Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Anti HOF: Mike Scott



0.4% of the 1997 MLB Hall of Fame vote

Houston Astros hurler Mike Scott would be a shoe-in if the HOF primarily focused on short term brillance. Not unlike Sandy Koufax, Dwight Gooden or Mark Mulder.

Scott used a split-finger fastball and blaise mound presence to marginalize National League hitters during the late Eighties. One could argue that Scott was the top NL pitcher during this time, winning the Cy Young Award in 1986, a season in which he struck out over 300 batters and positively dismantled the soon-to-be champion New York Mets in the NLCS.

Scott won an impressive 86 games from 1985-1989 and yet did little else to distinguish during his career before or after. He was a relative late bloomer and didn't really elevate his game until his age 30 season, which certainly is not a recipe to longevity. That being said, Scott was a true innovator and helped bring the split-finger to the masses, making him a worthy member of the Anti HOF.

Top Baseball-Reference.com comperable of the modern era: John Denny

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