The Cubs broadcast crew was fawning over Travis Wood. Wood had just thrown his eighth consecutive "quality start" (which is an inflated and nebulous statistic). The announcers were calling Wood the greatest pitcher since Hippo Vaughn.
Really?
Vaughn pitched 13 major league seasons (1908-1921). He compiled a career record of 178-137, in 390 games pitched; he had 214 complete games and threw 2730 IP. His career ERA was 2.49. His career WHIP 1.201. His career WAR was 24.9.
In 1918, Vaughn was the NL pitcher of the year, leading the league in wins (22), ERA (1.74) and strikeouts (148).
Wood is 4-2, with a 2.03 ERA for 2013. But Wood still only has a career WAR of 0.8 in his four big league seasons.
Wood is having a nice season so far, but broadcasters on bad teams get carried away trying to find a positive spin. Wood is the #4 starter on a bad team. He is not the reincarnation of Hippo Vaughn.
