Wupk and I were talking about this the other day. Glavine does not have flashy godlike numbers, but if you remember when he pitched how remarkably good he was then you would change your mind.
Glavine's case is helped by:
300 wins (5 20 win seasons, impressive even if you don't like that stat)
Union Head for so many years.
Don't think anyone ever assumed he took PED's.
2 Cy Youngs
Responsible for Braves only WS title.
He's a left hander.
Costas remarked today how efficient Glavine and Maddux were. How they had low pitch counts to finish games in 8 innings or even CG. The amount of CG's they racked up back then would be unheard of today. Halladay and Lee are two of the pitchers that could go 8 or 9 with very low pitch counts. I think the fact managers coddle pitchers so much and go to the bullpen early, makes Maddux and Glavine's durability stand out even more. I mean when Medlen was on that insane run, we were in love with how many times he could go 7+ innings because seeing a starter make it to the 8th let alone 9th was something we haven't seen in a long time. Maddux, Glavine, and even Smoltz did that regularly not because Cox let them stay out there but because they were good enough to stay out there.
Again, Glavine doesn't have the big numbers to stand out other than wins, but he was a pitcher like Maddux. He would still have been an ace on most teams in his prime, his body of work just gets overshadowed because he pitched in the same rotation as Smoltz and Maddux. Smoltz was always looked at as the biggest power pitcher on that rotation, Maddux was the ultimate finess and control guy, while Glavine was the quiet fighter. He would walk somebody then come back and take down the next few guys. He also attacked the zone and painted the corners maybe not the same as Maddux (who does?) but he was good enough to where the umpire would give him benefit of the doubt neighborhood calls.
