Waste of time with this article. A "number 1" is a guy that can go out and dominate a game and does it consistently. In my opinion, there are a number of guys each year that you can call a number 1 pitcher. People have off years with injuries or other issues where they don't perform as well, but I don't think you have to be a ****ing HOF to be considered a number 1 pitcher. There is reason people get to the HOF, its because they were great. I would say in any year there are 10-20 guys I would call a number 1 pitcher, the next 30 would be number 2's and the range for number 3 and 4 or 5 is all dependent on the pitcher. For example, Diamond is in the top 15 in the MLB for ERA. That's pretty damn good. At this point, I'd still consider him a strong number 3 because the lack of an out pitch places a lot of emphasis on the fielders. This level of success just isn't sustainable.
My point is, labeling 1-5 starting pitchers is going to vary. While I think number 1 pitchers are the elite group of every year, Sickles thinks in order to be a number 1 you need a ticket to Cooperstown. Who knows, maybe Dave thinks everybody could be a number 1 if they battled hard enough!