Baseball – Tom Glavine, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Craig Biggio all reach milestones – Part 1
It has been a milestone year for Major League Baseball.
From Tom Glavine to Barry Bonds to Alex Rodriguez to Craig Biggio, records have been racked up for poker chips in a major tournament.
Tom Glavine of the New York Mets holds arguably the most prestigious record to date, notching his 300th career win on August 5, 2007 with an 8-3 victory over Lou Piniella’s Chicago Cubs in a game away from home at Wrigley Field.
The historic win was Glavine’s 10th this year against 6 losses.
Glavine earned 242 of his wins while pitching 16 seasons for the Atlanta Braves, winning the last 58 after joining the New York Mets as a free agent in 2003. He is in his 21st season and is one of the winningest pitchers in the game. baseball in the National League. He is a five-time 20-game winner and a two-time Cy Young Award winner, and is one of only 23 pitchers in major league history to earn 300 career wins from him. He’s also only the fifth left-hander among 23,300-game winners. He joins a select group that includes Warren Spahn (363 wins), Steve Carlton (329), Eddie Plank (326) and Lefty Grove (300).
Glavine is a lock to become a Hall of Famer when he retires. He has also long been known as an excellent fielding and batting bowler. The 41-year-old lefty will pass Lefty Grove and Early Winn on the all-time list, as both had exactly 300 wins when they retired.
In addition to Tom Glavine and Early Winn, pitchers who have 300 career wins since 1958 include Warren Spahn, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry and Tom Seaver.
In addition to Lefty Grove, veterans include Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Christy Mathewson, Pud Galvin, Kid Nichols, Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Eddie Plank, Charles Radbourn, and Mickey Welch.
No one will break the Cy Young career record of 511 wins. Walter Johnson had 417, and every other pitcher has between 300 and 373.
More veterans than modern pitchers make the list because in the early days baseball teams used a two-man pitching rotation, giving veterans many more starts and many more chances at 300 wins.
Today’s teams use a 4- or 5-man pitching rotation, and the arrival of specialists, including setup men (for the 7th and 8th innings) and closers (for the 9th innings), has meant that today’s pitchers record much fewer entries.
Speculation now abounds as to whether any other player (left or right-handed) will be able to achieve 300 career wins. The smart money is in Randy Johnson, 44, who has 284 wins and a back problem that won’t go away. No one else is even remotely closed.
Trailing Johnson in career wins are Mike Mussina (247), David Wells (235), Jamie Moyer (227) and Curt Schilling (213). Getting 300 wins in his career is a sure ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of the reasons why Glavine had 300 wins is his longevity (21 seasons and still pitching), and another is that he, surprisingly, has never been injured or on the disabled list.
(Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a 3-part series.)
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
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