Baseball GOATstarting pitcher
Al Downing
New York Yankees, 1961–1977
23.2
Score, No. 1251 all-time
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Sheffield leads on both counts: 82.8 wins added to 25.1 over a career, and 46.0 to 21.3 across his seven best seasons.
starting pitcher
New York Yankees, 1961–1977
23.2
Score, No. 1251 all-time
right field
Los Angeles Dodgers, 1988–2009
64.4
Score, No. 61 all-time
Wins added is how many extra games a player’s teams won because they had him and not a replacement-level player, the kind of fill-in any team can find. In one season, 2 is a solid regular, 5 is an All-Star and 8 or more is an MVP-level year. Score is the average of the career total and the best seven seasons.
| Al Downing | Gary Sheffield | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | ||
| 23.2 | Score | 64.4(better) |
| 25.1 | Wins added, career | 82.8(better) |
| 21.3 | Wins added, best 7 seasons | 46.0(better) |
| 1,251 | All-time rank | 61(better) |
| 17 | Seasons | 22 |
The dot marks the better number in each row. A hitter and a pitcher don’t share traditional stats, so this comparison uses the ratings only.