In 1978, his most impressive season, he finished first in wins (25) ERA (1.74) and shutouts (9), copping the Cy Young award handily. He also lead the league in earned run average the following year with a 2.78 mark. In 1983 he led the junior loop in complete games with 21 (second highest total in almost twenty years) and again led the circuit in wins in 1985 with 22.

He was just as dominant in post season action. He posted a 5-2 ledger and a tidy ERA of 3.01. But even that number is somewhat misleading. His ERA was inflated due to the beating he received in the first game of the 1978 ALCS where he was shelled by Royal hitters for four runs over three innings. Throw out that game and his marker is a much more impressive 5-1 (2.71 ERA). Actually, he seemed to be almost the polar opposite of Dave Stewart. Stewart was a monster in ALCS play (8-0, 2.03 ERA), but fell off during the "Fall Classic" (2-4, 3.47 ERA), whereas Guidry was 2-1 with an earned run mark of 4.40 in Divisional Playoff/ALCS but cranked it up for the World Series (3-1, 1.69 ERA) He was also named to four All-Star squads. When he retired, he took a very impressive 170-91 record to go along with his 3.29 ERA.

Does Guidry's career merit Hall-of-Fame consideration?

Let's review some criteria. Was he the ever considered the best pitcher in baseball during his career? I think you'd have to concede that Steve Carlton held that distinction but you could make a pretty good case that he was the best in the American League.

The fact he lead the AL in wins twice, copped a pair of ERA crowns, led in winning percentage twice and paced the circuit in shutouts and complete games one time each weighs heavily in his favour. He was the only pitcher in the bigs with a trifecta of 20-win seasons from 1978-85. So, you can say he was the AL's best pitcher for a significant stretch.

In fact his three 20-win campaigns is more than Hall-of-Famers; Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Jim Bunning, Don Drysdale and Whitey Ford ever garnered.

A lot of people like to point out that Guidry's career totals are quite similar to Sandy Koufax's in a number of categories. There are similarities between the two southpaws. Here's a quick comparison ...

The difference in ERAs isn't as great as it appears. Guidry's ERA was 17.6% better than the league he pitched in, Koufax's 26.8%. Both had three 20-win seasons, Guidry had a better W-L record in the World Series than Koufax (3-1 to 4-3) and both had stellar World Series' ERAs that are a lot closer than you think when you consider their respective eras (Koufax; 0.95, Guidry; 1.69). I'm not saying that "Gator" was as good as Mr. Koufax but you have to admit that they are similar in a number of respects. Both were left handed, both were main cogs in multiple pennant/World Series teams, both were considered to be the best of their respective leagues, both had their best years in parks that were conducive to their pitching styles, both won a bit over 65% of their games, they both had about the same number of starts/innings pitched, both were stingy with walks.

So in recap, the following holds true:

• he was likely the best AL southpaw of the last quarter century
• in a nine year span he won almost 70% of his starts, his ERA was over 20% better than the rest of the league
• he was a big reason the Yankees won two World Series
• he has some similarities to Sandy Koufax
• he won a Cy Young and finished second, third and fifth in voting in other years
• he was named to four All-Star teams
• he had three 20-win seasons, as many as a number of Hall-of-Fame pitchers in about the same era
• he was noticeably better when it counted (World Series 3-1; 1.69 ERA)

Sounds like a reasonable candidate for Cooperstown.