Congratulations Randy Johnson on 300 wins!

Drop The Leash 10

He's the last guy that will ever accomplish it. Congratulations. one of the most respectable men in the game.

FearTheBeard

Oh nice!!! Let start the debate about the toughest records to hit in baseball. Im going with the 300 wins even though 20 something have done it.

jimed14

semantics, but ... 300 wins isn't a "record", it's a landmark ...

I think 300 wins could be done again, but, it'll be a long time and it'll take someone really special.

As for the record, no, no one will ever touch Cy Young's 511 wins. (or 316 losses! or 749 complete games!!!)

aNiMaL

A HUGE congratulations to The Big Unit, Randy Johnson on your career 300th win!!! Just spectacular!! We, in Seattle, always knew you could do it. We always knew the years you were here we were witnessing greatness. The standing ovation we gave you the other day on your Seattle home coming was all heart. We'll always love and respect you in Seattle, Randy. You are the MAN!!!!

I bet you are a first ballot Hall of Famer, just like Junior. Will it be in an M's jersey though? I am not so sure, as much as I would love to see it that way.

Wobbie

BIG UNIT!!!!! hehehe

Kinda weird for me....I never liked the guy, mostly because he played on that Diamondbacks team who bought a Championship. But now, he's playing for "my" team so I gotta like him. Kind of a Dusty Baker/Candy Maldonando situation. That said, seeing him do it in the orange and black was nice (it's not like we have a lot else to be proud of).

As far as no one else doing it....I would tend to agree, but the Unit (hehe) got something like 220 wins AFTER he turned 30. So never say never.

Congrats, Unit!!!!! You'll always have one of the better nicknames in sports.

pjtradeking

jimed14 wrote:

semantics, but ... 300 wins isn't a "record", it's a landmark ...

I think 300 wins could be done again, but, it'll be a long time and it'll take someone really special.

As for the record, no, no one will ever touch Cy Young's 511 wins. (or 316 losses! or 749 complete games!!!)

I dont think there is a chance for anyone to do it ever again. Guys just dont pitch that long anymore. Too many injuries and other variables to boot. Anyway, just my opinion, but I think he will be the LAST!

tvismyfriend

jimed14 wrote:

semantics, but ... 300 wins isn't a "record", it's a landmark ...

I think 300 wins could be done again, but, it'll be a long time and it'll take someone really special.

As for the record, no, no one will ever touch Cy Young's 511 wins. (or 316 losses! or 749 complete games!!!)

What about Halladay? He's only 32 and if he can have a 19 win season this year, his career win total will be up to 150. He might have trouble doing it if he spends the rest of his career in Toronto, but if he ends up with a team that gives him good run support, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it.

Wobbie

tvismyfriend wrote:

What about Halladay? He's only 32 and if he can have a 19 win season this year, his career win total will be up to 150. He might have trouble doing it if he spends the rest of his career in Toronto, but if he ends up with a team that gives him good run support, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it.

yeah, all he's gotta do is average about 20 wins per year and pitch til he's 40. Piece of cake! :shock:

pjtradeking

tvismyfriend wrote:

jimed14 wrote:

semantics, but ... 300 wins isn't a "record", it's a landmark ...

I think 300 wins could be done again, but, it'll be a long time and it'll take someone really special.

As for the record, no, no one will ever touch Cy Young's 511 wins. (or 316 losses! or 749 complete games!!!)

What about Halladay? He's only 32 and if he can have a 19 win season this year, his career win total will be up to 150. He might have trouble doing it if he spends the rest of his career in Toronto, but if he ends up with a team that gives him good run support, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it.

