This got thrown around at TSM but was pretty much buried. I don't seek to answer the question myself but pose it to the rest of you to kick around. Here are the top ten pitchers in win shares from 1980-89...

 

1. Dave Stieb

2. Jack Morris

3. Dan Quisenberry

4. Bert Blyleven

5. Charlie Hough

6. Bob Welch

7. Fernando Valenzuela

8. Lee Smith

9. Nolan Ryan

10. Frank Viola

 

Dave Stieb leads the pack, but I don't think it is as simple as all that. Stieb did not do much out of the 1980s, and I worry his placement at the top of the list may just be a result of where we place the beginning and end points. For the sake of it, here are those aforementioned ten, in order of career win shares. Blyleven, Ryan, Hough, Morris, Stieb, Smith, Welch, Viola, Valenzuela, Quisenberry (Yes, Blyleven beats Ryan). Then we have the problem in reverse however.

 

What is truly interesting I believe is that of the top ten, only Nolan Ryan is in the Hall of Fame. Extending the list to twenty gives us Eckersley and Clemens, and extending it to thirty gives us Carlton and Sutton. Does this occur in other decades? The top ten of the 1970s gives us Palmer (in), Seaver (in), Gaylord Perry (in), Phil Niekro (in), Jenkins (in), Carlton (in), Blyleven (out, criminally), Sutton (in), Ryan (in) and Luis Tiant (out). Eight out of ten. Now, no one would induct those pitchers from the '80s en mass, but in some way these pitchers do not receive their just kudos. We seem to have seen a larger number of pitchers flash across the sky and then flame out. The list neglects Bret Saberhagen and Dwight Gooden, who had tremendous rookie seasons and flamed out.

 

But putting all that aside, who truly rates as the best pitcher of the 1980s?

The list you've presented is compiled by order of Win Shares, but what I'm curious about would be Win Shares Above Average. I think that, while Jack Morris ranks second on the list, he may not have as much achievement over your average person as compared to, say, Seaver (the No. 2 on the 70's list).

That's a toughie...I'll base this on their numbers just in the eighties...as IMO if it's the best of a certain timeframe, only that timeframe should be notified (not best of the 70's, 80's, and 90's for example).

 

The hardest thing is placing in players that may've only played 6 seasons, but if they were so dominant, why penalize the fact that they didn't play earlier?

 

The second decimal will be the difference between their ERA over that decade and the league ERA of that decade. I'd also show WS if I had them on hand, however I don't.

 

My list

#1: Roger Clemens (.679% and 1.05)

#2: Dwight Gooden (.719% and 0.76)

#3: Dave Stieb (.562% and 0.82)

#4: Dan Quisenberry (.552% and 1.26)

#5: Orel Hershiser (.605% and 0.84)

#6: Bret Saberhagen (.601% and 0.85)

#7: Bob Welch (.596% and 0.38)

#8: Fernando Valenzuela (.554% and 0.57)

#9: Jack Morris (.577% and 0.29)

#10: Nolan Ryan (.540% and 0.41)

The list you've presented is compiled by order of Win Shares, but what I'm curious about would be Win Shares Above Average.  I think that, while Jack Morris ranks second on the list, he may not have as much achievement over your average person as compared to, say, Seaver (the No. 2 on the 70's list).

I don't have Win Shares Above Average available, unfortunately. I don't know if anyone has done the statistic historically. What I can do is use a handful of other pitching metrics, such as pitching runs. I'll run the numbers this afternoon.

Here's what we have. Adjusted Pitching Runs accounts for the number of runs a pitcher prevents or surrenders above average, adjusted for the park. Here are the ten sorted by that statistic...

 

1. Dave Stieb (213)

2. Dan Quisenberry (148)

3. Charlie Hough (115)

4. Bert Blyleven (108)

5. Lee Smith (104)

6. Fernando Valenzuela (95)

7. Bob Welch (91)

8. Frank Viola (77)

9. Nolan Ryan (75)

10. Jack Morris (72)

 

Jack Morris won 162 games in the '80s, well ahead of any other pitcher. It is somewhat surprising then that he ranks so low in the rate stats. It's not just a result of garnering many decisions. On the list, Morris ranks second in winning percentage behind only Bob Welch. There's only two things possible here. Either he did indeed "know how to win," or he got great run support.

 

What really stands out however is that Stieb led the league in this stat four years consecutive. From 1982-85, Stieb was clearly the best pitcher in baseball. His win/loss records prevented him from ever winning an MVP award however.

Let's take a different approach. Using win share totals from 1980-89 specifically answers the question of who was best in those specific years, but something seems amiss in that. A pitcher who appeared at the beginning and tanked immediately afterward could should up as the best simply because of where the parameters lay. So let's look at peaks.

 

The big problem with peaks is that the decision of how many years to use is arbitrary, and some pitchers could pull ahead simply by an accident of where the data falls. So instead of a rock-solid formula, let's take a look at several different periods and see what we come up with.

 

A one-year peak is nearly entirely unsatisfactory for the question of an entire decade. Running the numbers though, Dwight Gooden scores the best single-season in the 80s, with his stellar 1985 campaign. Gooden compiled a 24-4 record with 8 shutouts, and a 1.53 ERA. If we expand the period to two seasons, Roger Clemens pull ahead. Over a two year period from 1986-87, Clemens put together a 44-13 record.

 

Now we get to the meat of the tests. Over a three year peak, the top five pitchers in order are Roger Clemens, Dan Quisenberry, Dave Stieb, Steve Carlton and Dwight Gooden. Clemens adds his 1988 season to the mix, with 18 wins, 8 of those shutouts. That Clemens apparently got little run support from the best run scoring team in the league seems truly bizzare. Quisenberry's appearance at #2 is quite notable. Quisenberry also had the second best two year period behind Clemens.

 

When we expand it to a four year peak, things get interesting. Dave Stieb pulls ahead here, followed by Quisenberry, Clemens, Carlton and Gooden. Same five, with Stieb and Clemens swapped. When we go to five years, again we get Stieb, Quisenberry and Clemens, with Hershiser and Viola taking spots four and five.

 

Six years? Dave Stieb. Seven years? Dan Quisenberry (barely). Eight years? Stieb. Nine years? Stieb. Over ten possible time periods, Stieb leads six of them. It seems like somewhat of a stretch to name Stieb the best pitcher of the 1980s, but every number I run keeps coming around to him.

 

And please note Dan Quisenberry's repeated appearances. It is no fluke. Quisenberry is one of the top five closers of all time. Quiz led the league in saves five times. He came into games, pitched a ton of innings, threw groundball pitches and almost NEVER walked a batter. From 1980-85, Quisenberry pitched 725 innings and issued 57 unintentional walks, and hit just three batters. That is one free pass every twelve innings. Quisenberry is usually never mentioned among the Gossage, Sutter class of closers, but he was every bit as good.