MLB’s All Time Top Starting Rotations — Where Will The 2011 Phillies Fit In?

The 2011 Major League Baseball season has not as of yet seen pitch one, but already there is speculation the fantastic Philadelphia five (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton) can accomplish things that align them with the greatest starting staffs of all time, if not plant them firmly atop the list.

While it’s hard to argue with the collective resumes of that coming, City of Brotherly Love rotation, Major League Baseball has had no shortage of great starting groups amidst its glorious past and rather than give you a glossy look at recent rotations who have imprinted themselves on our Johnny-Come-Lately baseball consciousness we’ve put together an accounting that reaches back to the days of the Great Bambino—when he was still chucking that is, for a Boston Red Sox nine that won World Championship Titles in 1912, 1915, 1917 & 1918.

To garner perspective we’ve implemented a ratings system with a base of 70-100 points residual to term of dominance not exclusive of bonus and subtraction points all of which you’ll come to understand as we go through the individual staffs. 

For now though let’s just get into it and see if by subject’s end we can come to any kind of a consensus on the single best starting rotation in the history of Major League Baseball. 

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