The Freak pitches a 2 hit shutout

He is known as "The Freak" by some of his teammates. He is called that because he throws a 98 m.p.h. fastball. That is not "freakish". What is "freaky" is that he throws that hard and he is only 5'11" tall and weighs 170 lbs. How can I guy that small generate that much power.

I was watching the game tonight against the Cardinals, who are certainly a nice hitting team. The announcers talked about Tim Lincecum as being the best pitcher they had seen all year and that they felt they would face all year. They also discussed how as a 4'11" and 90 lb, freshman he could throw in the mid 80's.

He was originally drafter by the Cubs and didn't sign. The next year he was drafted by the Indians and he did not sign. The next year he was drafted by the Giants in the first round and was signed. He has been dominant since he first came into the big leagues, except for one bad month early on.

Well tonight he was dominant once again. He has thrown three complete games in his last four starts. He allowed only two hits, a broken bat single to Rick Ankiel and a double off the wall by Albert Pujols. He struck out 8 and never gave up a walk or a run. His win tonight was #33 in his career.

I am considering adding another player or two to my prospect list, these two are 25 year old Jon Lester of the Red Sox who won #34 tonight, and Rick Porcello who has won 8 games as a 20 year old. What do you think of these two potential additions?

Persevere, it makes a difference

Jamie Moyer is old. He has an ERA of over 6.00 yet he seems to find a way to get W's. It really is amazing. Yesterday he pitched just 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, but he go the run support he needed and moved his record to 6-6. As they say it is not how you win, it is that you win.

I was looking at some of his stats to see how this 46 year old had gotten to this place of 252 wins. Between 1989 and 1991 Moyer's record was 6-20, not very impressive to pitch three years and win just six games but he persevered. From 2001-2003 his record was 54-21, this shows that Moyer was a fighter. I think this same mentality helps him to struggle through games when he doesn't have his good stuff. I am a big fan of people, and athletes that push through challenges in life.

Zach Greinke seems to be back on track again. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs to move to 10-3, securing win #44. His ERA is still under 2.00 and he is a prime time pitcher. Greinke himself has persevered through Social Anxiety Disorder that threatened to end his career. He apparently is still not a guy that loves the limelight. It is getting harder and harder for him not to be placed in the bright lights of super-stardom.

Tommy Hanson of the Braves continues to pitch beyond his years. He had to persevere in order to rack up his fourth consecutive win in four starts, in order to go 4-0. He was sent home the day before because he was sick with the flu. He pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball against a very talented Red Sox lineup, and lowered his ERA to 2.48.

I am sure most people would think that Hanson was a first round pick by the Braves, but that is not the case. He was selected in the 22nd round, 676 players were drafted ahead of him. Astounding!!! Perseverance once again.
Check out this link http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2005/tracker/search.jsp?sc=round&sp=22

Mariners win again, thanks to the King and Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr. just keeps on hitting, as he connected with homerun #620. I love it. I could watch this guy swing the bat all day long. He has such a sweet swing, he makes me remember guys like Will Clark and John Olerud. They make it seem effortless.

Olerud played 17 years in the bigs from 1989-2005, and played with the Blue Jays, Mets, Mariners, Yankees and Red Sox. Olerud wore a batting helmut when he played first base as protection for an aneurysm he suffered in college.

Olerud was one of the few players in baseball history to go straight from college, where he was a pitcher, to the Major Leagues. He joined people like Dave Winfield, Pete Incaviglia and Jim Abbott who made the same jump. It is a rare occurrence but he had rare talent. Olerud finished his career with 500 doubles, 255 hr and 2239 hits. Pretty impressive for a college pitcher.

I am hoping Griffey plays for another 5 years and takes a run at 700.

King Felix won another game, career win #47. In typical Hernandez style he got an early lead and pitched strategically. He pitched 8 innings of shutout baseball and struck out 9. I like the fact that he is still 23. Just wish I had him on my fantasy team.

I need to give a pat on the back or shout out to J.A.Happ, who yesterday improved to 5-0 with a complete game win over the Jays. He allowed just 5 hits and struck out 4 in a game he was strong from start to finish. I don' think he will win even 100 games in his career but he did the job yesterday and has all year.

As soon as Albert Pujols hits another 3 hr's I will be starting my chase of 700 hrs. He is at 347 now. I guess i will start the watch now. It is nice to watch a talented player with power and without the juice. This guy may be the best hitter ever. What do you think about Albert?

