In a recent post, I mentioned that I would like to see Jerry Koosman’s #36 retired. Now part of that happens to be that Koosman has been a personal favorite of mine. In fact, taking nothing away from Tom Seaver, when everyone was big on Tom Terrific, I found myself praising Koosman more than Seaver.
Recently, looking on the Mets website, I felt some credence was given to my feelings about Koosman and his deserving to have his number retired. The conversation actually did not deal with his number but whether or not he should be in the Hall of Fame. A reader wrote in to Marty Noble (who does the mailbag column for the Mets) about Koosman deserving to be in the Hall (especially with what we are witnessing today).
Noble responded by saying Koosman was a personal favorite of his and he wished there was a spot for Jerry in the Hallof Fame (although he indicated he felt it unlikely that Koosman would get in). He went on to say that since he has been covering the game since the early 70’s, Koosman is one of the pitchers he feels should be enshrined in Cooperstown. Others he mentioned included Ron Guidry, Jack Morris and Mel Stottlemyer.
He even goes on to say that he has previously stated that Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax and Morris are popular answers to the question, "Which pitcher would you choose to start a MUST WIN game”. And he then adds, “Koosman wouldn’t be a bad choice either.
Click here to see that article (It’s about two-thirds of the way down).
So, now I feel even more convinced that considering the teams he played on, his ability to win big games and his overall makeup as a pitcher, #36 should be retired. To me, there will never be another 36, even when I see people like Mark Bombeck given that uniform number.
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Sorry but I've got to disagree. Much like Bert Blyleven, Kooz was good, make that very good, but not great.
To me, the HOF has gotten to be a statistical exercise and it shouldn't be. Blyleven, not worthy in my book despite his win totals because they were "padded" by the many years he hung around. Now I hate to say that because a win is a win, but to me he just wasn't feared and dominant for much of his career.
Which brings us to Kooz. I would say he was very very good but not feared and dominant. Pick a pitcher to win one game in the 70's and you get Palmer, Seaver, Carlton, Gibson etc. I don't think you reach Kooz, despite the fact that he had a wonderful career and was a gret pitcher.
Compare him to Jack Morris or Orel Hershiser, though, who both had a five or so year stretch where they was arguably tops, and Kooz falls short.
On the hitting side, to me guys like Andre Dawson, Dave Parker, and Jim Rice are all worthy because for a significant period of time in their career they were as good as it gets. Sure, longevity counts for someting, and I do think there is some sort of minimum requirement, but who was the guy that scared you to death when you faced them? Now that's a measuring stick.
To sum it up, the eyes don't lie but statistics and number sure do.
Texmet out
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