Milestone Overdose? [J. Mark English]

Baseball fans who are annoyed, disturbed, and flat out angry at Bonds might hang their hats on the feats of Tom Glavine and Alex Rodriguez this past weekend.

Saturday night I went to a Dave Matthews Band concert up in Hartford, and wound up drinking with some close buddies at a bar in New Haven afterwards. The TV's were showing replays of A-Rod's 500th home run. After showing his HR from just about every angle, they squeezed in a replay of Bonds smacking HR number 755. It was almost as if ESPN considered Bonds an after thought compared to what A-Rod had done.

Then last night, a deflated friend and I viewed Tom Glavine win his 300th game. Barely any mention of Barry Bonds during the telecast.

How lucky are we to have these three stars align themselves for their milestones at the same time? Barry Bonds somehow, despite tying the most "hallowed" record in all of sports, had to share his spotlight.

There is a sweet irony in all of this. The majority of fans who loathe Barry Bonds for overdosing, can find some sense of justice in the overdose of milestones this past weekend.

Tom Glavine, Baseball's Last 300 Game Winner? [David Stefanini]

On Sunday, Tom Glavine became the 23rd player in Major League Baseball history to win 300 career games; and only the 5th lefty to do so. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just 2 runs, 6 hits, and a walk. Glavine not only pitched a magnificent game, but he also had a single which got the Mets started, scoring the first run of the ballgame.

Everything about Tom Glavine we know: he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, 300 game winner, Cy Young Award winner, 20-game winner, and has a World Series Ring. What we do not know is when or if we will ever see this magnificent milestone reached ever again.

Lets start out by looking down the list of who is close to this milestone. The closest man is Randy Johnson who has 284 career wins. He is out for the year with back surgery, and may never pitch again. He has to be considered unlikely to get to 300 wins. Next on the list is Mike Mussina, who is at win total 246. For the Moose to win 54 more games he has to start taking some serious steroids. Mussina has trouble winning games for the Yankees. He can not get to 300 wins. After him its David Wells and Jamie Moyer, who are at wins 235 and 225 respectively. Wells and Moyer are 44 years of age and do not have enough time to get to 300.

I can go on and on, but the most likely person, who has at least 200 career wins, to get to this milestone is Pedro Martinez. He is 38 years old and has 206 career wins. If he comes back healthy and the Pedro of old, he may be able to get around 20 wins for the next few seasons, putting him in contention for 300. Now I said Pedro is most likely to get to 300; but it is very unlikely that he will do so. So out of all the pitchers, 11, who have 200 career wins or higher right now non of them will likely get to this milestone.

Now we get into pitchers who have less than 200 wins. Andy Pettitte has 193, but he won't win another 107 games. The person, or people, who have the best chance of getting to 300 are C.C Sabathia and Johan Santana. Sabathia has 96 wins and Santana has 89 wins. Those two aren't even 30 years old yet and are already closing in on 100 wins. Sabathia is 26 years old while Santana is 28. If Santana gets traded, or signs, with a team that can score some runs, he will have the best chance to get to 300 wins.

So there it is folks. We are going to have to wait at least 10-15 years to see another 300 game winner. Lets enjoy this moment while it lasts.

Photos: Tom Glavine Wins #300 [David Stefanini]

**LIVE MILESTONE ALERTS** [David Stefanini]

9:47 - A-ROD WATCH: As the Yanks are killing the White Soxs 16-3, A-Rod can not even get a hit, nevermind a HR. He is 0-5 and is likely done for tonight.

9:41 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets grab a 2-1 lead, so Glavine is in line for his 300th career win.

9:24 - GLAVINE WATCH: No damage done in this inning for either team. The score remains in favor of the Brewers 1-0.

9:23 - A-ROD WATCH: A-Rod hit a lazy pop-up just out of the infield. He is 0-4 in the game and stuck on 499 career home runs.

9:22 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets can not get Glavine any help. They are losing 1-0.

