With the beginning of the Major League Baseball season now officially less than 10 days away, I think it is time to start seriously thinking about baseball. Sure, there is time for a preview still left, but before we know where we are going, we need to know where we came from, right? Baseball, more than any of our other major sports, is a game defined by numbers. Wins, strikeouts, home runs, batting average; there are plenty of ways to determine how great players are and were, and the most common way to do so is by using numbers such as these. We know what numbers constitute greatness, and we can connect plenty of famous names to plenty of famous numbers. However, we also overlook a whole lot of things when we look at baseball's past.
As I said, we need to know where we came from before we know where we are going, and in this piece, I am going to look back at some of the most neglected and forgotten names and numbers of all time.
Each and every baseball game begins with the ball in the hands of the pitcher, so let's start there. Usually the number one measure of starting pitchers is their number of wins. In the current state of the game, winning 20 games in a season is considered a gallant feat, and there is no doubt that doing so does deserve plenty of acclaim. The 300 win plateau is considered to be a true mark of greatness for pitchers. 24 pitchers have won 300 or more games during their career, but I think most current baseball fans would be hard-pressed to name even half of those 24 pitchers.
There are the men who have done it within the past decade: Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, and Tom Glavine. Then, there are famous names like Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and Cy Young. After that, the names become far less common.
Cy Young won his 300th game in 1901; 113 years ago. Today, that seems like an eternity. However, he was not the first man to reach the 300 win plateau. Have you ever heard names like Kid Nichols, Pud Galvin, Charles Radbourn, Tim Keefe, or John Clarkson? Odds are, you most likely have not. All five of those men won their 300th game before Cy Young did. In fact, Cy Young debuted in the big leagues in 1890. By that time, Pud Galvin had already won 300 games. He won his 300th in 1888, and would finish his career with 365 wins.
As far as those other names, there are two in particular that I would like to look at. Most players in the last half-century have won their 300th game at, in baseball terms, a very old age. Tom Glavine was 41 years old when he won his 300th game. Roger Clemens was also 41. In terms of professional athletes, 41 years old is the equivalent of ancient. It gets even more unbelievable when we look at Phil Niekro and Randy Johnson. Both of those men were 46 years old when they won their 300th game.
With those numbers in mind, let's look back at some of those other names I mentioned, and let's start with Kid Nichols. To most fans, Kid Nichols is an unknown name. His last season as a major leaguer was 1906, and at that time, baseball was not even close to what it is today. Nichols won his 300th career game on July 7, 1900. Was he 41 like Clemens? No. Was he even older than that? 46, like Niekro? No. He wasn't even close to those ages. Nichols was only 30 years old when he won his 300th game. To put that into perspective, when Roger Clemens was 30 years old, he had won 152 games. When Tom Glavine was 30 years old, he had won 139 games. When Phil Niekro was 30 years old, he had won only 54 games. When Randy Johnson was 30 years old, he had won 88 games. The difference is unbelievable. Nichols' closest competitor, Clemens, had won just over half the amount of games at age 30 in comparison to Nichols. Despite the stunning difference, these numbers also are a prime example of another reason that baseball in the 19th century was vastly different than baseball in the 21st century.
After the age of 30, Nichols won 61 games. After age 30, Clemens won 202 games. After age 30, Glavine won 166 games. After age 30, Johnson won 215 games. After age 30, Niekro won 264 games. The difference is glaring. Why then, is there such a stark difference? It is because the game of baseball has changed tremendously over the past century and a half. Kid Nichols is a fine example of how the game has changed, but I would also be remiss without mentioning another member of the 300 win club, Charles Radbourn.
In order to keep our names in perspective here, I would like to compare Radbourn to Clemens, Glavine, Johnson, and Niekro. Clemens won his 300th game in 2003, 19 years after his big league debut. Glavine won his 300th game in 2007, 20 years after his big league debut. Johnson won his 300th game in 2009, 21 years after his big league debut. Niekro won his 300th game in 1985, also 21 years after his big league debut. When did Radbourn win his 300th game? In 1891, only 11 years after his big league debut. The difference, once again, is staggering.
Radbourn's career may have been short lived, but it was by no means obsolete. In 2013, the league leader in games started was Adam Wainwright. He started 34 games. In 1884, Charles Radbourn won 59 games. FIFTY NINE. Radbourn started 73 games that season. He had 73 complete games. In this day and age, finishing any game in which you start is considered outstanding. In 1884, finishing any game you started was considered marginal. It was not about getting a decision, it was about finishing the game (no matter how long it lasted), or coming up short.
Once again, let's put that in the perspective of our more modern day stars. The best two year wins stretch of Clemens' career? 44 games. How about Glavine? 42 games. Johnson? 45 games. Niekro? 36 games. That means over the span of one season, Radbourn won more games than any of our other 300 game winners did in two seasons.
What we see when we look at these numbers is not only an austere contrast in the game today and the game over a century ago, but we also are reminded of names that have been forgotten over the course of history. The game of baseball has grown and evolved, and we should all be grateful to have witnessed its development. However, we should also never forget the origins of the game, because if not for the forebears like Nichols and Radbourn, we would likely have no historical perspective on just how good the pitchers of our modern age have really become.
I know that I began with a mention of the entirety of the early history of baseball, but what I ended up writing was only a slight glimpse into the history of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. I promise that I will follow this up in the near future with another lengthy history of the game's most formidable hitters, because like I said before, we cannot predict where we are going without knowing where it is that we came from.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers will play in Minnesota tonight against a formidable Wild team. As has been the case for quite some time now, a win or a loss both go a long way in deciding postseason positioning. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Nets Update: The Nets beat the Miami Heat last night, their third win against Miami in three matchups this season. With 19 games to play, the Nets are in serious contention for home-court in the first round of the playoffs. Next up is a trip to Washington on Saturday. The Nets are only a 1/2 game ahead of the Wizards in the standings, so once again, this is another extremely important game.
Daily Giants Update: The Giants re-signed Jon Beason, Stevie Brown, and Peyton Hillis, and also added Geoff Schwartz, Rashad Jennings, and a few others. The biggest offseason splash involving the team has probably, sadly, been the departure of Justin Tuck. The Eagles and the Cowboys have made big splashes in the free agent market, and we have some work to still do, but in the NFL, nothing matters until the games count, and we are still far away from that happening.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Archie Bradley is getting hit today, which has not been the case thus far during spring games. However, he has looked very good aside from this afternoon, and I still am impatiently waiting for his official big league debut. With only nine days until Patrick Corbin takes the mound in Australia against the Dodgers, it is seriously time to start pondering the first month of baseball. Let's Go DBacks!
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