Best 5-Year WAR by Non-HOF Pitchers

Since 1893, these are the non-Hall of Fame pitchers with at least 25.0 WAR in a 5-year span. Only those retired long enough to have appeared on a HOF ballot are listed. Limit one entry per pitcher. Baseball-Reference WAR formula is used.

WAR	Player	Years	Age	ERA+	IP	HOF High %
34.6	Kevin Brown	1996-2000	31-35	165	1209.2	One & done
34.5	Wilbur Wood	1970-1974	28-32	128	1512.0	7%
33.6	Noodles Hahn	1899-1903	20-24	133	1612.2	Ineligible
33.1	Ted Breitenstein	1893-1897	24-28	117	1928.2	One & done
32.8	Nap Rucker	1908-1912	23-27	123	1576.1	6.4%
31.6	Dave Stieb	1981-1985	23-27	145	1282.0	One & done
30.9	Kevin Appier	1992-1996	24-28	145	1014.2	One & done
30.4	Frank Tanana	1974-1978	20-24	124	1294.2	One & done
29.7	Mickey Lolich	1969-1973	28-32	115	1565.1	25.5%
29.4	Rick Reuschel	1976-1980	27-31	122	1250.2	One & done
29.4	Jim Maloney	1963-1967	23-27	132	1142.2	0.5%
29.3	Eddie Cicotte	1916-1920	32-36	136	1409.2	Banned
29.0	Orel Hershiser	1985-1989	26-30	132	1259.1	11.2%
28.7	Chris Short	1964-1968	26-30	120	1259.0	One & done
28.6	Dwight Gooden	1984-1988	19-23	135	1172.2	One & done
28.6	Hippo Vaughn	1916-1920	28-32	143	1487.2	--
28.2	David Cone	1993-1997	30-34	148	922.0	One & done
27.6	Bret Saberhagen	1985-1989	21-25	130	1171.1	One & done
27.5	Urban Shocker	1919-1923	28-32	131	1408.2	1.5%
27.5	Bill Dinneen	1900-1904	24-28	126	1636.0	2.6%
27.3	Teddy Higuera	1985-1989	26-30	130	1085.0	--
27.3	Pink Hawley	1894-1898	21-25	114	1857.1	--
27.2	Frank Viola	1987-1991	27-31	127	1249.0	One & done
26.8	Jose Rijo	1990-1994	25-29	149	1042.0	0.2%
26.8	Russ Ford	1910-1914	27-31	135	1357.0	--
26.7	Luis Tiant	1972-1976	31-35	125	1301.1	30.9%
26.7	Billy Pierce	1952-1956	25-29	139	1197.1	1.9%
26.1	Johnny Antonelli	1954-1958	24-28	128	1206.1	--
26.1	Lon Warneke	1932-1936	23-27	135	1357.2	6.5%
25.8	Jon Matlack	1972-1976	22-26	122	1242.0	--
25.5	Mel Parnell	1949-1953	27-31	136	1220.1	--
25.4	Bill Hands	1968-1972	28-32	126	1255.0	--
25.3	Camilo Pascual	1959-1963	25-29	134	1148.2	0.8%
25.3	Wes Ferrell	1929-1933	21-25	127	1304.1	3.6%
25.2	Mark Langston	1989-1993	28-32	120	1204.2	--
25.2	Ron Guidry	1977-1981	26-30	143	1067.1	8.8%
25.2	Thornton Lee	1937-1941	30-34	136	1213.1	--
25.2	Bobo Newsom	1936-1940	28-32	116	1446.1	9.4%
25.0	Chuck Finley	1989-1993	26-30	128	1118.2	One & done
25.0	Dolf Luque	1921-1925	30-34	136	1397.1	5.6%

A little perspective on Kevin Brown's 1996-2000 peak of 34.6 WAR:

• His 34.6 WAR ranked #2 in that period, 2 WAR behind Pedro Martinez (3 Cy Young Awards in that span), 1.5 WAR ahead of Roger Clemens (2 CYAs), and 4.4 WAR ahead of Randy Johnson (2 CYAs).
• The two best 5-year spans this century are 33.2 by Randy Johnson (2000-04, 3 CYAs) and 31.8 by Johan Santana (2004-08, 2 CYAs). Brown topped them both.
• Roy Halladay's best 5-year WAR is 31.2. His 5 best individual seasons add up to 35.6 WAR.

Brown, with 211 wins, a .594 W% and 127 ERA+, got 2.1% of the HOF vote in his only ballot, and thus fell off the BBWAA ballot for good.

One more note on a Brown theme ... If you want to see some hard-luck W-L records, check out Ted Breitenstein with the 1890s St. Louis Browns. For 1893-97, he ranked 4th in WAR (behind 3 HOFers), but had a losing record. The Browns from 1893-96 had a .366 W%. He was lucky to escape to Cincinnati in 1897, when the Browns went 29-102.