McCormick Compared to His Contemporaries

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There are 2 reasons Jim McCormick fell short of 300 Wins:

1)  McCormick was the first "tough luck" pitcher in baseball history.  He played 8 of his 10 seasons for terrible teams, only once finishing above 5th (out of 8 teams) in runs scored.  McCormick's team was shutout 39 times while he was on the mound, 33 of those during McCormick's peak from 1879-1884.  Only Pud Galvin endured more shutout losses (4 more), and he pitched 5 more seasons and started 200 more games than McCormick.  Bill James' stat waaWL% measures what a pitchers record would be had they played on a league average team.  Not only is McCormick's "lost" wins much greater than his peers, he ranks #1 all time among Hall of Fame pitchers in lost wins.  McCormick endured 1.8 shutout losses per 200 innings pitched, more than any of his HOF peers.

The five Hall of Fame starting pitchers of the era, meanwhile, all played for successful, high run scoring teams in Boston, New York, and Chicago.  McCormick's teams averaged an OPS+ of only 87, by far the lowest of any of his peers.

2)  McCormick retired at age 30 after only 10 seasons while every one of contemporaries who achieved 300 Wins played more seasons, sometimes well into their 30s.  McCormick's wife Jennie was gravely ill with tuberculosis when he retired and she died months later.  McCormick could have held on for several more years at league average as many of his Hall of Fame peers did and compiled more numbers but he retired to care for his wife and tend to his saloon.

For a more full examination of McCormick's lack of 300 Wins, click here.

McCormick's 76.2 career WAR is better than Old Hoss Radbourn, Pud Galvin, and Mickey Welch.

Only Tim Keefe and John Clarkson have better WAR numbers than McCormick.  

Keefe needed 4 more seasons, over 100 more starts, and over 700 more innings to accrue 10.3 more WAR than McCormick.

Clarkson needed 2 more seasons, 19 more starts, and over 200 more innings to accrue 7.8 more WAR than McCormick. 

A case can be made that, inning for inning, Clarkson & Keefe were better than McCormick (but not by much).  However it is very difficult to make a case that Radbourn, Galvin & Welch were better than McCormick.

When career WAR is broken down by 200 Innings Pitched, only John Clarkson  was better.

WAR per 200 IP:

3.78  Clarkson

3.56  McCormick

3.52  Keefe

3.23  Radbourn

2.78  Galvin

2.65  Welch

McCormick's 2.43 ERA is better than every single one of his Hall of Fame peers.

His ERA is 20 points better than his next closest peer, Tim Keefe.

Among pitchers of his era with 4,000 IP, Jim McCormick ranks 1st in ERA.

McCormick 2.43

Keefe 2.63

Radbourn 2.68

Welch 2.71

Clarkson 2.81

Galvin 2.85

Jim McCormick's 1.13 WHIP is better than 4 of his 5 Hall of Fame peers.  

Only Tim Keefe's 1.12 WHIP is better, by .01 points.

Keefe 1.12

McCormick 1.13

Radbourn 1.15

Galvin 1.19

Clarkson 1.21

Welch 1.23

Using Bill James' Black Ink test for Hall worthiness, only John Clarkson and Tim Keefe scored higher among his HOF peers than McCormick's 194.

Clarkson 60

Keefe 58

McCormick 40

Radbourn 35

Galvin 19

Welch 3

McCormick is the only pitcher among his HOF peers to lead the league 3x in WAR and his one of only 16 pitchers in history to accomplish that feat.  

McCormick led the league:

3x WAR

2x ERA

2x Wins

2x IP

3x CG

2x ERA+

3x Adjusted Pitching Wins

2x Fielding %

1x Win %

2x Games Started

1x Shutouts

Jim McCormick's 72.4 JAWS score is better than 3 of his 5 Hall of Fame peers.

Clarkson's 79.5 score is only 6.1 points better and Keefe's 76.5 score is only 4.1 points better than McCormick.

Clarkson 78.9

Keefe 76.7

McCormick 72.5

Radbourn 71.3

Galvin 67.6

Welch 58.2

McCormick fits squarely among his Hall of Fame peers while the next highest non-HOF peer, Tommy Bond, falls below 4 of the 5 HOF pitchers of the day.