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Gene Conley · Elected 1971
Pitcher · Brooklyn Superbas, Cleveland Barons, Dallas Texans · 1954-1970

There are huge debates about which metrics to use when evaluating players for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Do you put more weight on peak year performance? Or do you emphasize a total body of work? Or focus on hardware won? Or these fancy new measures like WARP or WAR and whatnot. And for pitchers, there’s a whole debate about whether or not wins and losses are good measures, being dependent as they are on run support to determine whether or not a particular performance turns into a win or loss. The good news for Gene Conley’s candidacy is that he is the truly rare candidate that stacks up well on almost any metric even the most critical Hall voter can devise.

Consider the career totals: his 309 career wins rate second all time. His 1.10 career WHIP is the second best for any veteran pitcher in the league (behind Carl Erskine’s 1.09). Indeed, he rates among the career leaders in almost any meaningful stat you can mention, and leads all players in career win percentage with a staggering .739. And if career achievements are captured by hardware hauls, look at these totals: eight times All-UL; seven times World Series champion; four times Cy Young Award winner; four times ERA champion; two times win leader; two times WHIP champion; the 1955 Rookie of the Year; and a partridge in a pear tree.

His peak values are similarly impressive, as he went eight seasons from 1957 to 1964 never winning fewer than 23 games in any year and only once 10 games once. His totals for that eight season stretch are a stunning 198-48, for an average season of 25 wins and 6 losses--did we mention over eight years?!  Consider that he missed posting 10 consecutive 20-win seasons by just three wins—he tallied 18 and 19 in 1955 and 1956, respectively. And if you want to know how he performed when the chips were down, check his 13-3 postseason record. That’s a World Series win tally that this pundit, for one, believes will never be eclipsed. And finally, if value is determined by how his teams performed, look at how closely the Brooklyn Superbas' arc matches his own—surging to their first silverware in 1955, his ROY campaign, and producing a string of East Division titles to match Conley’s run of peak personal performance. Indeed, the team’s last World Series title, in 1966, marked Conley’s penultimate season in the borough, before finishing his career with stops in Cleveland and Dallas before injury forced him to call time on his illustrious career. Not bad for a guy who was drafted late in the first round by the Farting D's and promptly traded to Brooklyn for Toby Atwell and Daryl Spencer (!).  (Glen Reed)


AWARDS & ACCOLADES
Hall of Fame (1971)
Cy Young Award (1957, 1959, 1960, 1963)
All-UL Team (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969)
ERA Champion (1957, 1959, 1963, 1969)
Win Champion (1959, 1960)
WHIP Champion (1957, 1959)
7-time Pitcher of the Month, 1-Time Player of the Week

Career Pitching Stats
Year/Team/League	Age	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	HA	R	ER	HR	BB	K	CG	SHO	WHIP
1954 Brooklyn	23	5	0	0	0	0	1.69	5.1	4	1	1	0	1	2	0	0	0.94
1955 Brooklyn	24	35	34	18	10	0	4.18	245.2	220	131	114	0	97	143	6	0	1.29
1956 Brooklyn	25	39	39	19	10	0	4.37	251.1	247	143	122	0	82	154	2	1	1.31
1957 Brooklyn	26	39	39	26	3	0	2.40	311.0	262	91	83	0	55	222	13	2	1.02
1958 Brooklyn	27	39	39	24	5	0	3.24	300.0	266	122	108	0	55	209	6	2	1.07
1959 Brooklyn	28	39	39	27	6	0	1.79	317.0	222	81	63	8	64	218	14	6	0.90
1960 Brooklyn	29	42	42	26	5	0	2.52	332.0	258	111	93	16	104	290	12	2	1.09
1961 Brooklyn	30	37	37	24	8	0	3.20	295.1	265	111	105	17	91	260	13	3	1.21
1962 Brooklyn	31	39	39	23	11	0	2.57	304.2	232	109	87	12	83	300	11	7	1.03
1963 Brooklyn	32	36	36	24	6	0	2.02	258.1	200	68	58	6	68	222	1	1	1.04
1964 Brooklyn	33	38	38	24	4	0	1.98	268.0	195	67	59	7	75	242	1	1	1.01
1965 Brooklyn	34	25	25	9	7	0	2.78	161.2	136	58	50	8	43	152	1	0	1.11
1966 Brooklyn	35	40	40	19	8	0	2.51	236.1	185	71	66	7	86	226	0	0	1.15
1967 Brooklyn	36	38	37	15	9	1	2.64	242.0	198	86	71	9	69	229	0	0	1.10
1968 Cleveland	37	9	9	2	1	0	3.30	60.0	58	25	22	5	19	53	0	0	1.28
1968 Brooklyn	37	25	25	10	7	0	2.92	169.1	130	59	55	4	70	138	2	0	1.18
1968 Total UL	37	34	34	12	8	0	3.02	229.1	188	84	77	9	89	191	2	0	1.21
1969 Cleveland	38	19	19	9	3	0	2.20	143.0	103	40	35	10	39	137	3	2	0.99
1969 Dallas	38	11	11	6	1	0	1.72	73.1	61	14	14	3	22	62	1	1	1.13
1969 Total	38	30	30	15	4	0	2.04	216.1	164	54	49	13	61	199	4	3	1.04
1970 Dallas	39	10	10	4	5	0	3.34	59.1	59	26	22	5	23	44	1	0	1.38
Total UL		565	558	309	109	1	2.74	4033.2	3301	1414	1228	117	1146	3303	87	28	1.10