Best 10 Pitchers Of All Time

The best pitchers in baseball history, such as Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, to name a few, are the legendary pitchers who every batter dreaded facing. In this list, we have included the top ten pitchers of all time who have glorified baseball and set a new standard in the game.

Pitching is at the heart of baseball. The game begins with pitching, and the beginning shapes the in-field environment for each team. A good pitcher has a delightful combination of accuracy, concentration, strong arms, velocity, mental toughness, and movement.

Many great pitchers have appeared in Major League Baseball (MLB). It was difficult to narrow down all of the outstanding pitchers from multiple generations to ten. To do so, we had to analyze a massive amount of data while keeping the differences between eras in mind. This list is inspired by Bleacher Report and ESPN.

In this list, we will name the top ten pitchers of all time. Let’s get this party started!

The 10 Greatest Pitchers of All Time

10. Bob Gibson

Pack Robert Gibson, known colloquially as Bob Gibson, was a professional baseball pitcher. He was born on November 9, 1935, and died at the age of 84 on October 2, 2020. He died of pancreatic cancer.

Similarly, Gibby spent 17 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1959 to 1975. Pack Robert Gibsonnever played for another MLB team after that. He won 251 games, struck out 3,117 batters, and had a 2.91 ERA. He had several career highs, but the pinnacle came in 1968 when he posted a 1.12 ERA and struck out 17 batters in Game 1 of the World Series.

When Bob retired in 1975, he was second only to Walter Johnson in career strikeouts. His post-retirement life was also centered on baseball, with him coaching and instructing Cardinals players. Gibson was named to the All-Star team nine times and won the World Series twice.

He was named CY Young Award winner twice and National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1968. In 1981, the baseball player was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Similarly, his contribution to baseball went beyond pitching. He led a civil rights movement in MLB to end segregation and give all players access to the same clubhouse and hotel rooms. His efforts earned St. Louis the distinction of being the first sports team to abolish segregation.

9. Greg Maddux

Gregory Alan Maddox is a former baseball pitcher from the United States. He currently works as a college baseball coach. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the pitching coach mentors players.

Maddux played for teams such as the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres during his professional baseball career, which lasted from 1986 to 2008. Maddux was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 1984 MLB draft. Before joining the MLB, he played in the American Legion.

Maddux has a 355-227 win-loss record. He had a 171 batting average, with four seasons batting 200 or higher. Similarly, he averaged five home runs and 84 RBIs. His superior pitching mechanism has always been praised by his contemporaries and experts.

He won 20 games twice in 1992 and 1993, 19 games five times, 18 games, and 16 games once in 1994. He also won four ERA championships. With 18 victories, Maddux also holds the MLB record for most seasons finishing in the top ten. Similarly, he has 15 Golden Gloves, breaking the record for most gloves.

In the 1990s, he won more games than any of his contemporaries, becoming one of only ten pitchers to have 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. Furthermore, he is the only pitcher to have more than 300 victories, over 3,000 strikeouts, and fewer than 1,000 walks all at the same time.

On January 8, 2014, Maddux was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is now a special assistant to the general managers of the Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs.

8. Roger Clemens

Former baseball pitcher William Roger Clemens began his professional baseball career in 1984, after being drafted in the first round of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox. He previously played for the University of Texas at Austin, where he went 25-7 in two All-American seasons.

After playing for the Toronto Blue Rays, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox, his career ended in 2007. Clemens is widely regarded as one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. He has 354 victories, a 3.12 ERA, and 4,672 strikeouts, which ranks third all-time.

He is the first pitcher in MLB history to begin a season with a 20-1 win-loss record. In 2003, he also recorded his 300th victory and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Furthermore, Clemens is the only pitcher in MLB history to have over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters. He’s also had a couple of 20-strikeout games.

Similarly, he is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the American League Cy Young Award, All-Star Game MVP Award, and American League MVP Award. Clemens was also inducted into the Boston Red Sox and Pawtucket Red Sox Halls of Fames in 2014 and 2019.

He has not yet been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Nonetheless, he is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

7. Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Edward Kershaw is a baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. In the 2006 MLB draft, he was chosen seventh overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers’ No.22 starter is a left-handed pitcher. Clayton was the youngest player in MLB when he made his debut in 2008, and he held that title for a year.

In 22 games, 21 of which he started, he finished with a 4.26 ERA. On multiple occasions, the left-handed strikeout has been compared to Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Kershaw led MLB in ERA five times, becoming the first pitcher to do so four years in a row from 2011 to 2014. He has also led the National League in wins three times and strikeouts three times.

He was an All-Star eight times from 2011 to 2019, excluding 2018, World Series Champion in 2020, National League MVP in 2014, National League Cy Young Award thrice, and many other honors.

Kershaw’s teammates have referred to him as a “perfectionist” for his abilities on the field. Furthermore, he is not your typical baseball pitcher. He is a humanitarian who has been actively involved in volunteer work for many years. Kershaw was also honored with the Roberto Clemente Award and the Branch Rickey Award for his outstanding work off the field.

He and his wife started “Kershaw’s Challenge” and wrote a book to raise funds to build an orphanage in Zambia.

6. Sandy Koufax

Sanford Koufax was a baseball pitcher for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. The Brooklyn Dodgers signed him for a large sum at the time, which he decided to put toward his university tuition if his baseball career did not work out. In his 12-year career, Koufax went 165-87 with a 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts.

He became the first pitcher to allow fewer than seven (6.79) hits per nine innings pitched and strike out more than nine (9.28) batters per nine innings. Similarly, Koufax is only the second pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts. He was also the first pitcher to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts.

His postseason record was equally impressive, with a 4-3 record and a 0.95 ERA in four World Series appearances. Throughout his career, he received numerous awards. He became the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, as well as the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award unanimously.