My concern with him would be that he is throwing too many complete games and too many pitches and going too deep into games. He threw 133 pitches the other night in a game that he had a 6-0 lead in going to the 7th. I understand that they are trying to win, but after laboring in the 7th and giving up 4 runs, he should have been pulled with a 2 run lead.. imho. That will be his downfall I think. He would also have to average 15 wins a year for the next 10 and be 42. I mean dont get me wrong, he can do, but I dont see it happening in todays game..:-)

DewieCox

Mike and Mike talked about this the other day. I think the 3 that have a good chance, by the numbers alone are Sabbathia, Santana and Halladay. After they factored in all the playing conditions they settled on Sabbathia as the odds on favorite. I'd say it's very possible. What pitchers lose in physical ability they make up for in savvy. Sabbathia's about as close to a lock as you're gonna get in this day an age though.

I'd say there will always be a few great throwback pitchers workin their way to 300.

South of Seattle

The Big Unit!

Congrats!

Solat13

pjtradeking wrote:

jimed14 wrote:

semantics, but ... 300 wins isn't a "record", it's a landmark ...

I think 300 wins could be done again, but, it'll be a long time and it'll take someone really special.

As for the record, no, no one will ever touch Cy Young's 511 wins. (or 316 losses! or 749 complete games!!!)

I dont think there is a chance for anyone to do it ever again. Guys just dont pitch that long anymore. Too many injuries and other variables to boot. Anyway, just my opinion, but I think he will be the LAST!

You can never say never. I mean obviously, he's very far off, but most pitchers are still in the minors or just getting their feet wet at 23 and Felix Hernandez already has 44 wins. He should have about 55 by the end of the year before his 24th bday.

55 might not seem like alot, but currently, only 100 active pitchers in baseball have 55 career wins.

rival.

respectable? the guy was the biggest douche bag during his stay in NY.


anywho, congrats on the milestone.

intodeep

singularity wrote:

respectable? the guy was the biggest douche bag during his stay in NY.


anywho, congrats on the milestone.

My thoughts exactly, but he had that image elsewhere too besides just when he was in NY.

I will give him credit though he started his career poorly and kept making adjustments until he became DOMINANT. only the 6th left hander in history to win 300.

Plus i read this great thing about him and a lot of the bands from seattle over at red mosquito:

Eddie Vedder was in Seattle recently for one of your starts, as were others from Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. How did you get to know those guys?


Randy Johnson: My first year here was 1989, so that was the beginning of the grunge movement, as it was labeled, with all the underground bands making their mark on Seattle. Whether it was Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Tad Doyle in the band TAD, Mudhoney -- a lot of those bands really put Seattle on the map, along with Microsoft and Starbucks. A lot of those musicians are really into sports, and I'm really into music, so it was a great mix. I was starting off at a great time in Seattle when these bands were starting off. I was going to see them play their shows, and they came to some baseball games and it meshed. We met, and I got to know some of the guys. I've known those guys for 20-some years now. We still stay in touch; in fact, as you said, they were at the game last night and I'm hooking up with them after the game tonight to go see a show. I feel very fortunate to not only have played the game at the right time here in Seattle but also to have met a lot of very interesting people here that I can call friends. It was a great time in Seattle. Along with all the great stuff happening on the field there was a lot of things off the field that were just as interesting. I'm very fortunate to have been part of that.

Did you see them at the Crocodile and places like that?

I saw them at the Off Ramp and the Paramount and little places like that. I was just there when they were playing small little clubs and was there with Soundgarden when they were playing Days on the Green with Metallica and big bands like that. We have stuff in common. They travel the world, but there are similar parallels. You travel and you have a fan base and it's pretty cool.

xavier mcdaniel

singularity wrote:

respectable? the guy was the biggest douche bag during his stay in NY.


anywho, congrats on the milestone.

carl pavano was worse. at least johnson sucked it up and pitched while hurt. The Yankees were about seven years too late in getting him. He could have been had in 1998 if the Mariners wanted Hideki Irabu instead of Ramiro Mendoza.

mca47

I honestly find it hard to think anyone will hit 300 again.

Baseball is a lot different than it used to be. From the coaching, training, and how the pitcher plays the game these days make me believe that 200 may be a large milestone for pitchers.

