I remember as a kid in 1969 watching Fergie Jenkins pitch. He was known for two things. He seemed to win 20 games every year and he was Canadian. There are 255 from Canada and not only is Ferguson Jenkins the greatest pitcher from Canada. He is the greatest all-time player. For pitcher there can be no question. The nearest pitchers are Russ Ford second and John Hiller third in terms of WAR. Ford isn’t in my top 1,000 players. I have Hiller rated in 572nd place so it will take a while to get to his writeup.
There are two players who do give Jenkins better competition. Larry Walker another Hall of Famer is the first. I have him in 204th place. Walker didn’t quite make my top 181 which if you haven’t made the hall of fame there has to be a reason why. However, he is close and certainly has hall of fame credentials. As there are 235 members of the hall of fame because they are major league players, Larry fits easily in that group. He isn’t far point wise from 750. I believe that 1 percent of the players should be in the hall of fame. Right now, that would be 199 players. Walker isn’t far from that. So, Walker is a legitimate hall of fame to me.
The other player is Joey Votto, a current player. I have him in 171st place and didn’t count 2020 because I am not going to do any more calculations with this formula. So, I have him down as a sure hall of famer. Votto has an outside chance of catching Jenkins as he is 36.
In 1969, Jenkins won 20 for the third of six straight years. He won a Cy Young in 1971. In 1973 he had a bit of an off year and was 30 years old. The Cubs traded him to the Rangers. Jenkins won 25 his first year of the Rangers leading them to second place. Catfish Hunter also won 25 that year and won the Cy Young Award with Fergie coming in second. According to WAR Fergie pitched better. However, also according to WAR Gaylord Perry pitched better then both of them.
