The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #84 Robin Roberts

Popping in at #84 on our list is Phillies great Robin Roberts. No pitcher in MLB history had a six-season run quite like the one Roberts went on from 1950-1955. During this stretch, Roberts became the only pitcher ever to lead the league in games started for six consecutive seasons. He also became the first pitcher in history to have separate streaks of leading the league in wins four consecutive seasons and innings pitched five consecutive seasons. Roberts was the best pitcher in baseball in 1952 and 1955, finishing highest among pitchers in NL MVP voting, and he was the second-best pitcher in 1953 and 1954. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to lead the league in wins, innings, games started, and complete games for four consecutive seasons. Roberts is the only pitcher since the dead-ball era with a season of at least 28 wins and a BB/9 of 1.3 or less.  Roberts also led the league in WAR for Pitchers and strikeout-to-walk ratio five times and BB/9 four times. 

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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