Frank

For every statistic in baseball, there's an all-time leader, a single-season leader, a single-game leader, even single-inning and per-nine-inning leaders. Then ballplayers are broken down as to how well they perform during certain innings, in specific situations, against different opponents. As if that isn't thorough enough analysis, there are more "Greatest of All-Time" rankings than you can shake a proverbial stick at.

Which got me to looking at "Greatest Pitcher of All Time" rankings from any sources I could find. The most respectable ones I could find were from Hardball Times and, oddly enough, Forbes. The two rankings concurred on Humboldt native Walter "Big Train" Johnson, Roger Clemens, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Greg Maddux, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn and Christy Mathewson as seven of baseball's Top 10 pitchers of all time.

AskMen.com compiled its own list of the Top 20 Major League Baseball players, which included just two pitchers: No. 6 Nolan Ryan and No. 12 Clemens (I suppose you can count No. 4 Babe Ruth, too).

To these publications' credit, they span from the dead ball era to the steroid era, so they don't appear to be bias toward a certain era (although Johnson, Alexander and Mathewson all pitched in the dead ball era) and they specify the criteria of their rankings.

However, these rankings lack in color. As in, the color of the pitchers on their lists.

Pedro Martinez was the only minority pitcher on Forbes' list. Bob Gibson was the highest ranked black pitcher on Hardball Times' list at No. 14, and is one of only three minority pitchers on the 40-pitcher list.

With all due respect to the pitchers on these lists, these rankings don't do justice to the black pitchers who have served as pioneers for today's minority pitchers. So, based on raw statistics and legend, here's my list of the Top 5 black pitchers to play professional baseball.

5. Vida Blue – LHP 6'0" 189 lbs. Born: Mansfield, Louisiana
Career Stats (1969-86): 209-161 W-L, 3.27 ERA, 2175 SO, 37 SHO, 1.233 WHIP
Legend: Blue, who was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics (Oakland Athletics franchise) in 1967 and played for the Kansas City Royals 15 years later, is perhaps underappreciated because he didn't live up to the lofty expectations he might have set for himself in 1971. That season – his first full one at the Major League level and three years after MLB lowered the pitcher's mound – he led the American League in ERA (1.82), shutouts (8), WHIP (.952), hits allowed per nine innings (6.03), and strikeouts per nine innings (8.68). He was also second in the AL in wins (24) and strikeouts (304). He was rewarded with the American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards that season.

Vida Blue, who deserves bonus points for being left-handed, having played for the Royals, and his sweet name.
Photo: AP file photo

Blue had two more 20-win seasons after 1971, was a six-time All-Star selection (starting three All-Star games), and was part of back-to-back-to-back World Series Championships with the Athletics, but he was never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. From 1970-82, his ERA was lower than the league ERA every season but one, but his record over that span was a pedestrian 190-125. Still, Blue was one of the first black left-handers to find significant success in the Major Leagues. In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers by Bill James and Rob Neyer, James ranks Blue as having the second best fastball from 1970-74 and the 10th best fastball from 1975-79. He ranks 51st all-time in strikeouts and 92nd in career victories. Blue was also a superb athlete, as Buck O'Neil noted in his autobiography I Was Right On Time. His spirit lives on today in Dontrelle Willis.

4. Ferguson "Fergie" Jenkins – RHP 6'5" 210 lbs. Born: Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Career Stats (1965-83): 284-226 W-L, 3.34 ERA, 3192 SO, 49 SHO, 1.142 WHIP
Legend: Unlike Blue, Jenkins shined throughout the prime of his career with seven 20-win seasons in an eight-year span. In 1971, Jenkins won the National League Cy Young, led the league in wins (24), games started (39), complete games (30), and innings (325). Think about that. Of 39 starts that season, there were only nine he didn't see to the end. That kind of durability is unheard of in baseball today.

He also led the NL in strikeouts in 1969 (273) and the AL in wins in 1974 (25) and was a three-time All-Star. His 3,192 strikeouts rank 12th all-time, his 284 victories rank 28th all-time and he's 21st in career shutouts.

Ferguson Jenkins, the first successful Canadian pitcher, despite his vices.