Why was Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson able to win 300? It's quite simple, they were smart pitchers and they grew up in a time that allowed for long starts/(wins).
Maddux was a genius on the mound. He knew how to get guys out without having to throw many pitches to them...which allowed for him to pitch late into games. He'd nip the corners all game and even if a guy swung at it they'd drive it right into the ground for a quick and easy out. He had a perfect pitching style that allowed for an injury-free career. When he was with the Braves in the 90s, he threw a ton of complete games and often only throw 85-90 pitches to do so. THAT is crazy talented!

Johnson a much different pitcher than Maddux realized some years ago that he couldn't continue to throw the ball 100mph if he wanted to still have a career in MLB. Now, he barely touches 92 and views the game entirely different than he did when he was blowing guys away with the heat.

The pitching aspect of the game has also become waaaay too specialized. Rarely do starters get into the 5th inning and if they do many times the righty-lefty match-ups cause for him to be pulled.
Now you have starters, long relievers, middle relievers, set-up guys, left handed specialists, and closers. It's become more of a managerial chess match than a pitcher's duel.
Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing pitchers out there but I really don't think anyone (in this day) can get 300.

pjsteelerfan

Its a good thing it happened in DC, there were about 100 people at the game.

xavier mcdaniel

pjsteelerfan wrote:

Its a good thing it happened in DC, there were about 100 people at the game.

were you one of them?

pjsteelerfan

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

pjsteelerfan wrote:

Its a good thing it happened in DC, there were about 100 people at the game.

were you one of them?

I would only be at a Nats game if I was paid to go. It is a nice stadium, but an awful team.

xavier mcdaniel

pjsteelerfan wrote:

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

pjsteelerfan wrote:

Its a good thing it happened in DC, there were about 100 people at the game.

were you one of them?

I would only be at a Nats game if I was paid to go. It is a nice stadium, but an awful team.

True, but 300 is 300. I'd have gone.

aNiMaL

intodeep wrote:

My thoughts exactly, but he had that image elsewhere too besides just when he was in NY.

I will give him credit though he started his career poorly and kept making adjustments until he became DOMINANT. only the 6th left hander in history to win 300.

Plus i read this great thing about him and a lot of the bands from seattle over at red mosquito:

Eddie Vedder was in Seattle recently for one of your starts, as were others from Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. How did you get to know those guys?


Randy Johnson: My first year here was 1989, so that was the beginning of the grunge movement, as it was labeled, with all the underground bands making their mark on Seattle. Whether it was Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Tad Doyle in the band TAD, Mudhoney -- a lot of those bands really put Seattle on the map, along with Microsoft and Starbucks. A lot of those musicians are really into sports, and I'm really into music, so it was a great mix. I was starting off at a great time in Seattle when these bands were starting off. I was going to see them play their shows, and they came to some baseball games and it meshed. We met, and I got to know some of the guys. I've known those guys for 20-some years now. We still stay in touch; in fact, as you said, they were at the game last night and I'm hooking up with them after the game tonight to go see a show. I feel very fortunate to not only have played the game at the right time here in Seattle but also to have met a lot of very interesting people here that I can call friends. It was a great time in Seattle. Along with all the great stuff happening on the field there was a lot of things off the field that were just as interesting. I'm very fortunate to have been part of that.

Did you see them at the Crocodile and places like that?

I saw them at the Off Ramp and the Paramount and little places like that. I was just there when they were playing small little clubs and was there with Soundgarden when they were playing Days on the Green with Metallica and big bands like that. We have stuff in common. They travel the world, but there are similar parallels. You travel and you have a fan base and it's pretty cool.

That's awesome! Thanks for posting it.

tvismyfriend

mca47 wrote:

I honestly find it hard to think anyone will hit 300 again.

Baseball is a lot different than it used to be. From the coaching, training, and how the pitcher plays the game these days make me believe that 200 may be a large milestone for pitchers.

Why was Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson able to win 300? It's quite simple, they were smart pitchers and they grew up in a time that allowed for long starts/(wins).
Maddux was a genius on the mound. He knew how to get guys out without having to throw many pitches to them...which allowed for him to pitch late into games. He'd nip the corners all game and even if a guy swung at it they'd drive it right into the ground for a quick and easy out. He had a perfect pitching style that allowed for an injury-free career. When he was with the Braves in the 90s, he threw a ton of complete games and often only throw 85-90 pitches to do so. THAT is crazy talented!

