300 win club

Cy Young is the all-time leader in wins.

In Major League Baseball, the 300 win club refers to the group of pitchers—24 as of 2012—who have won 300 or more games. While the "300 club" is an informal group, becoming a member is among the highest accomplishments a starting pitcher can achieve. The first player to win 300 games was Pud Galvin in 1888. Six pitchers entered the club in the 19th century, with a seventh, Cy Young, joining in 1901. However, only Lefty Grove, Warren Spahn, and Early Wynn recorded their 300th win between 1924 and 1982. Then, between 1982 and 1990, the 300 win club gained six members — an increase of over 40%. However, only four pitchers have joined the 300 win club since 1990: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson. All eligible pitchers with 300 wins have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, although the election of Clemens, who becomes eligible in the next Hall elections in 2013, is seen as uncertain because of his alleged links to use of performance-enhancing drugs. Many observers expect the club to gain few, if any, members in the foreseeable future.

Early in the history of professional baseball, starting rotations of two men were commonplace, giving the best pitchers far more chances to earn wins than in today's game. Conversely, the rigor required for a two-man rotation meant that most pitching careers did not last more than a decade or so. In addition, the medical treatments then available were minimal; if a pitcher "blew out his arm", then his career was over. Four more pitchers joined the club in the first quarter of the 20th century. The dearth of 300 game winners between 1924 and 1982 may be explained by a number of factors: the offensive explosion following the abolition of the spitball in 1921; changes in the ball itself; fresh balls were more frequently put into play after the beaning death of Ray Chapman in 1920; World War II military service (in the cases of Bob Feller and Red Ruffing); the growing importance of the home run in the game, and the lowering of the pitching mound following the 1968 season. As the home run became commonplace, the physical and mental demands on pitchers dramatically increased, leading to the use of a four-man starting rotation.

The growth of the 300 win club between 1982 and 1990 may be partly explained as a consequence of the era of free agency that began in the mid-1970s. Free agency led to increasing player salaries, which encouraged older pitchers to stay in the game longer than they might have in the past. In the 1960s, pitching mounds were raised, and new stadiums, including Shea Stadium, Dodger Stadium and the Astrodome, gave the pitcher an advantage. Also, the increasing sophistication of training methods and sports medicine, such as Tommy John surgery, allowed players to maintain a high competitive level for a longer time. Phil Niekro, who was still under 200 wins at his 40th birthday, went on to win a record 121 games after he turned 40, finishing his career at the age of 48, with 318 wins. Randy Johnson won more games in his 40s than he did in his 20s. Many of the pitchers who reached 300 wins in this era, such as the aforementioned Niekro, Nolan Ryan, and Don Sutton, each had just a couple of 20+ win seasons and achieved the 300 mark by pitching well into their 40s.

Changes in the game in the last decade of the 20th century have made the 300-game winner an endangered species again, perhaps more so than during the mid 20th century. The four-man starting rotation has given way to a five-man rotation, which gives starting pitchers still fewer chances to pick up wins. Additionally, 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 possibility that a pitcher may not get a win because of circumstances beyond his control. Towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century, no pitchers winning 20 or more games in a season started to become common, with the 2006 season being the first time that no pitcher won 20 games in a non strike-shortened year. The same happened in 2009.

Key

Pitcher	Name of the pitcher
Wins	Career wins
Date	Date of the player's 300th win
Team	The pitcher's team for his 300th win
Seasons	The seasons this player played in the major leagues
	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Members

Kid Nichols was the youngest pitcher to win 300 games, achieving the feat at age 30

Randy Johnson is the most recent member of the 300 win club

Pitcher	Wins	Date	Team	Seasons	Ref
Young, CyCy Young	511	01901-07-03July 3, 1901	Boston Americans	1890–1911
Johnson, WalterWalter Johnson	417	01920-05-14May 14, 1920	Washington Senators	1907–1927
Alexander, Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland Alexander	373	01924-09-20September 20, 1924	Chicago Cubs	1911–1930
Mathewson, ChristyChristy Mathewson	373	01912-06-28June 28, 1912	New York Giants	1900–1916
Galvin, PudPud Galvin	364	01888-09-04September 4, 1888	Pittsburgh Alleghenys	1875–1892
Spahn, WarrenWarren Spahn	363	01961-08-11August 11, 1961	Milwaukee Braves	1942–1965
Nichols, KidKid Nichols	361	01900-09-07September 7, 1900	Boston Beaneaters	1890–1906
Maddux, GregGreg Maddux	355	02004-08-07August 7, 2004	Chicago Cubs	1986–2008
Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens	354	02003-06-13June 13, 2003	New York Yankees	1984–2007
Keefe, TimTim Keefe	342	01890-06-04June 4, 1890	New York Giants (PL)	1880-1893
Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton	329	01983-09-23September 23, 1983	Philadelphia Phillies	1965–1988
Clarkson, JohnJohn Clarkson	328	01892-09-21September 21, 1892	Cleveland Spiders	1882–1894
Plank, EddieEddie Plank	326	01915-09-11September 11, 1915	St. Louis Terriers	1901–1917
Ryan, NolanNolan Ryan	324	01990-07-31July 31, 1990	Texas Rangers	1966–1993
Sutton, DonDon Sutton	324	01986-06-18June 18, 1986	California Angels	1966–1988
Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro	318	01985-10-06October 6, 1985	New York Yankees	1964–1987
Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry	314	01982-05-06May 6, 1982	Seattle Mariners	1962–1983
Seaver, TomTom Seaver	311	01985-08-04August 4, 1985	Chicago White Sox	1967–1986
Radbourn, CharlesCharles Radbourn	309	01891-05-14May 14, 1891	Cincinnati Reds	1880–1891
Welch, MickeyMickey Welch	307	01890-08-11August 11, 1890	New York Giants	1880–1892
Glavine, TomTom Glavine	305	02007-08-05August 5, 2007	New York Mets	1987–2008
Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson	303	02009-06-04June 4, 2009	San Francisco Giants	1988–2009
Wynn, EarlyEarly Wynn	300	01963-07-13July 13, 1963	Cleveland Indians	1939–1963
Grove, LeftyLefty Grove	300	01941-07-25July 25, 1941	Boston Red Sox	1925–1941

See also

• Baseball statistics
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in games started
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• Top 100 Major League Baseball strikeout pitchers
• 3,000 strikeout club

References

General

• "Career Leaders & Records for Wins". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/W_career.shtml. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 
• "300 Wins Club". Baseball-Almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/pitching/pi300c.shtml. Retrieved August 6, 2010. 

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