The other New Yorker

Earlier I wrote about one of the Big Apple pitchers, today I am gonna look at the Yankee stopper, CC Sabathia. This 28 year old knows how to pitch. I must confess I am not a big Yankee supporter, but CC is one guy I like to watch.

CC is in his ninth big league season. He has never won a title but he has always been the best pitcher on his team. He has pitched for three different clubs, Cleveland, Milwaukee and now the hated Yankees. His numbers are not overwhelming, but for the last four years he has averaged a little over 15 wins per year. If he can continue to do that until he is 40, there will be another 300 game winner.

The 2007 Cy Young winner took on the cross town rivals and Mike Pelfrey on Friday night in the Big Apple showdown. CC pitched another gem working 7 innings and giving up 1 earned run while striking out 8. He improved to 7-4 on the year, remember he had a slow start, and win #124 of his career. Look for him to be in the 135 range by the end of the year.

Jered Weaver picked up another victory last night. He is one of the top young pitchers in baseball. If you get a chance to watch him, do it.

As of June 26th, these are the #'s

1. Roy Halladay 141
2. CC Sabathia 124
3. Johan Santana 118
4. Justin Verlander 54
5. Felix Hernandez 46
6. Chad Billingsley 44
7. Zach Greinke 43
8. Jered Weaver 43
9. Cole Hamels 42
10. Matt Cain 39
11. Tim Lincecum 32

Life in the Big Apple and West

I had the privilege of visiting NYC a few years ago, prior to 9-11, and the people are different. They tell it like it is and they are passionate. They love their Yankees and a few of them seem to love their Mets. They love winners and do not have much patience for losers, they do seem to attract the best of the best when it comes to athletes. Certainly two of the top pitchers in baseball are hurling in NY. One of those is Johan Santana.

Santana is just 30 years old and appears to have a number of good years still ahead of him. He is surrounded by some great players in Wright and Reyes and we know the Mets are gonna win 85-90 games this year. He is a big game pitcher and he continues to add to his victory total, now having won 118 games.

I was talking with a friend of mine from Venezuela recently and he talked about Santana and how Johan was the best pitcher in baseball. He is a national hero. Santana is a two time Cy Young winner in 2004 and 2006, in 04' he went 20-6 and in 06' he went 19-6. There is no doubt when Santana is on he is a big time pitcher. I know he hopes to be a world series winner too. Somehow I think he wins a ring before his career is over.

I like to take a quick look from time to time at some young pitchers. Today I want to take a look at Sean West of the Marlins. West is a 6'8", 200 lb. lefty from Houston, Texas. He has just turned 23 and he has turned in some great starts recently for the Fish.

As a rookie in 09', he has had 7 starts and posts a 3-2 record. In 4 of those starts he has allowed less than 2 earned runs and in two of his last four he has not allowed a run to be scored. One of the stats that shows how good he has been is this: opponents have a batting average against him of only .212, that is impressive. Keep an eye on this kid, he has a lot of upside.

Old school wins, future star is 3-0

He is 22 years old.

He is 6'6" and 220 lbs.

He is from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He is Tommy Hanson. Hanson has been a top prospect for the Braves for a while now. He has control issues and needs to pitch smarter some times, but he has had four starts in the big leagues and has an impressive 3-0 record.

In his last three starts over 17 innings he has allowed just 2 earned runs and his last two wins he gave up nothing. No earned runs, as he shutout the Reds and the Yankees. What a great start for the future ace of the Braves. Maybe soon I will need to put Hanson on my list after all is has completed 1% of the needed wins.

On the other end of the spectrum is 45 year old Randy Johnson and 46 year old Jamie Moyer, they just keep on winning. Johnson picked up win #302 with a victory over the A's. I think Johnson could pitch for another 3 years, so is 350 wins out of the range of Johnson. He still looks great though he can only pitch 6-7 innings with 90 m.p.h. stuff.

Moyer pitched well enough to get win #251 with a victory over the Rays. He pitched 6 innings allowing just one run. How do they do it? I think it is because they know how to take care of their bodies and they are smart pitchers. They don't panic, they understand how hitters think and they mix up their stuff, different speeds, in and out and up and down. I don't think that Mayer will get to 300 wins because he would have to be pitching when he is 50.

What do you think will Johnson get to 350, can Moyer reach 300? If not how many wins do you think they will get?

