While nobody is going to confuse Andy Murray with the Big Three of men’s tennis, there is a strong argument to be made that he is the most underrated player in men’s tennis history. Murray’s relatively meager major championship total (3) sticks out as a potential deal-breaker when discussing his place in history. However, the gap between the three GOATs and Murray is arguably the same as the gap between Murray and everyone else from the 21st century. No player in the history of tennis had a more difficult strength of schedule than Murray. His career coincided with the primes of the three greatest players who ever lived. Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal won a combined 66 major championships, and nearly all of them came while Murray was active. This puts some perspective on Murray’s three major championships, 11 major finals, 21 major semifinals, and 30 major quarterfinals. In fact, over the course of Murray’s career, no player outside of the Big Three came close to those numbers. The next closest for each is six major finals, nine major semifinals, and 17 major quarterfinals. 

There was a stretch from 2011-2015 when Murray made it to the quarterfinals in 18 straight major appearances. In the history of tennis, only Federer, Djokovic, Jimmy Connors, and Bill Tilden had longer streaks. At face value, Murray’s totals don’t jump off the screen, but the fact that he was able to carve out that much success while the three greatest tennis players of all-time were in their primes speaks volumes to his accomplishments. In addition to his success in major tournaments, Murray also won 14 Tier 1 titles, reached 21 Tier 1 finals and 33 Tier 1 semifinals, and is the only man in history to win two Olympic individual tennis gold medals. His 14 ATP Masters Series titles only trail the Big Three and Andre Agassi for most all-time, and his 20 ATP Tour titles (majors, ATP-1000, ATP Finals, and Olympics) are the 6th most all-time behind only the Big Three, Pete Sampras, and Agassi. He’s also the only player outside of the Big Three to debut since 1990 who has won at least 200 matches at the majors.

Perhaps most remarkably, Murray achieved a year-end #1 ranking while the holy trinity were active. While the kings of the 80s like Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Mats Wilander won more majors, they would’ve been hard pressed to accomplish what Murray did in the era of the GOATS.

Our love affair with career milestones has resulted in really good players being overlooked, none more than former Twins and Mets pitcher, Johan Santana. Let’s take a look at his unique achievements:

1). Over 12 seasons, Santana posted a lofty .641 winning percentage, which is the 10th best mark of all pitchers debuting since 1960 (min. 10 seasons).

2). His 136 ERA+ is the 5^th highest in the last 100 years (min. 10 seasons).

3). Santana is the only player in MLB history to lead the league in ERA+, WHIP, H/9, strikeouts, and SO/9 in three consecutive seasons.

4). He is one of only four pitchers to lead the league in WHIP for four consecutive seasons (Carl Hubbell, Sandy Koufax, and Clayton Kershaw).

5). Since 1920, he is the only pitcher to lead the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, innings, games started, ERA+, WHIP, H/9, and SO/9 in the same season.

6). He is one of only seven players to lead the league in ERA+ for three consecutive seasons (Christy Mathewson, Lefty Grove, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, and Clayton Kershaw).

7). Since 1920, he is one of only four pitchers to lead the league in H/9 for three consecutive seasons (Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, and Nolan Ryan).

8) He led the league in War for Pitchers three consecutive seasons. In the last 100 years, only Lefty Grove, Robin Roberts, and Randy Johnson have longer streaks.

9). He is the only pitcher in baseball history with multiple Cy Young awards and five top-5 finishes in the Cy Young voting who is not in the Hall of Fame.

Notice that every pitcher listed along side Santana above is in the Hall of Fame. While the list of unique accomplishments on Santana’s resume is befitting of a sure-fire Hall of Famer, he was resoundingly rejected by Hall of Fame voters to the tune of just 2.4% approval. Meanwhile, Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg—who, like Santana, didn’t quite nail the longevity component—are celebrated Hall of Famers, and routinely included on top-100 lists, despite playing in significantly less competitive eras. If we’re not going to hold it against Koufax and Greenberg, then we probably shouldn’t hold it against Santana. Hopefully, The Era Committee rights this wrong.

“Who is the greatest pitcher of all-time?” This is a question that has certainly been asked enough times, but what’s interesting is the lack of consensus. The names that get thrown around typically include some combination of Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Christy Mathewson, and perhaps Roger Clemens, depending on how we’re all feeling about PED use on that given day. Cy Young will occasionally get an honorary O.G. mention, but the candidates usually don’t extend beyond that group. A name we don’t often hear in the mix as the pitching GOAT is Randy Johnson. This isn’t to suggest that The Big Unit has been disregarded; it is commonplace to find him among the top-10 on pitching lists. However, there is a pretty significant disconnect between “the top 10” and the straight fire that is on Johnson’s resume. We can blame that disconnect squarely on our obsession with baseball’s past. The Big Unit’s only sin is that he wasn’t born 70 years earlier. There is no other explanation for why he isn’t a perennial contender for not only the greatest pitcher of all-time but also the greatest player of all-time. Yes, even on a list that features several paragraphs talking about how Randy Johnson is historically underrated, he’s quite possibly underrated here as well.

