A Tale of Two 300 Game Winners
Once upon a time in Major League Baseball, the 300 game winner was far more commonplace than big home run hitters, closers racking up 40 plus saves, or for that matter, teams. However, in recent years, it has become as scarce as workhorse pitchers, ten cent beer night, and the Seattle Pilots.
After Don Sutton became the third pitcher in two years to hit the 300 win plateau in June of 1986 (Tom Seaver had hit the mark in August 1985, and Phil Niekro followed in October of 1985), when coupled with Steve Carlton hitting the mark in 1983, it was four years until there was another addition to the club. That was flamethrower Nolan Ryan, who won career game number 300 on July 31, 1990. Ryan would go on to tack on another 24 victories to his name before retiring, the majors all time strikeout king with 5714.
It would be another 14 years before a 300 game winner would surface again, with whispers saying that it may be the last. That was Greg Maddux, pitching for the team that he had started his career with, the Chicago Cubs. against the San Francisco Giants on August 7th, 2004. Maddux would go on to finish his illustrious career with 355 wins, and is pretty much a sure fire Hall of Famer. Certainly, the 90s and into the new millenium has been more of the offensive era of major league baseball, which has put a damper on pitchers lasting longer into games, and procuring wins. Factor in positional switches, the advent of deeper pitching staffs with specialized relievers and the like, and it makes the challenge even more daunting.
So fast forward three years, when Tom Glavine, then with the New York Mets, tallied his 300th career win, over the Chicago Cubs in 2007. Glavine would suffer an elbow injury in 2008, sending him to his first major injury of his career and on an arduous rehabilitation to try and make his way back to the big leagues. At the time, it seemed that he very well may be the last 300 game winner for quite a while in the bigs. Most of the pitchers leading the group of active pitchers in wins were in the twilight of their careers, and some were coming off injury plagued campaigns.
Still, perserverance takes precedent sometimes, and such is the case with Randy Johnson. The Big Unit, who has won more games in his 40s than he did in his 20s, who has a perfect game and five Cy Youngs to his credit, over 4800 strikeouts, nine times the leader in strikeouts, three twenty victory seasons and a World Series MVP, overcame injury shortened 2003 and 2007 campaigns, not to mention a mediocre, by his standards, 2008, to position himself just five wins shy of that magical plateau.
Now Johnson may not have the heater he once had, and he may not be as wild as Rick Vaughn like he was early in his career, but he does have the ability to intimidate and pitch effectively. He does still have the height (6'10) and the mullet that would give Barry Melrose a run for his money, but he relies more on control and hitting spots than trying to throw it down the middle and daring people to hit it. The strikeout plus an inning days are long since passed. He signed a one year deal to pitch for the Giants, near his birthplace of Walnut Creek, and continued with his quest.
This week, he got his opportunity, in the nation's capital, against the team that he started his career with. Of course, back then, the Washington Nationals were the Montreal Expos. He only won three games in an Expos uniform, and was dealt to Seattle in 1989, in a deal that netted the Expos Mark Langston. Langston would make just 24 starts for Montreal, going 12-9 before leaving as a free agent at the end of the season, and landing with the Angels, a divisional rival of the Mariners. Meanwhile, Johnson would go on to win 130 games for the Mariners, including a one game playoff against the Angels and Langston in 1995 that would give the M's the AL West flag.
Johnson was slated to go Wednesday, against rookie pitcher Jordan Zimmerman of the Nationals, only to have that game rained out. The game was pushed back to the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, which was delayed by rain before it finally got underway. Johnson would throw six strong innings despite the rain soaked conditions, allowing two hits and an unearned run while leaving ahead 2-1. He walked a pair and struck out two while throwing just 78 pitches.
