Innings pitched by Babe Ruth: reasonable minimum for Hall of Fame.

Geez, is that too much to expect, that a pitcher at least surpass the number of innings pitched by Babe Ruth who hit 714 Home Runs?

Below is a list of the 25 pitchers since 1901 who have been elected to the Hall of Fame with the fewest innings. All pitched at least 1,000 innings. Ruth is on the list but he was elected to the Hall for his hitting, not his pitching. The list is sorted ascending, so Ruth is number 3, i.e., the third fewest innings for any Hall of Fame pitcher. The two with fewer innings were, of course, relief specialists, neither of whom ever started a game: Bruce Sutter (1,042) and the just elected Trevor Hoffman (1,089). Ruth threw 1,221 innings.

There are four other Hall of Fame relievers: Hoyt Wilhelm, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers and Rich Gossage. Wilhelm and Eckersley each pitched a nine inning complete game no-hitter. Of those four Fingers had the fewest innings: 1,701: 56% more than Trevor Hoffman:
(1,701-1,089)/1,089 = 56%

Eckersley started 361 and saved 390. Eckersley pitched more innings than Whitey Ford.

Ruth pitched 12% more innings than Hoffman:
(1,221-1,089)/1,089 = 12%

Even more ridiculous are the knuckleheads advocating that Billy Wagner be elected to the Hall of Fame.  Wagner threw 903 innings. Ruth pitched 35% more innings than Wagner:
(1,221-903)/903 = 35%

Mariano Rivera is considered the best "closer" of all time, which traces back to Eckersley, circa 1990. Rivera was injured in 2012 and threw only 8 innings bringing his career innings to 2,019: two fewer than Ruth. Rivera came back in 2013 with 64 innings to finish with 2,083 and surge past Ruth in Rivera's final season.