Lincecum, Greinke and Griffey Jr, some of MLB's best

Is it just me or is there some great pitching happening in the big leagues, especially out west. Kevin Correia is pitching great for the Padres, Felix Hernandez is dominant in Seattle, Chad Billingsley is overpowering for the Dodgers, there are four up and coming pitchers for the A's, the Angels have Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver and the Giants with Cain and Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum can pitch, he is not just overpowering with his speed, but he has many other skills that make him dominant. Last night against the A's he pitched a complete game allowing 1 run and struck out 12. His stuff is crazy, he is now 32-12 in his career. That's a pretty impressive win percentage.

Zach Greinke was also impressive last night as he won game #43 of his career. His numbers against the Astros was 8 innings pitched, allowing 1 earned run and striking out 5. He is a guy that never gives up, in games and in life.

Both of these young guns just get the ball and throw. They have many pitches enabling them to get people out and they are both leaders on their teams. When they take the mound they expect to win and so do their fans. Both have had to overcome adversity in their lives and have persevered. The future is very bright for them.

One of my favorite players of all time, Ken Griffey Jr. launched another HR last night, #619. He is 5th all time in HR's. He is now just 5 RBI away from 1800 in his career which places him in 18th place. He has 2721 career hits, and just tied for 52nd overall in hits with Lou Gehrig. What a great career, but for injuries his numbers would be staggering.

Who is a player you love to watch play?

Greatest Canadian Pitcher

Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, Scott Richmond and Jeff Francis are a few of the pitchers who are currently starting pitchers on big league clubs. None of them will threaten the 200 win level, let alone the three hundred win level. In fact none of them are likely future hall of famers. What they have in common is that they are all Canadians.

In the history of Canadian baseball players, none was greater or won more games than Ferguson Jenkins. Jenkins was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, exactly 20 years after winning the Cy Young Award.

Jenkins became a big leaguer in 1965 and pitched 2 seasons with the Phillies. The Phillies apparently never saw the potential in Fergie and traded him to the Cubs where in his first full season in 1967 Jenkins won 20 games. The next year Jenkins won 20 games a year and lost 5 other games by the score of 1-0. I guess you could say he lacked some run support in those games. From 1967-1974 Jenkins won at least 20 games in 7 out of 8 seasons. Amazing numbers for any pitcher over an eight year period.

When Jenkins career ended in 1983, he was just 16 wins short of that 300 number. Maybe if he had a bit more run support in a few games he would have made it.

I had the privilege of spending some time with Jenkins back in 1991. He was in my hometown for a speaking engagement and I was invited to his hotel room to talk with him and get a few things autographed. He was a very nice and humble man. I am sure he never remembered me, but I remember him. To baseball fans in Canada, Ferguson Jenkins is the Greatest Canadian Pitcher of all time.

Tommy John surgery

My top 11 list is taking a hit. Two of my top prospects are suffering from injuries. Doc Halladay and CC Sabathia are out of commission for another week or so, that means a few less career starts in order to reach the lofty 300 mark.

Injuries happen, that is part of baseball and has certainly affected the careers of many players, both pitchers and hitters. I look at Griffey Jr. and wonder how many HR's would he have hit if he had been healthy during his career.

One problem pitchers seem to have is arm problems that require surgery. A number of pitchers have had "Tommy John surgery". This surgery was named after a great left hander, a dominant left named Tommy John. His numbers were impressive.

John played in the majors for 25 years and played for Indians, White Sox, Dodgers, Yankees two times, Angels and A's. In 1974 John was again off to a great start and was sitting at 13-3 when he developed major arm problems. He missed the rest of the 74' season and all of the 75' as he recovered from the radical surgery that took a tendon from his right arm and had it placed in his left arm. That injury prevented John from being a 300 club member. Tommy John finished his career with 288 wins.

When John was injured he was certainly in the prime of his career, he was on schedule for a twenty win season. Things were not good, nor did the future look good. In fact, he thought that his career may have been over. Thanks to his Dr. he had the opportunity to get back to pitching and in 76', he won 10 games. Over the next 13 years he managed to win another 164 games.

Hopefully the pitching injuries will stay at a minimum. Thanks to great trainers and surgeons, many players get back on the field quicker.


