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QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:07 pm
by Evan
The recent Favre post got me thinking, who does he remind me of? A famous pitcher came to mind, then more pitchers that reminded me of QBs. The comparisons are not perfect, but there are some aspects that are similar. Here's what came to mind on my drive home from work today (yes, it's a long commute) ...

Bart Starr and Whitey Ford -- Post-season perfection nearly every time.
Terry Bradshaw and Nolan Ryan -- Their early careers had people saying "If they could only tame those wild arms".
Roger Staubach and Tom Seaver -- Clean-cut Captain America-types who always seemed ready to grace a magazine cover.
Ken Anderson and Jim Palmer -- Streamlined, trim, neat, fundamentally sharp as razors.
Greg Cook and Mark Fidrych -- One and done, but wasn't it fun?
Joe Montana and Greg Maddux -- Off the field, they did not even look like athletes. On the field, they were in complete and utter command.
Johnny Unitas and Sandy Koufax -- They epitomized the ultimate performances of their position.
Sammy Baugh and Walter Johnson -- Sidearm slingers who just threw better than anyone else of their era.
Fran Tarkenton and Phil Niekro -- Trying to catch up to them could make you look awfully foolish.
John Elway and Randy Johnson -- Early on they left a wake of sore-palmed WRs and catchers, and both improved greatly when they got their arms under control.
Ken Stabler and Fergie Jenkins -- Ultimate pinpoint accuracy with intimidation to boot.
Roman Gabriel and Juan Marichal -- In their primes they seemed ready to be anointed as the best, but seemed like they always had someone else in the way at the top.
Sonny Jurgensen and Gaylord Perry - Paunchy players with great arms on lousy teams.
Len Dawson and Don Sutton -- Very, very good for a long time with mostly excellent teams.
Steve Young and Lefty Grove -- Somewhat short careers but incredible statistics with lots of bold print in their ledgers.
Bert Jones and Dwight Gooden -- Seemingly on the path to true historical greatness, but sidetracked for vastly different reasons.
Daryle Lamonica and Sam McDowell -- The long ball and the heat, coming at ya, just try to stop it.
Dan Fouts and Brian Winters of the Milwaukee Bucks and Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers -- Okay, not pitchers, just wanted to see if you were still reading.
and ...
Brett Favre and Roger Clemens -- I'm retired. No I'm not. Yes I am. No, well ... I don't know. Yes. Never.

Others come to mind among the Forum cognoscenti?

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:44 pm
by BD Sullivan
Evan wrote:The recent Favre post got me thinking, who does he remind me of? A famous pitcher came to mind, then more pitchers that reminded me of QBs. The comparisons are not perfect, but there are some aspects that are similar. Here's what came to mind on my drive home from work today (yes, it's a long commute) ...

Daryle Lamonica and Sam McDowell -- The long ball and the heat, coming at ya, just try to stop it.
Bobby Layne might be more appropriate, given his and McDowell's penchant for "watching the sun rise from the bottom of a shot glass."

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:14 pm
by JuggernautJ
Evan wrote: Others come to mind among the Forum cognoscenti?
Wait, we're supposed to be cognizant?!

Favre reminds me more of John Kruk.

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:43 pm
by Bob Gill
Evan wrote:The recent Favre post got me thinking, who does he remind me of? A famous pitcher came to mind, then more pitchers that reminded me of QBs. The comparisons are not perfect, but there are some aspects that are similar. Here's what came to mind on my drive home from work today (yes, it's a long commute) ...

Bart Starr and Whitey Ford -- Post-season perfection nearly every time.
I like most of your comparisons, and I see where you're coming from in this one, but Ford's World Series won-lost record was actually 10-8, which detracts from the comparison.

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:01 pm
by Rupert Patrick
[quote="Evan"]
Steve Young and Lefty Grove -- Somewhat short careers but incredible statistics with lots of bold print in their ledgers.
/quote]

Both also started their careers in other leagues before they reached the "major" leagues.

I would have thought Bert Jones and Dizzy Dean would have been a better match.

A couple more:

Billy Kilmer---Mickey Lolich

Jim McMahon---Mitch Williams

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 12:01 am
by Retro Rider
Evan wrote:Sonny Jurgensen and Gaylord Perry - Paunchy players with great arms on lousy teams.
I remember Perry was a little paunchy when he pitched up here with the Mariners, but not so much when he pitched in the '60's and '70's. Another Jurgensen comparison could be Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel, who played on a number of lousy teams in Chicago & Pittsburgh. Former Pirates GM Syd Thrift once said that Reuschel had a "brain in his arm." Judging by all the 1960's & '70's Redskins film I've seen through the years, I think the same thing could've been said about Sonny. In one of the Redskin highlight films Sonny is described by John Facenda as "the old pot bellied stove" (in the '73 film Facenda refers to Kilmer and Jurgensen as 'hobble & wobble' respectively). Reuschel was also known as "The Whale" during his first stint with the Cubs (1972-81).

http://zonersports.com/chubby-cubbies-r ... chel/4487/

On an unrelated note, Jurgensen shared body types with pudgy CFL QB Tom Wilkinson back in the 1970's. To borrow a line from Charley Waters, they both looked like "Humpty Dumpty with shoulder pads."

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:15 am
by SixtiesFan
Retro Rider wrote:
Evan wrote:Sonny Jurgensen and Gaylord Perry - Paunchy players with great arms on lousy teams.
I remember Perry was a little paunchy when he pitched up here with the Mariners, but not so much when he pitched in the '60's and '70's. Another Jurgensen comparison could be Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel, who played on a number of lousy teams in Chicago & Pittsburgh. Former Pirates GM Syd Thrift once said that Reuschel had a "brain in his arm." Judging by all the 1960's & '70's Redskins film I've seen through the years, I think the same thing could've been said about Sonny. In one of the Redskin highlight films Sonny is described by John Facenda as "the old pot bellied stove" (in the '73 film Facenda refers to Kilmer and Jurgensen as 'hobble & wobble' respectively). Reuschel was also known as "The Whale" during his first stint with the Cubs (1972-81).

http://zonersports.com/chubby-cubbies-r ... chel/4487/

On an unrelated note, Jurgensen shared body types with pudgy CFL QB Tom Wilkinson back in the 1970's. To borrow a line from Charley Waters, they both looked like "Humpty Dumpty with shoulder pads."
I remember in the late 60's, Sonny Jurgensen was asked about his overweight stomach. He answered, "I don't throw with that."

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:56 am
by Gary Najman
Michael Vick - Vida Blue

Boomer Esiason - Jerry Reuss

Jim Hart - Bob Forsch (2 long time St Louis Cardinals)

Fran Tarkenton - Steve Carlton

Dan Fouts - Bert Blyleven

Archie Manning - Phil Niekro

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:23 am
by Gary Najman
I wonder what pitcher would compare to Kurt Warner, that being said, to have two peeks late on his career with two different teams. Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance starred late for the Brooklyn Dodgers, posting great numbers after being in the minor leagues for the early part of his career, but he didn't had that with another team.

Re: QBs who remind you of pitchers ... and vice versa

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:20 am
by Bryan
Earl Morrall - Jerry Koosman

Joe Gilliam - Dock Ellis