Filling the Time Capsule

Soak it in baseball fans. Randy Johnson just became the 24th pitcher to win 300 games. In an era in which offense, namely home runs, dominates the focus of the public, it might be a long time before we see another pitcher reach the milestone. While I am not ready to say it will never happen again (Steven Strausberg anyone?), it is safe to say that this writer will be approaching middle age the next time it happens. 

The obvious obstacle for a pitcher today is the decreased amount of starts compared to the rubber arms of Cy Young and Tom Seaver. Consider that the number of 20 game winners in a given year now is rarely more than one or two pitchers, it will take extreme longevity to reach 300 wins.  Pitchers rarely get more than 30-35 starts, which makes 20 wins achievable but unlikely. In 1969, 15 different pitchers won 20 games. In 2006, not a single pitcher won 20 games. If that doesn't paint the picture,  consider Cy Young won 511 games. A pitcher could win 20 games every year for 25 years and still be 11 wins short of that! 

Next, lets see who has a chance to reach the milestone sooner rather than later. Randy Johnson just reached the 300 plateau at the age of 45. The active pitcher with the most wins under 300 is Jamie Moyer who has 250 wins. Jamie is also 46 years old. I do not expect to read a headline in 2015 stating, "Ageless wonder, Moyer, wins 300 at age 52!" Despite my love for crafty left-handed pitchers (the anti-Matt Thortons), I will just assume Mr. Moyer will be broadcasting by then. Andy Pettite has 219 wins, he's 37. John Smoltz has 210 wins, he's 42. You get the idea. If anyone is going to win 300 games, he is going to be over 40 years old and pitching to players half his age. 

So what does this all mean? It means that we all have to sit back and wait to see if Roy Halladay (32 yrs, 140 wins), Roy Oswalt (31 yrs, 130 wins), or maybe even Big Z (28 yrs, 100 wins) can bring us another great pitching milestone. Or maybe Big Z will hit 500 home runs first. Who knows? What I do know is that baseball purists, like myself, who enjoy a 2-1 game a hundred times more than slugfests with scores like 14-13, need to appreciate what Randy just accomplished, because we will be stuck with offensive records for a while.