The Cubs almost missed out on enjoying Jenkins' services as a starter. After the club acquired him in a trade from the Phillies in 1966, O'Neil, who was a scout for the Cubs at the time, convinced the team to try him as a starter. Unfortunately, he was never started a game in the postseason.

As the first Canadian to win a Cy Young, Jenkins was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. However, he had to wait until 1991 to become the first Canadian inductee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This was supposedly because of a 1980 customs search where he was found in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Nevertheless, Cubs fans today only wish Kerry Wood and Mark Prior had Jenkins' longevity.

3. Pedro Martinez - RHP 5'11" 170 lbs. Born: Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic
Career Stats (1992-present): 209-93 W-L, 2.80 ERA, 3030 SO, 17 SHO, 1.030 WHIP
Legend: I know what you're thinking. But if African-Canadians can be on my list, then an exception can be made for an exceptional African-Dominican. Martinez, unlike the other pitchers on my list, is a pitcher I've actually had the pleasure of getting to see, rather than just hearing stories about. And what I've seen is Martinez – all 5'11" of him – become one of the most dominating pitchers during a hitters' era.

He's done so by being unafraid to pitch hitters inside during an era when batters have otherwise been able to own the inner half of the plate (with the aid of body armor). While some could argue that it's easy to pitch inside when you're in the American League and you don't have to worry about stepping in the batter's box yourself, but Martinez made a name for himself as a hardnosed pitcher in the National League with the Expos, leading the NL in hit batsmen in 1994.

Pedro Martinez in his prime - and his curls' early stages - with the Red Sox.

Regardless of league, there's no arguing Martinez's numbers. He's a three-time Cy Young winner (1997, 1999, 2000), an eight-time All-Star selection, and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. He's the active leader in ERA, having led the NL in ERA once (1997) and the AL four times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003). He led the AL in wins in 1999 (23) and in strikeouts in 1999 (313), 2000 (284), and 2002 (239). At 35, he's 15th in career strikeouts and tied with Vida Blue in career victories. Bill James rated Martinez's fastball as the sixth best from 1990-94 and the third best from 1995-99 and Rob Neyer rated his change-up as the fifth best all time.

Of course, Martinez also owns all the intangibles a superstar should, from his jheri curls to his infamous throw down with Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer. However, I'll always remember him for his laid back attitude, his feisty pitching style, and his role in helping the Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years in 2004.

2. Bob Gibson - RHP 6'1" 195 lbs. Born: Omaha, Nebraska
Career Stats (1959-75): 251-174 W-L, 2.91 ERA, 3117 SO, 56 SHO, 1.188 WHIP
Legend: One of my greatest regrets is that I wasn't alive to watch this man pitch, but I still take pride in Omaha's own Bob Gibson. And Gibby could do it all.

Playing all 17 seasons in the National League with the Cardinals, Gibson displayed his athleticism with 24 home runs, 144 RBI and 13 stolen bases in his career – as a pitcher, I remind you.

On the mound, Gibson was masterful. He won two Cy Young awards. He was a nine-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner. Bill James rated his fastball as the fourth best from 1960-64 and second best from 1965-69 and Rob Neyer rated his slider as the third best all time. He led the NL in wins in 1970 (23), in complete games in 1969 (28), in shutouts four times, and he lasted long enough to be the oldest player in the NL in 1975. But no year compared to 1968.

That year, on his way to winning the NL Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards, he led baseball with 268 strikeouts, and a 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts (both post-dead-ball era records). Gibson nearly single-handedly forced baseball to change its rules. To encourage more offense, MLB lowered the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 10 inches the next season.

Bob Gibson and his wild follow through.
Photo: Sports Illustrated

Gibson was also clutch in the World Series. Back in his day, there were no Division or Championship Series, just the World Series. In nine World Series starts, Gibson went 7-2, throwing eight complete games, striking out 92 batters while walking just 17, and posting a microscopic 1.89 ERA en route to two World Series titles.