Johnson a much different pitcher than Maddux realized some years ago that he couldn't continue to throw the ball 100mph if he wanted to still have a career in MLB. Now, he barely touches 92 and views the game entirely different than he did when he was blowing guys away with the heat.

The pitching aspect of the game has also become waaaay too specialized. Rarely do starters get into the 5th inning and if they do many times the righty-lefty match-ups cause for him to be pulled.
Now you have starters, long relievers, middle relievers, set-up guys, left handed specialists, and closers. It's become more of a managerial chess match than a pitcher's duel.
Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing pitchers out there but I really don't think anyone (in this day) can get 300.

I think you need to reword that starters rarely make it into the fifth inning remark, unless you want to come off as someone that doesn't know it requires at least five innings pitched for a starter to be in line for a victory.

mca47

tvismyfriend wrote:

I think you need to reword that starters rarely make it into the fifth inning remark, unless you want to come off as someone that doesn't know it requires at least five innings pitched for a starter to be in line for a victory.

No, that's exactly my point. 10-15 years ago a starter would go to and past the 5th inning I would guess 90% of the time. I would imagine that number now is probably around 50%.
That is what I described in my post. Starters these days will have a tough time getting to 300 (or 200) because they don't pitch enough innings to be eligible for a win.
This is really in part to what I mentioned...
-Specialized pitching
-Pitching style
-Managerial chess matches
-Not wanting to over-extend your $20 million dollar starter
-Etc.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

steroids.................

Solat13

mca47 wrote:

tvismyfriend wrote:

I think you need to reword that starters rarely make it into the fifth inning remark, unless you want to come off as someone that doesn't know it requires at least five innings pitched for a starter to be in line for a victory.

No, that's exactly my point. 10-15 years ago a starter would go to and past the 5th inning I would guess 90% of the time. I would imagine that number now is probably around 50%.

That's not even close to being true. If your starters are not getting through at least 5 you have terrible pitchers. Pitchers can't get through the 6th or 7th nowadays, but unless you're pitching terrible no manager will pull you before you finish the 5th.

tvismyfriend

mca47 wrote:

tvismyfriend wrote:

I think you need to reword that starters rarely make it into the fifth inning remark, unless you want to come off as someone that doesn't know it requires at least five innings pitched for a starter to be in line for a victory.

No, that's exactly my point. 10-15 years ago a starter would go to and past the 5th inning I would guess 90% of the time. I would imagine that number now is probably around 50%.
That is what I described in my post. Starters these days will have a tough time getting to 300 (or 200) because they don't pitch enough innings to be eligible for a win.
This is really in part to what I mentioned...
-Specialized pitching
-Pitching style
-Managerial chess matches
-Not wanting to over-extend your $20 million dollar starter
-Etc.

Rarely means almost never though and a bunch of pitchers pitch into the 5th inning. I'll use your cubs as and example.
In Ryan Dempster's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 9 times.
In Ted Lilly's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 10 times.
In Calos Zambrano's last 9 games he's pitched 5+ innings 8 times.
In Randy Wells 5 games this season he's pitched 5+ innings 5 times.

I don't disagree with you about the specialized pitching and all that, but as long as a starter is pitching well, he's going to pitch 5 innings so he can hopefully be in line for the win. Besides from what I've seen managers leave starters in the game until they get around the 100 pitch mark. If the bullpen was pitching 4 or more innings in a game they would be exhausted.

mca47

tvismyfriend wrote:

Rarely means almost never though and a bunch of pitchers pitch into the 5th inning. I'll use your cubs as and example.
In Ryan Dempster's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 9 times.
In Ted Lilly's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 10 times.
In Calos Zambrano's last 9 games he's pitched 5+ innings 8 times.
In Randy Wells 5 games this season he's pitched 5+ innings 5 times.

