300 game winner club

However, only three pitchers scored their th win between and ; for two of them Early Wynn and Lefty Grove , it was the final win of their career and they both struggled in their last season to achieve it.

This dearth of game winners may be explained by the offensive explosion due to the abolition of the spitball in , later changes in the baseball, World War II military service in the cases of Bob Feller and Red Ruffing , and the advent of the home run as a major part of the game, thanks mainly to Babe Ruth. Once the home run became commonplace, physical and mental demands on pitchers dramatically increased, leading to the creation of the four-man starting rotation.

Between and , the win club gained six more members. This may be partly explained as a consequence of the era of free agency that began in the mid- s. Free agency led to unheard-of player salaries, which encouraged many older pitchers to stay in the game longer than they might have in the past.

Another part of the explanation is increasing sophistication of training methods and sports medicine, which allowed players to maintain a high competitive level for a longer time. Additionally, reduced pitch counts and less of a demand for complete games led to pitchers' arms lasting longer and fewer hurlers burning out at a young age. A very good example of this is Phil Niekro , who was still under wins at his 40th birthday, yet finished his career in his late 40s with wins.

Niekro's success also can be explained by his throwing a knuckleball , a pitch that takes far less of a toll on a pitcher's arm. Others continued to follow suit into the early 21st Century , such as Tom Glavine , Roger Clemens , Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson , proving that better pitcher management systems and reduced arm strain were more than compensating for the change to a five-man rotation. Mike Mussina came only 30 wins away from the mark and could have won with a few more good years, but he decided to hang up his spikes at the age of 40 after a win season.

Jamie Moyer also ran out steam in his 40s. Andy Pettitte recorded his th win in , but he had lost a year to retirement, and then decided to announce his retirement for good effective at the end of well shy of the mark. Roy Halladay was also in the top five active pitchers for wins, but he too announced his retirement after the season. The most serious possibility to be next seemed like New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia who recorded win number in while still only 32 and was pitching just below his prime level, but he struggled with health issues in and was largely ineffective the following two seasons, slowing his progression significantly.

During that time, he was passed by Bartolo Colon , who recorded his th win in and had some good seasons after that but was already well into his 40s. Several pitchers could eventually join the club, such as Clayton Kershaw , who is the youngest pitcher among those with career wins, or Justin Verlander who reached wins during his age 31 season in and wins in his age 35 season, however late-career injury issues hampered his progress.

Zack Greinke eclipsed wins in , his age 35 campaign, so should he pitch into his 40s, wins is not out of the question. No young pitchers are on pace for the mark, as zero pitchers under 30 have even 75 wins.

Pitchers who post high win totals in their 20s are not usually those who end up in the club; the key to achieving the mark is longevity after the age of 30, and particularly continued success in the second half of that decade and beyond. For example, Roy Oswalt posted back-to-back win seasons in , becoming only the third pitcher in the new millennium to do so, but his career stalled after he crossed the win threshold. Verlander, himself, faltered in his early 30s and his chances diminished greatly.

Other potential candidates included Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana , whose career was derailed by injuries. At present, among established starters, Kershaw might lead the pack in the hunt for Bill James ' Favorite Toy , a statistical projection tool, shows little confidence in anyone eventually reaching the mark, giving all relevant active pitchers a zero percent chance of getting there in fact, most pitchers are not even on pace for career wins.

But reaching wins always requires beating the odds. Through age 30, for example, Tom Glavine 's chances were only 6 percent. Steve Carlton. John Clarkson. Eddie Plank. Nolan Ryan. Don Sutton. Phil Niekro.

Gaylord Perry. Tom Seaver. Old Hoss Radbourn. Mickey Welch. Tom Glavine. Randy Johnson. Lefty Grove. A very good example of this is Phil Niekro , who was still under wins at his 40th birthday, yet finished his career in his late 40s with wins.

However, other changes in the game in the last part of the 20th century have made the game winner an endangered species again, perhaps more so than it was during the midth century. The four-man starting rotation has given way to a five-man rotation, which gives starting pitchers still fewer chances to pick up wins. The physical and mental demands on starting pitchers have also increased yet again, thanks to the explosion in offense that has taken place since the s.

As a result, managers are much quicker to put in relief pitchers than in the past, even when the starting pitcher is winning the game, increasing the likelihood that a pitcher loses a chance at a win in ways that are beyond his control.

To put it in perspective, the season was the first time in a non-strike-shortened season that neither league had a game winner [1]. As of June , the two active pitchers who appear to have the best chance of finishing their career at or over wins are Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson. Glavine currently has wins and should achieve the mark before the end of the season. Johnson has wins; he turned 43 near the end of the season, but could still reach if he successfully pitches past his mids as Phil Niekro and Nolan Ryan did.

Johnson has not pitched effectively in and , compared to his past standards due to reoccurring back injuries that have plagued him, requiring two surgeries to fix herniated disks. If he manages to stay healthy, he could achieve the mark at the end in the season. Another pitcher with a chance at the mark is Mike Mussina , at 37 years old, who has wins.

Pedro Martinez has wins and was expected to have a chance at reaching , but injuries have greatly reduced his chances of doing so. Curt Schilling has surpassed wins and turned 40 in November , but recent injury problems will likely halt his career well shy of the total. However, their ages all are in their 40s coupled with their relatively low win totals as of July 17, , Wells has , Moyer has , Rogers , and Smoltz make it unlikely they will reach wins.

In fact, if the current philosophy of micro-management of pitch counts and frequent use of relief pitching continues or accelerates, it is likely that even achieving career wins will become less common, perhaps occurring as often as win careers did during the s.

Several young pitchers under the age of 30 could eventually join the club, such as Dontrelle Willis , who is the winningest pitcher at the age of Roy Oswalt was the only NL pitcher to win 20 games in , and posted back-to-back win seasons in , becoming only the third pitcher in the new millennium to do so. Cleveland Indians' ace C.