Over his career, he was noted for being able to throw just as hard in the eighth inning of games as he did in the early innings. You could say his career reflected his gift for finishing strong. After having only one 20-win season before turning 30, he had four in five seasons from age 30 to 34. All time, his 3,117 strikeouts and 56 shutouts rank 13th, and his 251 victories rank 44th. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Like Martinez, Gibson made his living by pitching inside – a fact he relished. In Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson, he wrote: "It was said that I threw, basically, five pitches – fastball, slider, curve, change-up, and knockdown. I don't believe that assessment did me justice, though. I actually used about nine pitches – two different fastballs, two sliders, a curve, a change-up, knockdown, brushback, and hit-batsman."

1. Leroy "Satchel" Paige – RHP 6'4" 180 lbs. Born: Mobile, Alabama
Career Stats (excluding Negro League stats, 1948-65): 28-31 W-L, 3.29 ERA, 288 SO, 4 SHO, 1.279 WHIP, 32 Saves

Legend: This is why I included "Legend" as criteria for my list. Satchel was as much myth as he was man. His Major League stats don't look like much – and they aren't – because he didn't make his MLB debut until two days after his 42nd birthday (assuming he was actually born 7/7/06). Still, he pitched until he was 46, making twice as many appearances his final season than he did his first two Major League seasons combined.

Always a showman, Paige was selected to the All-Star game his last two full seasons. He was even a part of the Indians' last World Series Championship, albeit a small part, pitching a perfect 2/3 of an inning in Game 5 of the 1948 Series. The Braves had broken the game open with six runs in the top of the seventh to take an 11-5 lead. Whether Paige was brought in to stop the bleeding or to save younger arms from having to work, he got the Tribe out of the inning.

He returned for one game in 1965, at the age of 59. Thanks to Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley, who invited several Negro League alums to play, Paige got the start on Sept. 25 and threw three scoreless innings. That appearance made Paige the oldest player in baseball by far, but even from 1949-53, he was the oldest player in the league. When he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, he became the first enshrined Negro Leaguer.

Satchel Paige during his Monarchs days.
Photo: AP file photo

How did Paige last so long? Well, according to Bill James and Rob Neyer, he reinvented himself many times over. In James' half-decade rankings, he rates Paige's fastball as the fourth best from 1925-29 and third best from 1930-34. Neyer rates Paige's fastball as the seventh best of all time among starting pitchers. According to James and Neyer's research, Paige was almost exclusively a fastball pitcher from 1926-38, tossing in an occasional curve now and then.

But after suffering a serious arm injury during the winter of 1938, which took the oomph off his fastball for the rest of his career, he learned to incorporate more curveballs and change-ups. He also began mixing up his pitching motions, including his famous "hesitation pitch," and arm angles from which he delivered pitches. According to James and Neyer, from 1951-65, Paige was throwing "[e]verything, including the kitchen sink." In all, he used at least nine different pitches to keep hitters off balance, depending on what pitches caught his fancy from appearance to appearance.

However, most of these tidbits are from his Major League days, which fall far short of his overall career. To really get an idea of who Satchel Paige was, you're better off reading his autobiography, Maybe I'll Pitch Forever, or Buck O'Neil's autobiography, I Was Right on Time, of which O'Neil devotes nearly half the book to Paige. And no recap of Paige's career would be complete without telling the story of how his best friend, O'Neil, got the nickname "Nancy."

According to Buck's version, when he and Satchel were together with the Kansas City Monarchs, the team was staying in Chicago for a game against the Chicago American Giants. The Monarchs had just played in South Dakota, where Satchel met an Indian girl named Nancy, who accompanied Satchel to Chicago.

However, Satchel's fiancé, Lahoma, made an unannounced appearance in Chicago to see him. Thinking on his feet, Buck was able to have Nancy's luggage moved out of Satchel's room to the room that was between his own and Satchel's without Lahoma noticing.

Later that night, Satchel felt the urge to visit Nancy – Buck liked to think it was to apologize – so he went out in the hallway and began knocking on her door while whispering loudly, "Nancy! Nancy!" This, of course, got Lahoma's attention, so she came out in the hall to see what Satchel was up to. Buck could also hear what was going on, so he up and ran to save Satchel's hide.

"Yeah, Satch. What do you want?" Buck said.
"Why, Nancy," Satchel said. "There you are. I was looking for you. What time is the game tomorrow?"

I guess those kind of stories don't fit on most "Greatest of All Time" lists. Well, they top mine.

Source for statistics: Baseball-Reference.com