I don't disagree with you about the specialized pitching and all that, but as long as a starter is pitching well, he's going to pitch 5 innings so he can hopefully be in line for the win. Besides from what I've seen managers leave starters in the game until they get around the 100 pitch mark. If the bullpen was pitching 4 or more innings in a game they would be exhausted.

The Cubs starters go long mostly because their pen sucks ass. LOL!
Do you think someone could reach the 300 mark again?

I just don't see it happening.
Also, for a guy to even get close to 300 he'd have to have a very long career, free of injury, and be on successful team(s)...because unless your team is scoring runs for you, you're not going to be racking up many W's.
For as great as he was, had Maddux not gone to the Braves and pitched his entire career in Chicago, he'd be nowhere near 300.
There are just far too many factors involved, and it seems that the current state of baseball is only making it harder, if not impossible to reach 300.

Solat13

mca47 wrote:

tvismyfriend wrote:

Rarely means almost never though and a bunch of pitchers pitch into the 5th inning. I'll use your cubs as and example.
In Ryan Dempster's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 9 times.
In Ted Lilly's last 10 games he's pitched 5+ innings 10 times.
In Calos Zambrano's last 9 games he's pitched 5+ innings 8 times.
In Randy Wells 5 games this season he's pitched 5+ innings 5 times.

I don't disagree with you about the specialized pitching and all that, but as long as a starter is pitching well, he's going to pitch 5 innings so he can hopefully be in line for the win. Besides from what I've seen managers leave starters in the game until they get around the 100 pitch mark. If the bullpen was pitching 4 or more innings in a game they would be exhausted.

The Cubs starters go long mostly because their pen sucks ass. LOL!
Do you think someone could reach the 300 mark again?

I just don't see it happening.
Also, for a guy to even get close to 300 he'd have to have a very long career, free of injury, and be on successful team(s)...because unless your team is scoring runs for you, you're not going to be racking up many W's.

Well, how about the Red Sox - going into tonight their starters are ranked 26th with a 5.08 ERA and the number 1 bullpen in baseball 2.77 ERA.

Lester 5+ in 11/12 starts - the one start he didn't he gave up 8 runs
Beckett 5+ in 10/11 - gave up 7 runs in the other
Wakefield 5+ in 9/11 - 7 runs and 6 runs
Penny 5+ in 9/11 - 8 runs and 7 runs
Masterson 5+ in 6/6
Dice K - 5+ in 4/5 - get hurt in other game

The reason the Sox bullpen is so good is because their starters go deep.

And I totally believe someone will get 300 - it might take like 10 or 15 years or so, but it will happen.

It took almost 13 years from Nolan's 300th win on 7/31/90 till Clemens joined the club 6/13/03.

And at the time Nolan won 300:

Clemens was 28 and 109-50
Maddux was 24 and 52-47
Glavine was 24 and 29-35
Randy Johnson was 24 and 19-20

None of them looked like they would win 300 at the time. Clemens was thought of to have a shot but was oft injured and when Ryan threw his 300th everyone thought Gooden was a lock at 111-44 and only 25, but we saw what happened to Gooden.

I'm sure there were articles after Nolan won his 300th game that no pitcher would win 300 again because Nolan spent the better part of his career in a four man rotation.

milarso

ucsbflipflop wrote:

Oh nice!!! Let start the debate about the toughest records to hit in baseball. Im going with the 300 wins even though 20 something have done it.

56 consecutive games with a base hit-- I don't think we'll ever see it.

I like Johnson's presser after the game where he was like "Yeah it's been a good milestone to reach, now i just need like 200 more wins to catch Cy Young...."

DewieCox

People are still gonna get 300, I just don't think the timeline of dominant pitchers matches up right now for it to happen for awhile. Pitchers still go 7^ innings. I think holds by middle relief pitchers are gonna offset alotta starters gettin chased off and finally gettin pulled when they get into more trouble.

davidtrios

he was my favorite pitcher growing up..consistently throwing 100mph with that sick 'mr snappy' slider.
best left-hander ever