The Boston Red Sox are generally known as a team of large sluggers: hulking, awkward stiffs with stone hands, lead feet, and platinum bats.  This has been the perception for roughly 75 years.    However, you wouldn’t know this by glancing at the list of top pitchers in team history.  The top five guys here are among the immortals of the sport, all among the top 10 or 20 players in the history of Major League Baseball.

As before, I take into account the player’s career in a Red Sox uniform only.  Therefore, no Seaver, no Cone, no Saberhagen, no Kiecker, ect. 

One more note: I realize there is a school of thought that is hesitant to compare guys like Cy Young to guys like Tim Wakefield, because if Cy Young were alive today, he might not even make a major league baseball team.  While that may or may not be true, ranking only modern players is simply not as interesting.  Therefore, I’ll cover the whole spectrum, using era-adjusted stats as a benchmark.

I had fun compiling this list, some very colorful characters throughout.  In the interest of brevity (we start our team previews very soon), I didn’t go into as much detail on the well-known guys at the top of the list.  I concentrated more on the guys who you may not know.  I’ll get right to it. 

15. Carl Mays.

Carl is best known for killing a man with a pitch, but he did this while playing for the Yankees (obviously), so we’ll ignore that for the purpose of this analysis.  Mays threw with a distinct submarine style, and was known for his sharp, moving fastball.  He began his career with Boston and spent 5 seasons here, pitching All-Star quality baseball for 4 of those years.  However, he was one of several notable players shipped from Boston to New York, and like those other notable players, he enjoyed better years on the Yankees.  Based on his numbers alone, Mays might qualify for the Hall of Fame.  However, the killing and game-fixing allegations have clouded his reputation.  Dr. Charles Steinberg wasn’t around to handle his PR, unfortunately.

Note: Mays narrowly edges Curt Schilling, Tex Hughson, Rube Foster, and Wes Ferrell.

14. Dutch Leonard.

There were actually 2 Dutch Leonards in MLB history.  One was a righty knuckleball artist, the other (this guy) was a lefty spitballer.  Leonard primarily threw the spitball to compliment his fastball and curve, and MLB actually allowed him (as well as a few other guys) to continue to throw the saliva-covered pitch after it was banned.  While his aggregate numbers are only moderately impressive, his 1914 season was nothing short of mind-blowing.  In a MLB slightly weakened by the rival Federal League, Dutch led the league in ERA, with an astounding 0.96!  (Astounding even by dead-ball standards; it works out to a 279 ERA+) This was, and still is, an all-time record.

Like Mays, Leonard was also rumored to have been involved with game-fixing.  Hey, who are you to judge him?!  Ballplayers weren’t paid very well back then.  Get off your soapbox, Kenesaw. 

13. Bruce Hurst.

Hurst is a guy who makes the list on the merits of his consistency, rather than his peaks.  He did have one excellent season in 1986, but for the most part, Hurst was a workhorse who could be counted on for 200 quality innings, at or slightly above league average.  A deceptive lefty with a killer pick-off move, Hurst was the 2^nd best pitcher on the team for several years, next to Roger Clemens. 
Hurst was actually named the 1986 World Series MVP, moments before the disastrous Game 6 loss.  Boy, was his face red. 

12. Frank Sullivan.

A towering righty known for a deceptive fastball and curve, Sullivan is one of the most underrated players in Red Sox history, and likely the least-known character on this list.  For a 4 year stretch, Sullivan was one of the premier right-handers in the game, and was the anchor of a mid-50’s rotation on some very mediocre Red Sox teams.  Sullivan made 2 All-Star games (in one of which he served up a walk-off homer to Stan Musial). 

Frank was immortalized by Norman Rockwell’s famous painting “The Rookie”, which depicts the starter, along with Ted Williams, glaring menacingly at a hapless rookie in the clubhouse.

11. Dennis Eckersley.

Of course, Eckersley is known primarily for his Hall of Fame-quality work in the Oakland Bullpen.  Long before he terrorized the American League in the late 80’s/early 90’s as baseball’s premier closer, Eck was the rotation ace of the dynamic Red Sox teams of the late 70’s.  Twice he finished in the top 10 of Cy Young Award voting, and was a 20 game winner in 1978.

However, overuse had perhaps taken a toll on Eckersley’s arm.  Between age 22 and 24, Eck had averaged 254 innings per season, and his fastball was not the same going into the 1980’s.  He floundered for a few more years as a starter on the Red Sox and Cubs, before Tony LaRussa changed Eck’s role, as well as his place in history.

10. Bill Monbouquette.

A local guy from Medford, Bill had the misfortune of being the ace of the Sox during perhaps their bleakest time, the early 60’s.  However, that did not stop “Monbo” from making three All Star teams and recording 20 wins in 1963 (over 25% of the team’s win total that season).  His success was primarily due to pinpoint control, despite the fact that he threw a no-hitter and recorded a 17 K game while with the Sox.    
Monbouquette was, on certain days, one of the best hitters in the Red Sox lineup.  This speaks more to the weakness of the offense than it does to Monbo’s slugging abilities. 

