As I live in the philly market, I'm saturated by the propaganda surrounding certain players and how great they are... a friend posted a pic of their son posing in front of a Robin Roberts statue at a recent game... stating how sweet it was and such... I looked him up and I'm confused as to why he was elected into the HOF... Win–loss record: 286–245 Earned run average: 3.41 Strikeouts: 2,357 Complete games: 305 = Impressive! Shutouts: 45 Innings pitched: 4,688⅔ in 676 games. **He is second to Jamie Moyer for the major league record for home runs allowed by a pitcher (505) HOLY CRAP **Roberts was the only pitcher in major league history to defeat the Braves franchise in all three cities that the team has been based in: Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta = INTERESTING But aside from the complete games... why is he in the HOF? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Roberts_%28baseball%29
Seriously though six straight 20 wins seasons and lead the league in wins four straight years. Add in everything else and he's a Hall of Famer.
...Roberts deserves to be in the HOF...throw away the W/L record. It's a terrible way to gauge a pitcher, besides, he played for some pretty bad Philllies teams. Career WHIP of 1.17, 12 consecutive years of 30+ starts and HALF of his career starts (609) was a complete game.(305)
oh... I didn't think his ERA was impressive... So I was taking the W/L and the ERA into account together... not just the W/L record... ERA over 3.4 in the NL... sorry... But I yield the floor to my elders.
Nice feedback 59... To add to this, Roberts was as much a Work Horse, and dominating Pitcher in his time, as good as any NL SP was in that era. Roberts played on a real very bad offensive Phillies Teams; their Defense was pitiful at times too. But not Roberts, hell Robin deserved a HOF nod, simply for having to play on those Teams, and excelled in spite of no run production, or to many fielding errors by his Team Mates. ....many old timers, or players from that time, will tell ya' as much, "Roberts was one Pitcher opposing Teams did NOT want to have to face". Robin Evan Roberts played for the Phillies, Orioles, Astros, and Cubs from 1948-1966. He was the ace of the Phillies staff for 14 of those years and was a fan favorite on the mound in the City of Brotherly Love. Roberts won 286 games during his Hall of Fame career, with a lifetime ERA of 3.41. The seven-time All Star led Philadelphia to its first World Series in 35 years in 1950, after going 20-11 during the regular season. He flourished for the next several years, winning 20 or more games from 1950-1955. He even led the league in wins from 1952-1955. From 1950-1956, Robin led the National League in games started in a season six times, complete games in a season five times, innings pitched in a season five times, and strikeouts in a season twice. No wonder he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. But he never won a Cy Young Award, because that award wasn't given out in the MLB until 1956. Although the Phillies didn't do too well during the '50s and early '60s, at least they had Robin Roberts on their roster
To accompany Roberts from the left was Curt Simmons, Phillies traded him to St Louis where he was paired with Gibson and we all remember the 1964 results. Shibe Park was the first stadium where I witnessed a live game. Roberts was a particular favorite of mine, consistent control guy, always around the plate, gave up a few bombs but overall brilliant. Puddin' Head Jones at 3rd, Granny Hamner at short, Stan Lopata behind the dish, Ashburn and Ennis in the outfield were standouts I remember from those Philadelphia Teams when I first became a fan. And yes Roberts certainly deserved his Hall of Fame Credentials.
Since 1950 Roberts also had the most wins over a 5 year period than any pitcher in baseball........... 1) Robin Roberts.............(118)............1951-1955 2) Juan Marichal...............(111)............1962-1966 3) Sandy Koufax..............(111)............1962-1966 4) Jim Hunter...................(108)...........1971-1975 5) Denny McLain..............(107)...........1965-1969 Roberts also had an amazing 140 complete games during that span (1951-1955)
Great Stuff Michael and Rick.....I guess were elders, whoooo the Hell is the Deacon then.... "They Call Alabama the Crimson Tide, Call me Deacon Blues" - (not me the Steely Dan tune).
Ashburn in Center Field was right up there with Willie, Mickey, and the Duke in all aspects of the game except power, One of the funniest things I remember about him was listening to him broadcasting a game in '78 with I think Kalas. Kalas was going on about this and that, then stating "Well Richie, you only hit 29 homers in your career. Ashburn replied "That was 29 more than you hit".
The pleasure was all ours.....were here for your convenience and support.... "Let no one steal your laughter"...!