The game, and the elusive victory, nearly escaped Johnson, when in the eighth, the Nationals loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks, which prompted manager Bruce Bochy to summon closer Brian Wilson to douse the flames. It took what many termed a generous third strike call on Nationals slugger Adam Dunn on a full count, knee high fastball to close the door in the inning. The Giants would tally three runs in the ninth, on a two run double by Randy Winn, and a sacrifice fly by Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants some breathing room. Wilson fanned the side around an infield single, to give the Giants a 5-1 win, and Johnson his 300th career victory. Johnson became the sixth lefthander to win 300 games, the 24th pitcher all time, and the first pitcher since Tom Seaver to win his 300th game on his first attempt.
So while Johnson still has the better part of four months to add to his total, it brings us to the previous entrant to the prestigious club, Glavine. Glavine returned to the Braves for a one year deal in the offseason after contemplating retirement. As stated, he had elbow and shoulder issues that required surgery. He had made successful rehab starts for the Braves minor league affiliates, and was preparing to return to the rotation this weekend. His final tuneup was a six scoreless frame outing for Class A Rome on Tuesday, in front of a sold out crowd.
Instead of returning to the rotation, Glavine was blindsided Wednesday: he was cut loose by the franchise that he had been the face of for so long. A man who posted 244 career wins in 17 seasons for a franchise that was absolutely moribund when he came in, that had a run of 14 straight division titles begin under his watch, and part of a four aces rotation that included Maddux, John Smoltz and Steve Avery for a while in the mid 1990s, was bounced out unceremoniously. The management claims it has nothing to do with financial renumerations, as Glavine would have been owed a $1 million bonus for making the club, but instead that they felt that "the comeback would not be successful" and "they have a better chance to win with a younger pitcher."
Top prospect Tommy Hanson is expected to be called up to fill the rotation spot that Glavine would have had. Hanson will make his first start this weekend against Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and the free swinging, yet hard hitting, Milwaukee Brewers.
No matter what you may think of the Braves, love them or hate them, this was in poor taste. To put a Hall of Famer like Glavine out there like a dog and pony show, only to cut him loose, merely leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouths. Kudos to Johnson for reaching the milestone, but let the Glavine story be a reminder: you're only as good as your last outing. This may be the end of the 300 game winner as we know it. Let's savor the moment and the class that Tom Glavine exuded as a pitcher, and a man.
After Don Sutton became the third pitcher in two years to hit the 300 win plateau in June of 1986 (Tom Seaver had hit the mark in August 1985, and Phil Niekro followed in October of 1985), when coupled with Steve Carlton hitting the mark in 1983, it was four years until there was another addition to the club. That was flamethrower Nolan Ryan, who won career game number 300 on July 31, 1990. Ryan would go on to tack on another 24 victories to his name before retiring, the majors all time strikeout king with 5714.
It would be another 14 years before a 300 game winner would surface again, with whispers saying that it may be the last. That was Greg Maddux, pitching for the team that he had started his career with, the Chicago Cubs. against the San Francisco Giants on August 7th, 2004. Maddux would go on to finish his illustrious career with 355 wins, and is pretty much a sure fire Hall of Famer. Certainly, the 90s and into the new millenium has been more of the offensive era of major league baseball, which has put a damper on pitchers lasting longer into games, and procuring wins. Factor in positional switches, the advent of deeper pitching staffs with specialized relievers and the like, and it makes the challenge even more daunting.
So fast forward three years, when Tom Glavine, then with the New York Mets, tallied his 300th career win, over the Chicago Cubs in 2007. Glavine would suffer an elbow injury in 2008, sending him to his first major injury of his career and on an arduous rehabilitation to try and make his way back to the big leagues. At the time, it seemed that he very well may be the last 300 game winner for quite a while in the bigs. Most of the pitchers leading the group of active pitchers in wins were in the twilight of their careers, and some were coming off injury plagued campaigns.
Still, perserverance takes precedent sometimes, and such is the case with Randy Johnson. The Big Unit, who has won more games in his 40s than he did in his 20s, who has a perfect game and five Cy Youngs to his credit, over 4800 strikeouts, nine times the leader in strikeouts, three twenty victory seasons and a World Series MVP, overcame injury shortened 2003 and 2007 campaigns, not to mention a mediocre, by his standards, 2008, to position himself just five wins shy of that magical plateau.