Justin Verlander took another step towards winning his first 100 with a 3-2 win over the Brewers. He got the offensive help he needed from Brandon Inge who jacked a three run shot against another stud pitcher in Yovani Gallardo. Verlander picked up 8 k's in 7 2/3 innings for his 54th win.

Big brother wins, Cain is Able

From the beginning of time brothers have battled one another. Cain fought his brother Able. There was a winner and there was a loser. One brother was jealous of the other and decided it was time to kill his brother. There was no time for a future rematch, and the outcome was the first recorded murder.

Baseball has had it's own version of the battle of the brothers. There have been 21 brothers who pitched against each other. The Niekro's (Joe and Phil) did it, the Perry's (Gaylord and Jim) did it and the Benes(Alan and Andy) brothers did it, just to name a few. Last night, the Weaver brothers, Jeff the older and Jered the younger, faced each other and big brother won.

I watched the game last night with Vin Scully as the announcer. He is one of the best voices in baseball and he tells a story when he leads us through a baseball game. He is a fountain of information. He shared that in the 21 starts between brothers, the older brother has won 11 and the younger has one 9. Well the updated stats now are the older brother has a 12 to 9 lead.
Congrats to Jeff, I guess he has bragging rights until they face each other again.

Cain fought another pitching battle last night, Matt Cain that is. He and the 22 year old Derek Holland squared off in a pitching duel. Cain entered with a 9 and 1 record, Holland came in 1 and 4. Both hurlers were outstanding and Holland pitched 7 innings allowing one run and Cain pitched 8 innings of the same. The game went to extras and was decided in the 11th.

Cain shows why he is the dominant pitcher in the NL. He lowered his ERA to 2.28 and is leading candidate for the Cy Young in the NL. Who do you think will win the Cy Young's this year? I will go with, Halladay and Cain.

Pettitte and Aroid, sorry A Rod

One of the greatest challenges that Major League Baseball faces is their image. They have certainly done more to clean up the mess lately, but many people are still tarnished and their achievements are brought into question.

I think that guys like McGwire, Sosa and Bonds homerun totals are not legit and should not be included in the record books. To me Hank Aaron is still the homerun king.

It is hard to talk about Pettitte without thinking about Roger Clemens. They two are linked together because of the steroids problem. Clemens denies he did them, really? Pettitte admits using them, so at least I give him credit for speaking the truth. Last night he pitched another gem with 7 innings of 3 hit ball. He walked none and K'd 7 for career win 222. But what if Pettitte wins another 78 games?

My problem is this. There are 24 guys with 300 wins, I consider there to be 23 because I think Clemens doesn't belong. The other 23 are legitimate. I think in order to be considered amongst the greatest you need to do so with some level of integrity. I know Pettitte admitted to his mistake, and I think he is an incredible pitcher, but he admitted that he cheated.

Alex Rodriguez is another cheater. For how long, nobody but A Rod and God know for sure!!! I think it is hilarious that he needs a couple of days of rest, maybe without the roids he doesn't have the strength. Maybe if he comes back strong a drug test will be needed, maybe he needs something to help him recover quicker?

What do you feel is more legit Jamie Moyer's 250 wins or Andy Pettitte's 222? Ken Griffey Jr.'s 618 homers or A Rod's 562 homers?

Why is it so hard to win 300?

There have been thousands of pitchers over the years in baseball, yet only 24 of them have reached the 300 level. Since 1990 only 5 of the 24 have been able to win their three hundredth. Those 5 are: Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson.

So why is it such an uncommon feat? I think the main reason is that modern day pitchers don't get to pitch as many innings. If a pitcher stays healthy and plays for a full 20 years he is likely to get a maximum of 680-700 starts. A great pitcher may win half of his starts, so that would mean the potential to win 340-350 in a career. Most pitchers are not able to pitch 20 years and stay healthy though.

Greg Maddux was one of the best. In his 23 year career he had 740 starts. He won 61% of his starts, an amazing stat. He was healthy for almost all of his career except for two years in the mid 90's. In fact in all but three years, Maddux had over 30 starts. Even in his two years that he had an injury he still managed to win 16 one year and 19 in the other. Here is the remarkable stat: Maddux only had two years that he won 20 games, he had many years of 16-19 wins.

In 1986, Maddux first year, he had six games and finished 2-4 on the year. Not a great beginning. He did manage to win game #1 and game #2 during that unimpressive first year.

