300

And, while we're on the subject of players perched on the precipice of historical milestones, Tom Glavine has been beached on 299 wins for a while now. And while 300 wins is not as impressive as 755 home runs, because there's been a lot of 300 game winners, it does tend to be the magic number that puts a pitcher into the Hall of Fame. So, Glavine's legacy might be riding on that one win. And while no record is ever safe (A-Rod's on pace to hit about 800 home runs), Glavine winning 300 will be quite an accomplishment, as I believe he's going to be the last one to do it for, oh, quite some time.

Next on deck for 300 is Randy Johnson, at 284. But, with a back surgery and his 44th birthday quickly approaching, he may not get another 16 starts, much less another 16 wins. Behind him is Mike Mussina, who most definitely won't win 55 more games after he's 40. Pedro Martinez, with 206, and Andy Pettite, with 193, are the next best bets, but, at their current paces, they'll both have to play well into their 40s to get there. So, it might be a while.

Mathematically speaking, 300 wins is not impossible to reach. Fifteen wins for 20 years is 300 wins. Unfortunately, it's much harder to do in real life. Greg Maddux won at least 15 games 17 straight years, but he's also one of the best pitchers ever. No easy feat for the average man.

Basically, what it comes down to is that pitchers just aren't as good or consistent as they used to be. None of the pitchers in the top 10 in wins at the start of the decade are in top 10 right now. And, with the advent of the five-man rotation, they don't get as many starts. Fewer starts means fewer wins. I think most current players would be lucky to win as many games as Nolan Ryan lost (which was pretty goddamn close to 300, so, I guess that would be pretty impressive). But, that's if they're lucky. And good.

Good luck, Tom; hope you get 300 and cement your place in the Hall.

(Oh, btw, you may have noticed this post has nothing to do with the movie 300, which is new to DVD and hi-def this week, so feel free to check it out.)