Before we take a deep dive into the numbers, let’s first establish the competition level Johnson faced compared to the other GOAT candidates. Aside from Clemens, all the pitchers listed above played during segregation. Not only were there no black players, but there were also no Asian players and very few Latinos (most were forced to play in the Negro Leagues), Canadians (43 of the 45 Canadian MLB All-Star selections have come since 1940), and Jewish players (all 71 Jewish All-Star selections came after 1936). Imagine how much easier it would be to succeed as a pitcher in today’s game if black, Latino, Canadian, Asian and Jewish players were either largely, or completely, excluded. Johnson’s already stellar ERA would shine even brighter like a diamond in a world without diversity. No Barry Bonds. No Albert Pujols. No Manny Ramirez. No Miguel Tejada. No Carlos Beltran.  

We also have to recognize that while W. Johnson, Mathewson, Alexander, and Young pitched in the dead-ball era, Johnson’s career landed him right smack dab in the middle of the steroid era, home to the greatest single-season home run totals in MLB history. Then comes the adjustment for league size. In 1910 a pitcher would need to be better than only 39 other starting pitchers to be considered the best in the league (assuming five-man rotations intact for the season). Today, a pitcher needs to be better than 74 other starting pitchers to achieve the same distinction. Any fair comparison between Randy Johnson and the aforementioned Hall of Fame pitchers needs to place “degree of difficulty” front and center. Anything less would be uncivilized.  

Now that we’ve unintentionally made the case for every pitcher who pitched in the 90s, let’s delve into the numbers so we’re not anointing someone simply for pitching in one of the most turbulent eras in baseball history. Let’s see if we can do this in one breath…  

1). Randy Johnson won five Cy Young Awards, and finished second three times. Only Roger Clemens equals his combined total of eight first and second-place finishes.

2). Johnson won four consecutive Cy Young Awards. Greg Maddux, also with four, is the only other player to win at least three in a row.

3). Johnson is the only player in MLB history to win a Cy Young Award in each league and finish 2^nd in each league.

4). He led the league in adjusted ERA+ six times. Only Lefty Grove and Clemens led the league more often.

5). He led the league in Hits/9 six times. Only Nolan Ryan led the league more often.

6). He led the league in winning % four times. Only Grove led the league more often.

7). He led the league in strikeouts nine times. Only Walter Johnson and Nolan Ryan led the league more often.

8). He is the only player since 1920 to lead the league in ERA+ and strikeouts six times in the same season.

9). He’s the only pitcher since the dead-ball era to have led the league in complete games four times and ERA+ six times.  

10). He is the only player since 1920 to have led the league in WHIP three times and strikeouts nine times.

11). Johnson and N. Ryan are the only pitchers to lead the league in strikeouts for four consecutive seasons on two different occasions.

12). Johnson and N. Ryan are the only two pitchers to record 300+ strikeouts in four consecutive seasons.

13). Of pitchers who pitched a minimum of 2,500 career innings, Randy has the highest K/9 in history.

14). He holds the record for most strikeouts in a nine-inning start and most strikeouts in a relief appearance.

15). He led the league in WAR for pitchers six times. Only Grove, Clemens, and W. Johnson led the league more often.

16). He led the league in Win Probability Added (WPA) four times. Only Clemens and Grove led the league more often.

17). He’s 2^nd on the all-time strikeout list.

18). He’s one of only four pitchers to reach 300 wins among players who debuted after 1967.

19). Among players to debut since 1967, only Clemens has more shutouts.

20). He is one of only seven players in MLB history to pitch a perfect game and a no-hitter.

21). He’s the only pitcher in MLB history to lead the league in winning % four times and throw two no-hitters.

22). He’s the only pitcher in MLB history to lead the league in ERA+ six times, strikeouts six times (again, he did it nine), and throw two no-hitters.

23). He led the league in War for Pitchers four consecutive seasons. The last time a pitcher accomplished that was in 1954 (Robin Roberts).

(I’m starting to think trying to do this in one breath was a bad idea. Before some of us start passing out, let’s quickly hit the playoffs with the shared understanding that we could continue this exercise for another 2,000 words. Deal? Deal.)

24). Johnson had one of the greatest postseason performances in the history of baseball when he—and Curt Schilling—led Arizona to a World Series victory over the Yankees in 2001. In 41.3 postseason innings that year, he went 5-1 with two shutouts, a 1.53 ERA, and a .77 WHIP. Having pitched Arizona to victory in game six, he entered game seven on one day rest to get the final four outs.

25). He holds the record for most wins in a single postseason.

26). He is the only pitcher since 1968 to win three games in a single World Series.

27). He is the only pitcher in MLB history with four Cy Young Awards (he has five) and a World Series MVP.    

Based on performance relative to the league, the pitchers who pop up the most alongside Randy Johnson are Lefty Grove and Roger Clemens. Grove played before integration. He also played in a league roughly half the size, making Randy’s league-leading accomplishments far more impressive. Clemens is a different monster altogether, largely due to peak longevity. Johnson didn’t start pounding out elite seasons until he was 29. Although that underscores just how dominant he was after the age of 30, it is also the reason for Clemens’ massive 22 (years) to 12 (years) edge in career peak length. If we’re taking resumes at face value, then it’s hard to choose anyone other than Clemens as the pitching GOAT. If we start to discount accomplishments due to PED use, then Johnson inches closer to the throne. Regardless of whether we choose to weigh PED use or not, there is no reasonable explanation for Randy Johnson to rank any lower than second on the all-time pitching list. While I currently have him listed as #6 on the all-time list, it would not be totally unreasonable to suggest that he’s the greatest baseball of all-time, especially if we were to discount Bonds and Clemens due to reported PED use, and prorate Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Lou Gehrig for playing in substantially less competitive eras.