Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens or Randy Johnson?

Question

Who was the best pitcher?

Answer 1

Young but Ryan is my favorite.

Answer 2

10 Nolan Ryan

9 Warren Spahn

8 Bob Gibson

7 Steve Carlton

6 Bob Feller

5 Cy Young

4 Lefty Grove

3 Sandy Koufax

2 Christy Mathewson

1 Walter Johnson

Answer 3

With 7 no-hitters and the reigning strike out king. Nolan is the best and if Nolan played on the Yankees, he would have had an ungodly amount of wins. He had several 1-hitters and 2-hitters games.

Look at the stats
Ryan - 5714 K's, 324Wins, 222 complete games, 61 shutouts, 3.19 lifetime era, 8 allstar appearances,

The only stat that Roger Clemens beats him in is Cy Young Awards and thats because Nolan pitch on poor team during the time of no free agency (Astros and the Rangers) and he had no run support.

Randy Johnson is not even close to approaching his numbers and you can't say bad things about Cy Young, the award is named after him, I mean 511 wins is great no matter what. But I think Nolan would have reached those numbers if he played on the yankees. But todays pitchers (and even in Nolan days), don't make 40+ starts, hell they barely make 30+ starts with the 5 man rotation. Even if they wanted to Managers and owners will not allow them to.

So I say Nolan just barely edges out Cy Young.

Answer 4

If I needed one win and had to choose one of those pitchers in their prime, I would pick Nolan Ryan. He threw 7 no hitters and has the most strike outs ever. Plus he kick Robin Ventura's butt when he charged him. Next would be "Rocket", Cy Young then Randy Johnson. I have seen 3 of the 4 pitch in Houston and "The Express" was the best. Randy was the most disappointing and has had a couple of problems winning the big game.

Answer 5

Statisticly Cy Young is the best of the four.

He has more wins, and the lower E.R.A.

Next in line would be Roger Clemens.

He has the next most wins and the next lowest E.R.A.

Next would come Nolan Ryan.

He has the next most wins and the 3rd lowest E.R.A.

So the worst pitcher of the four is Randy Johnson.

FINAL RANKINGS :

1. Cy Young

2. Roger Clemens

3. Nolan Ryan

4. Randy Johnson

Answer 6

First of all, anyone who gives the crown to Young simply because he has more wins doesn’t understand the fundamental difference in baseball in Young’s time. Christy Matthewson, a contemporary, said that pitchers should not bother throwing hard all of the time, to save their best stuff for the pinch. That’s because in the dead ball era, the long ball was not much of a threat. So Young could start almost 50 games a year and not be a freak compared to his peers. That means more wins, and the lack of a lively ball will also lead to lower ERAs.

So let’s look at people in better context, such as their ERA compared to the league average. 100 means that they are at league average, 200 at half the league average.
Young’s ERA+ is 138 over 22 years. He had 1 season of 200+ and 6 seasons of 150+.
Ryan is at 112+ over 27 years. Yes, he struck people out, but he gave up a lot of walks. Frankly, anyone who thinks Ryan is one of the greatest pitchers ever is too easily impressed with the stuff and the strikeouts and not looking at the results enough. He had 0 seasons of 200+ and only 1 season of 150+.
Johnson is at 137 over 20 years. He had 0 seasons of 200+ and 8 seasons of 150+.
Roger Clemens is at 144 over 24 years. He had 3 seasons of 200+ and 10 seasons of 150+.

But as has been pointed out, Walter Johnson was possibly better still, (146 over 21 years, 4 seasons of 200+, 8 seasons of 150+).
and Maddux is certainly superior to Ryan (135 ERA+ over 22 years, 2 seasons of 200+, 9 seasons of 150+).

Answer 7

Nolan Ryan

Answer 8

Nolan Ryan has got to be #1
The man has 7 no hitters that is untouchable. At this point in time he is the strikeout king. Clemens is good longevity and power but he is no Nolan Ryan

Answer 9

nolan ryan gets no credit because he lost so many games but a life time ERA of only 3.19 and over 5,700 Ks and 7 no-hitters spells Greatest pitcher who ever lived
he was on some terrible teams in his life which led to alot of the losses
he probably would have won 400 if he had been on some halfway decent teams

Answer 10

The best pitcher of all time is none of those. It's Walter Johnson.