Walter Johnson
Cy Young
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Walter Johnson leads 2 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Walter Johnson at #6 and Cy Young at #7.
Head-to-head FAQ
Who leads more shared metrics?
How do the published ranks compare?
Are these live stats?
The case for Walter Johnson
The greatest pitcher ever, and it is not especially close. Johnson won 417 games — second only to Cy Young — for Washington Senators teams that were frequently terrible, with a 2.17 career ERA and a record 110 shutouts that will never be approached. His 3,509 strikeouts, achieved with a sidearm fastball contemporaries simply called invisible, stood as the record for 56 years until Nolan Ryan passed it in 1983. His 1913 season is arguably the best ever by a pitcher: 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA and 11 shutouts across 346 innings. Unlike many dead-ball stars, Johnson aged into legend: at 36 he finally reached the World Series in 1924, lost twice, then won Game 7 with four scoreless relief innings on one day of rest. His combined pitching and hitting WAR of roughly 165 ranks behind only Ruth among all players at any position.
The case for Cy Young
The award for the best pitcher in each league bears his name, and the reason is a career of almost incomprehensible volume and quality. Young won 511 games — a record no modern pitcher can approach in an era of five-inning starts — threw 7,356 innings, and completed 749 of his starts, both untouchable records, while posting a 2.63 ERA across 22 seasons. He threw the first perfect game of the modern era in 1904, won 30 games in a season five times, and pitched effectively on both sides of the 1893 rule change that moved the mound back to 60 feet 6 inches and ended many careers overnight. His 163.6 WAR sits among the top handful of all players regardless of position. The workload belongs to a vanished game — no one will start 815 games again — but the sustained dominance would translate to any era, and the trophy ensures his name is spoken every October.