Who would you want starting for your team? Devil and I debated this for about 2 hours last night....and he presented a good case for Beckett. But i still would want Halladay on the mound. I'm curious to see who the TGG baseball forum faithful would rather have.
Any year... Halladay. He's not just good. He's consistently good. His entire career has been spent in the AL East, and what's the worst ERA he has put up in a full season? 4.20. Beckett might be a bit more dominant when he's going well, but he's also more erratic. So if you're asking who I'd rather have on the mound, in a true life or death situation, like, there's a gun to your head and you need a pick a pitcher to pitch a nasty game or you'll die... Halladay's the safer bet.
this is the EXACT arguement I gave Devilonthetownhallroof last night..... I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. Beckett is one of the best pitchers in the league...no dispute there.....but his inconsistency is why i'd choose Halladay over him in a heartbeat.
Not to mention better career ERA, better career WHIP, and a far better winning % (although that's usually a horrible way to judge a pitcher, the point here is that Halladay has had more success and he's done it on teams that were typically far worse).
yeah...i've threw that on the table as well (the winning percentage)...i didn't know about the career ERA and WHIP......but Devil came back with Beckett's age (he's 3 years younger than Doc) and his playoff prowess (which is impressive too). Still though...Halladay is the choice, IMO.
No comparison. Halladay is better across the board. The only things Beckett has on him are age and playoff experience and success. complete games: 43-5 shutouts: 12-2 Most innings for Beckett: 204.2 Halladay has topped that five times and is going for a sixth this season.
On this topic, I am in complete agreement with Cappy. Beckett is a "winnah" for sure, but Halladay is lights out all the time. Putting Beckett's playoff prowess into the mix is just unfair. If Roy Halladay is in the Yankees rotation in 2004, the Sawx are still waiting for their first title in 90 years. Halladay has never had the opportunity to show off his stuff in the playoffs, which makes his winning % that much more impressive, as Cappy alluded to. There is no question we're talking about two of the best pitchers in the entire sport, but there is no doubt that Halladay is the guy you want pitching for you in any game that matters.
BoSox fan chiming in...Love Beckett, but Halladay is just a stand up stud. Would love to see what he could do with a solid rotation and lineup around him(Like Boston )
Imagine the bidding war for him between the Yanks and Sox? hmy: You were right then, and you're right now.
Roys only downfall will be that he will be 34 come his 2010 FA time. He will still get probly in the $150mil range.
Just to clarify, I was looking at this from the view of "if I'm starting a team today". And in that case, for me, I would always take the younger guy of comparable talent. I'm not saying Halladay isn't good or anything like that. This statement though I have to disagree with. Halladay has never pitched an important game in the Majors. Not one. There is absolutely no way to tell how he would perform. Admittedly there's no evidence that he would pitch poorly either, but if I have one game to win I'm absolutely going with the guy that has proven time and again that he shows up in big games vs a guy who hasn't shown anything more than he can watch big games from his couch. This all started because I disagreed that Halladay has "been the best pitcher in baseball since 2001 and it's not even close". I feel Santana has been better for sure, Webb and Peavy have possibly been better, and guys like Oswalt, Beckett, Zambrano, Burnett, Sabathia, Smoltz, and Hudson are all right there with him. Even a guy like Derek Lowe has been fairly close. Again, I'm not saying Halladay isn't good, or that I wouldn't want him on my team, I just don't think he's the best pitcher in baseball.
That argument is fine, but Halladay pitches the same against any team he faces. It's not his fault he doesn't pitch in "important" games, but he does pitch in comparably "big" games. Any time he faces a team like the Yankees, Sox, Rays, etc. it's a "big" game. Yes, we can discuss the fact that he could pitch in a playoff game and totally shit the bed, but there's no indication from anything he's ever done to make that assumption.
Heh. I'm bitter. Anyway, I'd kill to have Beckett on the Yankees. He would definitely be my choice to pitch in game 7 based purely on experience.
