DiMaggio called this pitcher 'a marvel'
On Dec. 5, the Hall of Fame’s Early Baseball Era Committee (pre-1950) and Golden Days Era Committee (1950-69) will meet to vote on 10-player ballots, with the results announced live on MLB Network that night at 6 p.m. ET. We're here to offer a primer on the 20 players who are up for consideration. Click here to view the other posts.
Player: Billy Pierce
Years: 1945-64 (MLB)
Career stats: 211-169, 3.27 ERA, 33 SV, 1,999 SO
Every Hall of Fame voting season, we have occasion to look back through baseball history and consider which players who aren't enshrined have a good case for Cooperstown. And many get that second chance after not being elected via the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, thanks to the Hall of Fame's Era committees, which are comprised of Hall of Famers, executives and veteran media members.
Left-hander Billy Pierce, who pitched for the Tigers, White Sox and Giants from 1945-64, is one of those candidates on this year's Golden Era Committee ballot. Here's a look at why Pierce is a worthy candidate for a plaque in Cooperstown:
Consistent excellence
Pierce posted an ERA under 4 in 16 of his 18 Major League seasons, including an MLB-best 1.97 ERA over 205 2/3 innings for the White Sox in 1965. He led the American League in strikeouts with 186 in '53, and complete games each season from '56-58, totaling 56 over that span. Overall, he finished with a 3.27 ERA (119 ERA+) over 3,306 2/3 career innings to go along with a 1.26 WHIP.
Pierce received MVP Award votes five times, finished third in National League Cy Young Award voting while with the Giants in 1962, and was a seven-time All-Star. He started the All-Star Game for the AL three times, in '53, '55 and '56. In five career postseason appearances -- three relief appearances for Chicago in the '59 World Series and two starts for San Francisco in the '62 World Series -- Pierce pitched to a 1.89 ERA over 19 innings.
The value proposition
Pierce produced 53.4 WAR (per Baseball Reference) during his career, and during his peak seven years, his WAR was 37.9. According to the JAWS method of evaluation developed by Jay Jaffe, which averages a player's overall WAR with his peak seven-year WAR, Pierce's figure is higher than Hall of Famers such as Dizzy Dean, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyte, Catfish Hunter and Jack Morris.
One of the very best in franchise history
Since 1949, the year in which Pierce made his debut in a White Sox uniform, only one White Sox pitcher produced more WAR for the club than Pierce's 49.4 -- Wilbur Wood, who posted 51.7 WAR for Chicago from 1967-78. And no pitcher in White Sox history has more strikeouts than Pierce's 1,796.
High praise from Hall of Fame peers
Joe DiMaggio once said of Pierce: "That little so-and-so is a marvel. So little -- and all that speed. And I mean speed! He got me out of there on a fastball in the ninth that I’d have needed a telescope to see.”
Hall of Fame third baseman George Kell said that he would "[much] rather hit against Whitey Ford of the Yankees than against Billy Pierce."
A Hall-worthy resume
Pierce compares very favorably to several starting pitchers already in the Hall of Fame. Given his status as one of the best pitchers in White Sox history, as well as his dominance over an entire decade (the 1950s), the left-hander has a strong case to be enshrined in Cooperstown.