9. Tim Wakefield.

If you had told me in 1994 that I would be ranking this man in the Top 10 of Red Sox pitchers, I would have kindly asked you to pass the opium pipe, please.  Yet, here we are, and Wake has cemented his name on the list.  He was “great” in only 2 seasons, but he’s had about 7 years in which he was “good”.  Extremely versatile, Wake has seen just about every pitching role: ace, workhorse, mop-up guy, even closer.  With a couple more good years, Wakefield could very well move up another notch or two before he’s done.

8. Mel Parnell.

A southern gentleman from The Big Easy, Mel holds most of the team records for left-handed pitchers.  The two-time All-Star didn’t crack the Boston rotation until he was 26 years old, but was the ace of the team for a 6 year stretch in the late 40’s/early 50’s. 

Mel was a 25 game winner in 1949 (amazingly, he had more walks than strikeouts that season).

7. “Smokey” Joe Wood.

Like a bolt of lightning, Smokey Joe’s pitching career was brief, yet explosive.  The fearsome right-hander won 34 games in 1912 (as well as the World Series MVP), and was the second best pitcher in the league for a stretch in the 1910’s (the best being the immortal “Big Train” Walter Johnson).  However, a thumb injury and enormous inning totals eventually took their toll, and Wood’s pitching career faded away.  Wood later became an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, and was quite good (career OPS+ of 110).

He is one of my favorite historical characters (my screen name on John Sickles’ www.minorleagueball.com site is ”SmokeyJoeWood”).    

6. Luis Tiant.

Along with David Ortiz, Tiant will go down as one of the greatest “scrap-heap” finds in team history.  In 1971, 30 year old Luis was released twice, by the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins.  The Sox took a gamble and signed the injury plagued former ace.  Tiant would go on to pitch 8 seasons for Boston, winning 20 games in 3 of them.  Tiant’s most memorable moments were in the postseason of 1975, where he pitched 34 innings, won 4 games, and yielded a 2.65 ERA.  A fan favorite known for his unorthodox 180-degree delivery, Tiant is an oft debated Hall of Fame candidate.  As of right now, he’s still on the waiting list.

5. Lefty Grove.

Probably the best left-handed pitcher of all-time, Lefty has his best seasons on Connie Mack’s Philadelphia “White Elephant” A’s.  However, the legend was no slouch for Boston, making 5 straight All-Star teams in the twilight of his long career. 

4. Babe Ruth.

George Herman Ruth was actually quite physically fit and handsome while he was a pitcher for the Red Sox.  He really let himself go in New York.

I love this photo of Ruth.  Let me say that I find the whole ”curse” thing as silly as you probably do…but, this photo.  It honestly looks like he is glaring right into your soul. 

“You’ll be sorry, Boston.  You’ll be ****ing sorry.” 

3. Cy Young.

He doesn’t really measure up to the two guys ahead of him, simply because he never managed to win a Cy Young award.  The voters must have had it out for him.

2. Pedro Martinez.

Oh boy.  This is where it gets interesting.  The whole “Pedro versus Clemens” debate has been beaten to death in every Red Sox forum and in every Boston bar room.  The crux of the debate comes down to one thing: Peak versus Career.  Pedro Martinez represents “Peak”.  He had a six year stretch in Boston that is undeniably better than any stretch by any other pitcher, in history.  His 1999 and 2000 seasons could be the two greatest seasonal performances by a pitcher in history.  His career ERA+ is currently #1, in history.  The pitcher with the majestic arsenal of lightning-quick fastballs and physics-violating changeups certainly has an argument for #1.  However, on my list, durability plays a major role, and Pedro (for now) takes the passenger seat.

1. Roger Clemens.

This may not be the popular choice for King of Red Sox Pitchers.  Alas, I am ranking these guys with my head, and not my heart.  While pitching for Boston, Clemens had 9 or 10 seasons in which he was great, and 2 or 3 seasons in which he was merely “good”.  Even if you were to erase the seasons he pitched for Toronto, New York, and Houston, The Rocket would still rank among the greatest pitchers in history. 

In my mind, it is undeniable. 

Clemens is the greatest pitcher who ever lived.               

Notable Omissions (in no particular order):
Bill Lee: overrated, due to quirky personality.
Curt Schilling: close, but needs more than just 2 good seasons.  Probably pops in at around #13 at this time next year.
Tex Hughson: Pitched in a weakened league during WWII.
Jim Lonborg: 1967 was memorable, but his only good season.
Rube Foster: wasn’t around long enough.
Wes Ferrell: wasn’t on the Sox long enough.

BONUS:
Closers – I described them in detail here, but I’ll go ahead and rank the top 5:
5. Tom Gordon
4. Derek Lowe        
3. Bob Stanley
2. Ellis Kinder     
1. Dick Radatz