Radbourn supporters (of whom I'm one) claim that Hoss had the higher peak of the two. Galvin supporters dispute that.

Of course, a great deal of what appears to be pitching is actually defense - I won't dispute that. But splitting between earned and unearned runs just doesn't work as a way to split the credit. Imagine an inning with 6 hits, a walk, 2 errors, and 7 runs, of which the only 1 is recorded as an earned run. Sure, the errors hurt - but that pitcher just had a terrible inning, for which his stats do deserve a rip.

Two key years for this discussion are 1883 and 1884. The league scored 5.78 R/G in '83 and 5.50 R/G in '84. Here are our two guys runs allowed for those years:

Pitch. IP R ER ERA RA

I am copying my post from last "year" comparing Hoss, Galvin, and Rusie. It sums up why I like Hoss so much.

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I have looked at Radbourn, Galvin, and Rusie using 7 different measurements, to try and find a clear leader. Unfortunately, it isn't clear at all. I'll show the variances and explain why I stand behind Hoss.

Seasons

Joe point is well-taken with respect to comparing 19th century Pitchers to others. In fact, I would assume that explains his relatively low positioning of them on his ballot. However, I agree that when comparing 19th century Pitchers with each other WS is still accurate, especially when you compare virtual contemporaries like Radborne, Clarkson, Keefe, Galvin, Mullane and Carruthers. Of course, WS do not figure in level of competition which requires that Galvin and Keefe be discounted a bit for their brief AA careers and that Mullane and Carruthers be discounted quite a bit because most of their careers were in AA (or the 1890 NL which was far weaker than the 1890 Players league).

When evaluating Pitchers from this era I also think its important to determine what they did as batters. This is long before the advent of the DH and relief pitching and Pinch-hitting were virtually non-existent. In short these guys came to bat.

When evaluating Pitchers from this era I also think its important to determine what they did as batters. This is long before the advent of the DH and relief pitching and Pinch-hitting were virtually non-existent. In short these guys came to bat.