20 Is the Key to 300

Congratulations to Barry Bonds on reaching 755.

Of course, the greater accomplishment this weekend may have occurred with Tom Glavine getting to the 300 win mark.  Many think this mark will never be hit again. I’ve heard all sorts of analysis including how pitchers start less games than they did when Glavine came into the league.

Non-sense. Glavine started 36 games in a season.  Other that pitching above the league average, Glavine did two things right: 1) he was durable and he won plenty of ballgames before 30. (128)  and he also had 5 20-win season. (Think of how remarkable that is these days.)

Who could make it to 300? Randy Johnson if he gets healthy (284), Mike Mussina (246) doesn’t look like he’s got another 54 wins in him. If Pedro Martinez (206) gets healthy, I could see him putting up 94 wins before it’s all said and done.

Beyond that?

Try Tim Hudson (131 wins at age 31). He’s got great stuff and is capable of putting up big win numbers. Beyond that, we’re talking potential. Mark Buerhle’s got 106 wins at age 28, not what I think of as a 300-game winner, but he’s shown some brilliance.  Though C. C. Sabethia is only 26, he’s got 95 wins.  When Tom Glavine was his age, he only had 73.

It can be done, particularly with players lasting later in their career, but it’s gonna be a long road as it was for Glavine, Clemens, and Maddux. Lest we forget, between 1993 (when Nolan Ryan retired) and 2003 (when Roger Clemens won his 300th), we had no 300 game winners active. Now, we have three.

There have been even longer draughts. For example,  from 1930-1962, Baseball had one pitcher hit 300 wins (Lefty Grove) and from 1965-82, there was no 300-win pitcher in the game. We’re fortunate that we have three 300-game win legends pitching (Maddux, Glavine, and Clemens) and we should enjoy them while we can. It could be 2 or 3 decades until we see another.