Rk	Player	IP	GS	SV	G	From	To	Age	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	ERA+	BAbip	HR	BF	IBB	HBP	BK	WP	Tm
1	Bruce Sutter	1042.0	0	300	661	1976	1988	23-35	0	0	512	68	71	.489	879	370	328	309	861	2.83	2.94	20.3%	7.3%	136	.275	77	4251	83	13	8	37	CHC-STL-ATL
2	Trevor Hoffman	1089.1	0	601	1035	1993	2010	25-42	0	0	856	61	75	.449	846	378	347	307	1133	2.87	3.08	25.8%	7.0%	141	.266	100	4388	58	9	0	49	FLA-SDP-MIL
3	Babe Ruth	1221.1	147	4	163	1914	1933	19-38	107	17	12	94	46	.671	974	400	309	441	488	2.28	2.81	10.0%	9.0%	122	undef	10	4896		29	4	25	BOS-NYY
4	Rollie Fingers	1701.1	37	341	944	1968	1985	21-38	4	2	709	114	118	.491	1474	615	549	492	1299	2.90	2.96	18.7%	7.1%	120	.275	123	6942	109	39	7	40	OAK-SDP-MIL
5	Rich Gossage	1809.1	37	310	1002	1972	1994	20-42	16	0	681	124	107	.537	1497	670	605	732	1502	3.01	3.18	20.0%	9.8%	126	.276	119	7507	90	47	5	63	CHW-PIT-NYY-SDP-CHC-SFG-TEX-OAK-SEA
6	Dizzy Dean	1967.1	230	31	317	1930	1947	20-37	154	26	77	150	83	.644	1919	774	661	453	1163	3.02	3.22	14.2%	5.5%	131	.288	95	8171		27	5	12	STL-CHC-SLB
7	Hoyt Wilhelm	2254.1	52	228	1070	1952	1972	29-49	20	5	651	143	122	.540	1757	773	632	778	1610	2.52	3.06	17.6%	8.5%	147	.250	150	9164	61	62	4	90	NYG-STL-CLE-BAL-CHW-ATL-CAL-CHC-LAD
8	Sandy Koufax	2324.1	314	9	397	1955	1966	19-30	137	40	44	165	87	.655	1754	806	713	817	2396	2.76	2.69	25.2%	8.6%	131	.259	204	9497	48	18	7	87	BRO-LAD
9	Addie Joss	2327.0	260	5	286	1902	1910	22-30	234	45	22	160	97	.623	1888	730	488	364	920	1.89	2.25	10.4%	4.1%	142	undef	19	8891		58	1	28	CLE
10	Lefty Gomez	2503.0	320	10	368	1930	1943	21-34	173	28	31	189	102	.649	2290	1091	930	1095	1468	3.34	3.88	13.7%	10.2%	125	.274	138	10729		19	0	39	NYY-WSH
11	Jack Chesbro	2532.0	289	4	341	1901	1909	27-35	225	32	46	177	110	.617	2262	984	708	552	1181	2.52	2.49	11.8%	5.5%	114	undef	32	10048		90	2	50	PIT-BOS-NYY
12	Rube Waddell	2659.2	308	4	366	1901	1910	24-33	235	47	45	178	127	.584	2198	923	624	728	2137	2.11	1.93	20.4%	6.9%	133	undef	30	10499		93	3	70	PIT-CHC-PHA-SLB
13	Joe McGinnity	2732.0	303	22	373	1901	1908	30-37	244	27	59	190	118	.617	2568	1093	795	606	901	2.62	2.87	8.1%	5.4%	115	undef	44	11133		113	2	22	BLA-NYG
14	Pedro Martinez	2827.1	409	3	476	1992	2009	20-37	46	17	23	219	100	.687	2221	1006	919	760	3154	2.93	2.91	27.7%	6.7%	154	.282	239	11394	30	141	6	62	LAD-MON-BOS-NYM-PHI
15	Bob Lemon	2850.0	350	22	460	1946	1958	25-37	188	31	73	207	128	.618	2559	1185	1024	1251	1277	3.23	3.79	10.6%	10.3%	119	.258	180	12099	13	57	2	63	CLE
16	Ed Walsh	2964.1	315	35	430	1904	1917	23-36	250	57	105	195	126	.607	2346	873	598	617	1736	1.82	2.02	15.2%	5.4%	145	undef	23	11413		52	9	76	CHW-BSN
17	Dazzy Vance	2966.2	349	12	442	1915	1935	24-44	217	29	52	197	140	.585	2809	1246	1068	840	2045	3.24	3.18	16.5%	6.8%	125	undef	132	12366		77	2	37	PIT-NYY-BRO-CIN-STL
18	Hal Newhouser	2993.0	374	26	488	1939	1955	18-34	212	33	79	207	150	.580	2674	1197	1016	1249	1796	3.06	3.19	14.2%	9.9%	130	.274	136	12648	1	19	7	65	DET-CLE
19	Chief Bender	3017.0	334	34	459	1903	1925	19-41	255	40	112	212	127	.625	2645	1108	823	712	1711	2.46	2.29	14.4%	6.0%	112	undef	40	11895		102	10	79	PHA-BAL-PHI-CHW
20	Stan Coveleski	3082.0	385	21	450	1912	1928	22-38	223	38	52	215	142	.602	3055	1227	990	802	981	2.89	3.19	7.7%	6.3%	127	undef	66	12729		30	1	35	PHA-CLE-WSH-NYY
21	Vic Willis	3106.1	366	9	399	1901	1910	25-34	302	42	33	187	167	.528	2822	1194	864	841	1318	2.50	2.69	10.6%	6.7%	113	undef	44	12483		85	4	65	BSN-PIT-STL
22	Whitey Ford	3170.1	438	11	498	1950	1967	21-38	156	45	35	236	106	.690	2766	1107	967	1086	1956	2.75	3.26	15.0%	8.3%	133	.264	228	13036	44	28	5	75	NYY
23	Mordecai Brown	3172.1	332	49	481	1903	1916	26-39	271	55	138	239	130	.648	2708	1044	725	673	1375	2.06	2.42	11.1%	5.4%	139	undef	43	12422		61	4	61	STL-CHC-CIN-SLM-BTT-CHI
24	Jesse Haines	3208.2	387	11	555	1918	1937	24-43	209	23	96	210	158	.571	3460	1556	1298	871	981	3.64	3.95	7.2%	6.4%	109	undef	165	13644		57	6	55	CIN-STL
25	Dennis Eckersley	3285.2	361	390	1071	1975	1998	20-43	100	20	577	197	171	.535	3076	1382	1278	738	2401	3.50	3.41	17.7%	5.5%	116	.277	347	13534	91	75	16	28	CLE-BOS-CHC-OAK-STL

Innings for some other recent Hall of Fame pitchers:
Greg Maddux 5,008
Tom Glavine 4,413
Randy Johnson 4,135
John Smoltz 3,473 (481 starts, 154 saves)