30-3…insert lame Matt Stover reference here!

One.

You see, one dubious distinction is a fluke (Hell, Wes Littleton came away with the save)…the other is masterful in this age of seven inning starters and hitter friendly ballparks.

What Brandon Webb did is the longest streak since fellow National Leaguer Orel Hershiser threw 59 scoreless innings(Luis Tiant once tossed 40 straight). And while I am not one to suggest putting someone in the Hall of Fame solely on a streak (PAUSE), Orel Hershiser was one of the most dominating pitchers of the late 80s and early 90s.

Let’s put what Orel did into perspective.

First…the scoreless innings streak. We know it spanned Hershiser’s last six starts of the 1988 season (and into the next season), but five were complete games. The sixth, he threw ten scoreless innings. Not too shabby. Let’s delve deeper. In Hershiser’s last nine starts, he gave up FOUR earned runs in 82 innings. That’s an ERA of 0.42 while leading his team into the playoffs and eventually to the World Series, kids. Eight straight complete games out of nine starts to end a season is pretty darned good.

Second…Orel was ARGUABLY one of the most dominant pitchers of the 80s. Hershiser notched 98 wins between 1984 and 1989…an average of 16 per year. To put that into perspective, Roger Clemens had 95, Dwight Gooden had 100 and Bret Saberhagen (remember him?) had 92. Nolan Ryan (the ONLY Hall member to have toed the rubber as a starter for the ENTIRE 80s) had 70 in that same span. Hershiser had an ERA of 2.68 (2.03 in 1985, 2.26 in 1988 and 2.31 in 1989)…second only to Gooden’s 2.64. The other guys mentioned, were all above 3.00. And speaking of 1988…Hershiser led the league in wins (23), innings (267) and complete games (15). Add to that his 8 shutouts, the Cy Young Award and his World Series MVP and he had one of the best seasons in recent memory.

Out of curiosity, how does Hershiser stack up against some current Hall of Famers? According to baseball-reference.com is stats are most comparable to Jim Hunter. “Bulldog” has a career record of 204-149 (.576 winning percentage), while “Catfish” went 224-166 (.574). From 1984-1989, Hershiser notched 48% of his wins. Similarly, “Catfish” had a six year run from 1970 to 1975 where he was one of the league’s best (129-63, 56% of his career wins).

Strikeouts were never the forte for either pitcher. “Cat” had 2012 careers Ks…“Dog” had 2014. Their ERAs were a wash as well…3.26 for Hunter, 3.48 for Hershiser. Coincidently, each pitcher brought home the Cy Young Award once and placed in the top four three other times.

Is Hershiser Hall-bound?

Probably not…yet.

But why not? He was one of the best pitchers during a decade that has VERY little mound representation in Cooperstown. Next to Ryan, Dennis Eckersley is the only other pitcher to have a career that spanned the 80s. As far as future Hall of Fame pitchers, Clemens came on board in 1984 (along with Hershiser)…Greg Maddux joined the league in 1986.

While his contemporaries (Gooden, Saberhagen, Frank Viola) failed to reach 200 victories, Hershiser did…and he did it in style.

Somewhere…Jack Morris (my pick for the MOST dominating pitcher of the ENTIRE 80s) is polishing his gun waiting to shoot me for NOT mentioning him anywhere.

Sorry ‘stache.