9:14 - GLAVINE WATCH: Glavine got through the inning by giving up only 1 run. However, the whole story is more telling, it looks like he lost the strike zone. On a 3-0 pitch, a Brewer swung and popped the ball straight up on a pitch that was clearly ball 4. Glavine needs to find the strike zone soon. Brewers lead 1-0.

9:06 - GLAVINE WATCH: After a lead-off walk, then a base hit that was turned into a double by Moises Alou slipping in the outfield, the Brewers get the first run of the game on the board. The Brewers take the lead 1-0.

9:03 - GLAVINE WATCH: Nothing happening in the top of the 4th, score remains tied at 0.

8:49 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Brewers finally got a runner on base. However he stayed at first, and no damage was done. Glavine hasn't allowed a hit through 3 innings. The score remains 0-0.

8:43 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets went down in order again, leaving the score tied at 0 going into the bottom of the 3rd inning.

8:40 - A-ROD WATCH: He came so close to hitting it again. Instead Dye makes an amazing catch running into the wall and A-Rod is 0-3 in the game.

8:37 - GLAVINE WATCH: Glavine sits the Brewers down in order again. He is perfect through 2 innings. The score is 0-0.

8:29 - GLAVINE WATCH: The Mets go down 1-2-3 in their half of the 2nd inning. The score remains 0-0.

8:21 - GLAVINE WATCH: Tom Glavine pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. The score is tied 0-0.

8:14 - A-ROD WATCH: A-Rod just hit a ball about 400 ft, but unfortunately to the wrong part of the ballpark. It was a fly out leaving him 0-2 for the game.

Tri-fecta Anyone? [David Stefanini]

Something very rare can happen today. So rare, there has never been a day like this in baseball history.

Tom Glavine can become the 23rd player to get to 300 career wins. It is very possible this may be the last time we see this milestone achieved in the near future. The next closest person to 300 wins is Randy Johnson with 284 wins. But we do not know if he will ever pitch again. After that we have to go down the list to Mike Mussina who will not get to 300. The only pitcher I see that has a chance of getting to 300 is Johan Santana.

Now onto the long ball where Alex Rodriquez can become the 22nd player to reach 500 career home runs. Unlike Glavine this milestone will likely be reached again. It is possible that this milestone will be reached two more times before this season is over. Still A-Rod will be the youngest player to ever reach 500 home runs. A-Rod is 32 years and 4 days old today. That will be 332 days younger than Jimmie Foxx was when Foxx hit his 500th.

Finally the biggest and most impressive milestone of the three, Barry Bonds could tie the all-time home run record. Tonight, if he plays, Bonds will be swinging for career homer #755. No matter what your personal opinion of Bonds is does not matter today. The only thing that matters is the number 755. When he breaks the record there will be no mark in the record books, and his name will not be penciled in to be erased in later years. He will be the home run champion, at least until A-Rod breaks it in several years.

Photo: Tom Glavine at Win 299 [J. Mark English]

Old Men River [J. Mark English]

New York City was just hit with a blitz of rain showers, that caused rivers in the local areas to overflow. Which reminds me of the song "Old Man River" from the Broadway show, Showboat.

The song was flowing through my head, and then it hit me that its very appropriate that rivers should be over filled tonight. After all there are a lucky seven old men taking the mound tonight in Major League Baseball.

From ESPN:

It was expected to be old-timers' day in the major leagues on Wednesday, when a record seven pitchers in their 40s were scheduled to start. Until Mother Nature interfered.

The New York Yankees' Roger Clemens (44), Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer (44), San Diego's Greg Maddux (41), the New York Mets' Tom Glavine (41), Houston's Woody Williams (40) and Atlanta's John Smoltz (40) are set to pitch on the same day.

Kenny Rogers (42) was scheduled to start for Detroit, but the Tigers' home game against the Texas Rangers was postponed because of rain.

The record of six was set last Friday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, when all but Clemens started.

Comment -

Its possible that 40 maybe isn't as old for player as it once was. Either it be better training, conditioning, or possibly the help of legal (& illegal) drugs, players are playing until much older into their retired years.