So far, all the players featured in my The Outside Looking In series have been batters. I will change that now, and feature a pitcher – Billy Pierce.
In 18 big league seasons, Billy Pierce went 211-169 with a 3.27 ERA, completing 193 games and allowing only 2, 989 hits in 3,306 2/3 innings of work. Those numbers are impressive, but do they make him a Hall of Famer? Well, yes. Consider this: Billy Pierce was an All-Star seven times, with six of those All-Star appearances coming in the 1950s. Furthermore, he was the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year twice in a row – in 1956 and 1957. What does this lead one to believe? That Pierce was one of the best American League pitchers of the 1950s? You bet.
Pierce completed 162 games in the 1950s, more than any other American League pitcher during that time period. In fact, he once led the American League in complete games three years in a row, from 1956 to 1958, and he completed 15 or more games seven times in that decade. Compared to other Hall of Fame pitchers who played in most or all of the 1950s, he had more career complete games than pitchers like Bob Lemon and Whitey Ford.
Not only was Pierce a workhorse, but he was also a winner. He won 15 or more games eight times in his career, eclipsing the 20 win mark twice. In 1957, he led the league in wins.
Speaking of leading the league – Pierce was never much of a “league leader” – in fact, he led the league in only half as many categories as the average Hall of Fame pitcher did. Indeed, he led the league in wins once, ERA once, ERA+ once, strikeouts once, best hits per nine innings pitched ratio once, WHIP once, and best K:BB ratio once. He had the best strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio twice, and as stated before, he led the league in complete games three times. Yes, he led in categories from time to time, but never continually was a league leader.
That said, he was often in the top ten in many categories. For example, he was in the top ten in K/9IP and K:BB ratio ten times, strikeouts, complete games and BB/9IP nine times, and so on. All that finishing in the top ten made his grey ink add up – so much so that he was on the leader board – but not the actual leader – more than an average Hall of Fame pitcher.
What exactly is keeping Billy Pierce out of the Hall of Fame? Well, at first glance a 211-169 career record and a .555 winning percentage aren’t very impressive. Many pitchers have won 211 games with a .555 winning percentage or better – 92, to be exact. His record is good – but not eye catching.
Despite his record, though, the fact that he was one of the top 1950s American League pitchers makes him worthy. A seven-time All-Star and two-time Sporting News Pitcher of the Year is normally pretty good. And Pierce was not just pretty good – he was Hall of Fame good.
