Read the debate intro and Sports Geek’s and Loyal Homer’s arguments on whether or not Dave Duncan has been the best pitching coach of the past 30 years.
As I sit down to write my verdict, the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers are doing battle in Pittsburgh as the NFL season officially kicks off. So, with all due respect to Major League Baseball, I am keeping this one short and sweet.
The victory for this debate goes to Sports Geek.
I will concede to Loyal Homer that Leo Mazzone had an outstanding tenure in Atlanta. When thinking about pitching in the 1990’s, no pitching staff was more dominant than Mazzone’s Atlanta Braves hurlers. The names that Loyal Homer mentioned who thrived while pitching under Mazzone – Greg Maddux, Denny Neagle, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz – were undoubtedly the best in the baseball. That dominance, however, only accounts for 15 of the last 30 years. Yes, Mazzone produced astonishing results while in Atlanta, but his tenure did not begin with them until 1990. By that time, Duncan had already produced two of his four Cy Young award winners. As Sports Geek points out, Duncan’s success has spanned a much broader period of time, including three straight seasons with the league’s lowest ERA from 1988 – 1990, and again 15 years later in 2005.
The second point that must be addressed is the fact that Duncan is STILL producing successful pitchers today. John Smoltz’s apparent revival in St. Louis is just one example of the pitching dominance in St. Louis this season. Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are both legitimate contenders for the National League Cy Young award. Wainwright currently has the most wins in baseball with 18 (Carpenter is second with 16 wins), and Carpenter owns the league’s best ERA with 2.16 (Wainwright sits at fifth with an ERA of 2.59). As a team, the Cardinals have the third best ERA in the Majors, they lead the league in fewest walks allowed, and have given up the third fewest runs in baseball.
As highlighted by our friend “plstcoscr61,” Duncan has had success with multiple teams in both the American League AND the National League, whereas Mazzone had success only with Atlanta. As agreed upon by Loyal Homer, when Mazzone left Atlanta for Baltimore he did not come close to the level of success he had left behind with the Braves.
Duncan has been more consistent over a broader range of teams for a much longer period of time than has Mazzone. In the discussion of who the best pitching coach of the past 30 years has been, the award goes to Dave Duncan!
Posted by Bleacher Fan 
