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Is Madison Bumgarner the Best Pitcher in World Series History?

By Brad Rowland

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner waves to the crowd after defeating the Kansas City Royals during game five of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner waves to the crowd after defeating the Kansas City Royals during game five of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Is Madison Bumgarner the best pitcher in World Series history?

As of this moment, San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner is the 2014 World Series MVP. Yes, fellow Giants star Hunter Pence may have a claim on the honor on the strength of a .474/.575/.737 slash line over 22 plate appearance in this season’s Fall Classic, but Bumgarner has been the more dominant factor for the Giants in the “majority” (two out of three) of their wins, and as any national outlet may have told you over the weekend, the 25-year-old has been putting up historic numbers.

However, the big question on the minds of some at this point in his career is whether Madison Bumgarner is the best pitcher in World Series history. 

On the surface, it seems like an utterly absurd statement. Bumgarner has made “only” four starts in World Series action over his admittedly short career, and with this year’s series still hanging in the balance at the time of this post, it appears to be a “cart before the horse” situation.

Then, you realize that the long-haired left-hander stands in a class by himself when it comes to statistical ratios. Across his four World Series starts, Bumgarner has posted a minuscule 0.29 ERA, and that places him in the top spot in terms of all-time rankings, just ahead of Jack Billingham (0.36 ERA over 25.1 innings in the mid-70’s) and Jon Lester (0.43 ERA over 21 innings). In addition, Madison Bumgarner also leads the way in World Series WHIP (0.548) and hits allowed per 9 innings (3.48) over his career, lending credence to the lofty praise that he has been receiving over the past several days.

Sample size is the biggest issue with Bumgarner’s “candidacy”, especially with the existence of Hall of Famers like Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax and even Christy Mathewson. Ford easily leads all pitchers in World Series innings with 146, and his 2.71 ERA over 22 starts from 1950 through 1964 simply can’t be ignored. Then, Mathewson posted over 100 innings with a sub-1.00 (!!) ERA across just four different World Series seasons, and Koufax also put together a 0.95 ERA in 57 innings while unceremoniously dominating the competition.

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In the more recent past, there is an argument for Mariano Rivera, who actually has pitched more innings in WS play than Bumgarner (36 to 31), and arguably contributed in a more high-leverage environment on a consistent basis for multiple championship teams in New York. Then, there is the aforementioned Lester, or Hall of Fame pitchers like Randy Johnson or Curt Schilling (2011) and Tom Glavine (1995) that reached dominant peaks in utterly carrying their teams to championships.

In this debate, it is important to evaluate context. Madison Bumgarner is certainly not a surefire Hall of Fame pitcher at this stage, but he is quite good to the point where this certainly doesn’t qualify as a “fluke”. The 6-foot-5 Bumgarner has a career 3.06 ERA in the regular season to go along with a 2.27 overall ERA in 83.1 playoff innings, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the “sample” of dominance that he has put together in three different seasons. Still, there is an argument to be made that Bumgarner was not the best pitcher on either the 2010 or 2012 editions of the San Francisco Giants, leaving him a (relatively) low-pressure spot when compared to the staff aces next to him.

There is no definitive “answer” here, and that is what makes the “Bumgarner versus history” debate a fantastic one. There are certainly fans and pundits out there who will simply look at the ERA and WHIP ratios and strongly argue that Madison Bumgarner has been the best and, in turn, most valuable pitcher in the recent past, if not the history of the World Series, and if he continues at this pace for several more outings (which would be great for Giants fans), that will undoubtedly become fact.

At the same time, Bumgarner remains a 25-year-old “kid” with the majority of his pitching career likely ahead of him, and if the San Francisco Giants cough up a 3-2 lead to the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 edition of the Fall Classic, some of his legacy could be tarnished due to no fault of his own. There is a lot of baseball to play, but Madison Bumgarner has vaulted himself into the conversation for “best ever” in a vitally important baseball category, and that cannot be taken lightly.

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