3,116 strikeouts, 17th on the all-time list. Although he never won a Cy Young Award, he finished second three times, twice losing to teammate Randy Johnson. A rare power pitcher who seldom issued walks, his 4.38 career K/BB rate ranked second in baseball history when he retired, trailing only Tommy Bond, who pitched before the standard four-ball walk. In addition, Schilling was one of the greatest playoff pitchers of all time, going 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in postseason play, winning three World Series rings and two series MVP Awards (1993 NLCS, 2001 World Series). His 56 strikeouts in the 2001 postseason set a record which still stands. 

Say what you want about his conduct - during his career he won no fewer than four character-based awards (Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente, Branch Rickey, Hutch). By all reasonable measures, Schilling is a Hall of Famer. The only reason for his exclusion is political, and politics should have no place in the Hall of Fame debate.