Now Johnson may not have the heater he once had, and he may not be as wild as Rick Vaughn like he was early in his career, but he does have the ability to intimidate and pitch effectively. He does still have the height (6'10) and the mullet that would give Barry Melrose a run for his money, but he relies more on control and hitting spots than trying to throw it down the middle and daring people to hit it. The strikeout plus an inning days are long since passed. He signed a one year deal to pitch for the Giants, near his birthplace of Walnut Creek, and continued with his quest.
This week, he got his opportunity, in the nation's capital, against the team that he started his career with. Of course, back then, the Washington Nationals were the Montreal Expos. He only won three games in an Expos uniform, and was dealt to Seattle in 1989, in a deal that netted the Expos Mark Langston. Langston would make just 24 starts for Montreal, going 12-9 before leaving as a free agent at the end of the season, and landing with the Angels, a divisional rival of the Mariners. Meanwhile, Johnson would go on to win 130 games for the Mariners, including a one game playoff against the Angels and Langston in 1995 that would give the M's the AL West flag.
Johnson was slated to go Wednesday, against rookie pitcher Jordan Zimmerman of the Nationals, only to have that game rained out. The game was pushed back to the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, which was delayed by rain before it finally got underway. Johnson would throw six strong innings despite the rain soaked conditions, allowing two hits and an unearned run while leaving ahead 2-1. He walked a pair and struck out two while throwing just 78 pitches.
The game, and the elusive victory, nearly escaped Johnson, when in the eighth, the Nationals loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks, which prompted manager Bruce Bochy to summon closer Brian Wilson to douse the flames. It took what many termed a generous third strike call on Nationals slugger Adam Dunn on a full count, knee high fastball to close the door in the inning. The Giants would tally three runs in the ninth, on a two run double by Randy Winn, and a sacrifice fly by Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants some breathing room. Wilson fanned the side around an infield single, to give the Giants a 5-1 win, and Johnson his 300th career victory. Johnson became the sixth lefthander to win 300 games, the 24th pitcher all time, and the first pitcher since Tom Seaver to win his 300th game on his first attempt.
So while Johnson still has the better part of four months to add to his total, it brings us to the previous entrant to the prestigious club, Glavine. Glavine returned to the Braves for a one year deal in the offseason after contemplating retirement. As stated, he had elbow and shoulder issues that required surgery. He had made successful rehab starts for the Braves minor league affiliates, and was preparing to return to the rotation this weekend. His final tuneup was a six scoreless frame outing for Class A Rome on Tuesday, in front of a sold out crowd.
Instead of returning to the rotation, Glavine was blindsided Wednesday: he was cut loose by the franchise that he had been the face of for so long. A man who posted 244 career wins in 17 seasons for a franchise that was absolutely moribund when he came in, that had a run of 14 straight division titles begin under his watch, and part of a four aces rotation that included Maddux, John Smoltz and Steve Avery for a while in the mid 1990s, was bounced out unceremoniously. The management claims it has nothing to do with financial renumerations, as Glavine would have been owed a $1 million bonus for making the club, but instead that they felt that "the comeback would not be successful" and "they have a better chance to win with a younger pitcher."
Top prospect Tommy Hanson is expected to be called up to fill the rotation spot that Glavine would have had. Hanson will make his first start this weekend against Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and the free swinging, yet hard hitting, Milwaukee Brewers.
No matter what you may think of the Braves, love them or hate them, this was in poor taste. To put a Hall of Famer like Glavine out there like a dog and pony show, only to cut him loose, merely leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouths. Kudos to Johnson for reaching the milestone, but let the Glavine story be a reminder: you're only as good as your last outing. This may be the end of the 300 game winner as we know it. Let's savor the moment and the class that Tom Glavine exuded as a pitcher, and a man.
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