The Week 6 Baseball's Best Countdown

It's starting to get hot out and the days of summer are beginning in earnest. Just the right time to break out another best pitcher in franchise history sample list, and this time include the most storied franchise of them all. No, I'm not talking about the New Haven Elm Citys, although they are included, I'm talking about Bronx Bombers, those New York Yankees, as well as the Minnesota Twins, those Mets across town, and the Milwaukee Brewers. But for one team in bonus coverage, the Minnesota Twins, aka the Washington Senators in past years, we're going to start with with the list at #3, the man most discussed during Hall of Fame balloting right now and whether he has the merits to make it (better hurry, not many writer's ballot years left) and count down five from there, then you can try and fill in the blanks about who sits at the top.

Some of the Top Twenty
3. Bert Blylevin. Let's stop with the bickering and put Bert in the Hall already. Yes, we know that win loss percentage is lower than we'd like, but hey, he wasn't playing for the Yankees, or even the current Twins. Over his Twin career, Bert won 149 games, about half his career total, and accumulated 144.556 PEVA Rating Points. Only two pitchers in Minnesota, and Washington Senator, history did better than that.

4. Brad Radke. Radke spent twelve seasons pitching for the Twins with a baggy behind him. Much like Blylevin, he didn't have a great won loss percentage at 148-139 and an ERA over 4.00, but his 130.309 PEVA Rating Points lands him at the #4 spot in Twin/Senator history from the pitching side of the equation.

5. Jim Kaat. The big, quick pitch, lefty won 190 in Minnesota, with an ERA of 3.34, all totaling up to 128.252 PEVA.

6. Frank Viola. Another lefty in the eightees won 112 games for the Twins and lands at the #6 spot in the countdown. 115.982 PEVA pitching.

7. Camilo Pascual. His last year in Minnesota came in 1966 and the 110.796 PEVA points were part of a career there, and in Washington, that saw 145 wins, 141 losses, and 10 saves over 2,465 innings.

Okay, now for the Top Two, and the rest of the Top Twenty. It's pretty easy to guess who's number one, but just where did some other Twin favorites end up? Match the pitcher with his rank ... Rick Aguilera, Firpo Marberry, Joe Nathan, Jim Perry, Johan Santana, and Walter Johnson. Check out Stat Geek Baseball, the Best Ever Book at Google Books or Amazon.com.

Best Players by Team (Royals, Dodgers)
Week Six Countdown Sample

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