Is 300 Wins Truly an Impossible Feat?

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Why is it that 300 wins for a pitcher is a seemly impossible feat to achieve? Could it be that the style of pitching has changed? Is that pitchers just are not pitching as long as they used to?

I don't know.

Pitchers starting in little league are taught it is easier to fool the hitter than it is to blow it by them. Not only that, pitchers are taught it is okay if they only go 5-for-6.

Come to think of it, pitching style has indeed changed.

But it's not just pitching style that has changed. The physical and mental toll has also increased, which we thank and attribute to the explosion of offense in the 1990's. Not to mention the four-man rotation has given way to the five-man rotation, so pitchers are getting less opportunities for wins.

As a result of said explosion of offense, managers are much quicker to put in relief pitchers than in the past, particularly after the starting pitcher has thrown more than 100 pitches, even when the starting pitcher is winning the game. This increases the likelihood that a pitcher not get a win because of circumstances beyond his control.

Former New York Yankees pitcher and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre is quoted on Baseball Alamanc's 300 Win Club page, "Pitching has become tougher and more demanding and it's harder to throw consistently for as long a period as it would take to win 300 games. It would take a tremendous amount of dedication to do that."

There are currently 23 pitchers with 300 or 300-plus wins. Only one of those pitchers are active. They are listed below. The pitchers highlighted in bold are currently active.

Cy Young, 511

Walter Johnson, 417

Grover Alexander, 373

Christy Mathewson, 373

Warren Spahn, 363

Pud Gavin, 361

Kid Nichols, 361

Greg Maddux, 355

Roger Clemens, 354

Tim Keefe, 342

Steve Carlton, 329

John Clarkson, 328

Eddie Plank, 326

Nolan Ryan, 324

Don Sutton, 324

Phil Niekro, 318

Gaylord Perry, 314

Tom Seaver, 311

Old Hoss Radbourn, 309

Mickey Welch, 307

Tom Glavine, 303

Lefty Grove, 300

Early Wynn, 300

There are a number of pitchers that are close to 300 wins, listed below:

Randy Johnson (age 46), 298

Mike Mussina** (age 41), 270

Jamie Moyer (age 47), 249

Andy Pettitte (age 37), 219

Pedro Martinez* (age 38), 214

John Smoltz (age 42), 210

*free agent; **free agent/retired

There are number of "young" pitchers approaching milestone win numbers. Listed below are a few along with their age.

Johan Santana (age 30), 115

Mark Buerhle (age 30), 122

Rpy Oswalt (age 31), 129

Roy "Doc" Halladay (age 32), 139

C.C. Sabathia (age 28), 119

But the majority of pitchers in the Hall of Fame have not even won 300 games. In fact, the majority of pitchers in Hall of Fame have won less than 300. Listed below are a few pitchers in the Hall without 300 wins.

Bob Gibson, 251

Robin Roberts, 286

Jim Palmer, 268

Bob Feller, 268

Three-Finger Brown, 231

Jim Bunning, 224

Catfish Hunter, 224

Lefty Gomez, 189

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