When Tim Hudson’s career ends, his Hall of Fame case is going to be an interesting one.
Nothing about Hudson really jumps out at you from a historical perspective. His 3.44 ERA is good, but not great. His 1896 strikeouts aren’t the stuff of legend. Even Hudson’s 205 wins are nothing to write home about. But the sum of all the parts outweighs each part separately.
In his 15-year career, Hudson has never had a losing record. His .649 career winning percentage is 26th-best of all-time, ahead of modern day aces CC Sabathia, Clayton Kershaw, Adam Wainwright, Jon Lester and Justin Verlander. Hudson won’t turn 38 until next July, giving him a chance to add to his win total and possibly hit the 250 mark.
On Baseball-Reference’s Hall of Fame Tracker, Hudson’s 47.7 JAWS score puts him in the middle of a crop of pitchers that includes Sabathia, Johan Santana and Andy Pettitte, all of whom have had Hall of Fame rumblings attached to their names in their careers. Hudson’s 124 ERA+ tops that of Sabathia, Juan Marichal, Mike Mussina, Bob Feller, Don Drysdale and Rollie Fingers, all of which have their places in baseball history.
Hudson already has the “character” part of his Hall of Fame case down to a tee. Hudson has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award, which honors off the field contributions, 11 times. The Hudson Family Foundation has raised roughly $1 million for needy kids in the Alabama and Georgia area. Hudson and his wife Kim have been involved with Make-A-Wish since 2000, and they have also raised $2 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
When you combine Hudson’s solid contributions on the field with his amazing contributions off of it, he’s a Hall of Famer in my book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joe Lucia is the managing editor of The Outside Corner on the Bloguin Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @Joe_TOC.
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