Koufax was also a six-time All-Star and the National League MVP in 1963. In 1972, he was the youngest player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, at the age of 36.

5. Pedro Martinez

Pedro Jaime Martinez, a Dominican-American former baseball pitcher, played in Major League Baseball from 1992 to 2005. He was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Montreal Expos, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Mets, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Martinez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers in 1968. From 1997 to 2003, Pedro was at the pinnacle of his career, establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball history. When he retired, he had 219 wins and 100 losses, giving him the fourth-highest winning percentage in MLB history.

He finished with a 2.93 ERA and 3000 strikeouts. Pedro Jaime Martinez is the only pitcher with over 3,000 career strikeouts in less than 3,000 innings pitched. He is an eight-time All-Star, the winner of three Cy Young Awards, and the American League MVP runner-up. Martinez also has the lowest single-season WHIP in MLB history, 0.737, set in 2000.

Similarly, he has the lowest single-season FIP in live-ball ERA history, with 1.39 in 1999. He led the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series victory in 86 years. In his first year of eligibility, the baseball player was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Martnez was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on February 1, 2018.

4. Cy Young

The famous Cy Young Award, which has been won by almost every pitcher on this list, is named after American professional baseball player Denton True “Cy” Young. Cy Young left a legacy that will never be replicated in the history of baseball pitching. As a result, the Cy Young Award is given to the best pitchers in each MLB league.

Young’s professional baseball career began in the Tri-State League and progressed to the National League. In 1890, he signed with the Cleveland Spiders (now the Cleveland Indians, the Spiders’ Major League successors).

In his debut, he pitched a three-hit 8-1 victory over the Chicago Colts. He also played for the St. Louis Perfectos / Cardinals, the Boston Americans / Red Sox, the Cleveland Naps, and the Boston Rustlers. He also worked as a manager for the Boston Americans. Even nearly 70 years after his death, Young is remembered with great reverence. He truly is a baseball legend.

He had 511 MLB victories in his career. Furthermore, he led his league to several victories and pitched three no-hitters, including the perfect game in 1904.

“Some may have believed that knowing how to curve a ball came first and foremost. Experience, in my opinion, teaches the opposite.”

Young then added,

“Any young pitcher with good control will become a successful curve pitcher much sooner than the pitcher attempting to master both curves and control at the same time.” “The curve is merely a tool for control.”

Young was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.

3. Randy Johnson

Randall David Johnson was a former American baseball pitcher who played for the Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, and San Francisco Giants. Randy was selected in the second round of the 1985 MLB draft by the Montreal Expos. He made his debut in 1988 and retired in 2009.

He had 303 career wins, which was the fifth-most in MLB history for a left-hander. Similarly, he struck out 4,875 batters, ranking second all-time on the left-handed pitching staff. Johnson also had five of the seven highest single-season strikeout totals in modern baseball history.

He has ten All-Star appearances and five Cy Young Awards. Similarly, he is among the top five pitchers in both the American and National Leagues to have pitched no-hitters.

Johnson also set a record by becoming the oldest pitcher over 40 to throw a perfect game. Furthermore, his.646 career winning percentage ranks sixth among left-handed pitchers with at least 200 decisions. His career highs include first in strikeouts per nine innings pitched, third in hit batters, and tenth in hits allowed per nine innings pitched.

Similarly, Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, his first year of eligibility. Furthermore, he is the first member of the Hall to have his plaque depicted in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform.

2. Walter Johnso

Walter Perry Johnson was a professional baseball pitcher. He was a member of the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. He later worked as a manager for the Washington Senators and the Cleveland Indians. When he was 19, he was signed by the Washington Senators. He is still regarded as one of the best and most dominant power pitchers in MLB history.

He set numerous baseball records at the time, some of which are still standing. Johnson’s retirement will reach a century in the coming years, but he remains the all-time leader in career shutouts with 110. Similarly, his 417 victories rank second all-time, and his 531 complete games rank first.

Walter Perry Johnson had a career strikeout total of 3,508 that was unbroken for nearly 56 years. Walter Perry Johnson was initially the only player in his era to have 3000 strikeouts. Johnson also has the most innings pitched among the 18 players in the 3,000 strikeout club. He also has the fewest strikeouts per nine innings pitched, with 5.34 K/9.

Walter Perry Johnson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He was one of the first five inaugural members to receive the honor. Walter Johnson is remembered to this day for his legendary gentle nature and superior sportsmanship. A legend for a reason!

1. Christy Mathewson

Christopher Mathewson, also known as Christy Mathewson, was one of his most dominant baseball players and is still regarded as the best. The American right-handed pitcher began his major league career in 1900 and lasted 16 years until 1916. After that, he played for the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Reds. He later managed the Reds.

Mathewson was ranked in the top ten in many key pitching categories, including wins, ERA, and shutouts. Similarly, he had 373 wins, a 2.13 ERA, 2,502 strikeouts, and a winning percentage of.665.He began his semi-professional baseball career at the age of 14. He also briefly played football for the Pittsburgh Stars of the first NFL.

Consider an athlete who is so talented that he can play both football and baseball professionally. That’s Christy Mathewson for you! Christy pitched three shutouts to help the Giants win the World Series in 1905. Mathewson, a devout Christian, did not pitch on Sundays because of his Christian beliefs and a promise to his mother.

He was an athlete and army officer who served in the United States Army’s Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. He also pursued a literary career. Mathewson was one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

More than a century has passed since his retirement, and his death will be a century in a few years, but Christy Mathewson lives on in the hearts of baseball fans. He is and will always be a baseball legend.

Also Read: Simon Sinek Motivating Speech On Wife, Relationship