What is the lesson learned here? Be patient with young pitchers, because if they can stay healthy and learn how to pitch, the future can be very bright. Maybe they will be the next Greg Maddux.

Craig Stammen of the Washington Nationals won his first game and did it in style. After waiting for the start for over 5 hours, Stammen took the mound against the Yankees and Joba Chamberlain. When all the dust had settled, well it had settled much earlier because of all the rain, Stammen had shut down the Yanks with a 3-0 shutout win. Congratulations to Craig Stammen on his first win of his career. Just 299 more to go.

In order to win 300, you have to win the first one. That goes without saying.

Pitchers of the night: John Lannan and Micah Owings

What happened to Greinke and Lincecum? Two of my 11 future 300 win guys go down to defeat. That was not supposed to happen.

It is kind of like watching the fly ball hit to Canseco a number of years back, the one that hit him in the head and bounced over the fence. Those kind of things are totally unexpected, unless you are using the juice, then I guess your head can propel fly balls over fences.

I expected to see Lincecum and Greinke win and they didn't. I didn't expect Lannan and Owings to over acheive and yet they did.

At the end of the night Lannan picks up a nice road win in New York against the hated Yankees. he pitches 8 1/3 and surrenders only 4hits and K's four, that is win #4 on the year. Great pitching by the 25 year old.

Owings has got to be the best hitting pitcher in baseball. In a game in which he won 4-3, Owings hit a 3 run homer. Micah has now had 150+ plate appearances in the bigs and he has a batting average of .309, with 7 HR. I am now going to put on my mathematician hat and project his numbers. If Owings were to have 500 AB's during a year, he would hit close to 25 HR's and have over 100 RBI"s. Pretty darn impressive, don't you think.

After all that I am going to give Owings and Lannan a thumbs up and Greinke and Lincecum a thumbs down.

Update win totals

As of June 16th, these are the #'s

1. Roy Halladay 141
2. CC Sabathia 123
3. Johan Santana 117
4. Justin Verlander 53
5. Felix Hernandez 46
6. Chad Billingsley 44
7. Zach Greinke 42
8. Cole Hamels 42
9. Jered Weaver 42
10. Matt Cain 39
11. Tim Lincecum 31

King Felix pitches a gem for win #46

Watching Felix Hernandez pitch is an experience. He makes great pitches, can get a strike out when needed and gets outs without blowing up his pitch count. Last night Felix was at his best. He needed just 117 pitches in a complete game two hit shutout.

He has really been impressive over his last five starts with an E.R.A. of under 1.00. He has been in the league for 5 years now and is only 23, you are reading this right. To have 46 wins at 23 years of age is incredible. If he were to pitch until he was 40 and remained healthy, he would have close to 600 more starts. If he were to win just 40% of those starts, or roughly 14 wins a year he would get to 300.

If I were to put my money on one guy, which I am not going to do since I am not a gambling man, I would say that of all the present MLB pitchers Hernandez is the best bet for 300. There is one thing going against him, he plays on a Mariners club that doesn't have much for offense. Case in point was last night, when the Mariners only managed 3 hits of Kevin Correa, fortunately two those were solo homeruns by Beltre and Guitierrez.

The next time Felix pitches, take a look. He is impressive!

Jeremy Affeldt leads the league in this...

In order to win games in the big leagues, it takes an entire team effort. That goes without saying. There are a group of players that we hardly ever hear of who are difference makers. Just ask Cole Hamels.

In the bullpen, we know the stoppers by name. We know that a good closer helps teams and starting pitchers to increase the W's. Even today we have the opportunity to watch the greatest closer of all time, Trevor Hoffman, he is amazing. Others like K Rod, Broxton, Papelbon and Riviera save games for their starters, but there is another group of players who are game changers too.

Let me give an example. Tonight Cole Hamels was pitching against the Blue Jays and left after six with a 3-2 lead. He was in line for win #43 and handed the lead to the pen. In came two guys who get holds, Chad Durbin and JC Romero and they held things in check until the ninth. They passed the ball to Ryan Madson who then gave up the tying run and lost the lead for the Phillies and cost Hamels #43. Normally, Madson is very reliable but not tonight.

Who are best of the unsung heroes? Well here are top five holders as of today:
#1 Jeremy Affeldt, #2 Ryan Madson, #3 Carlos Marmol, #4 Mitch Stetter, #5 Jose Arradondo.

Who are some other underrated players you can think of? These guys do make a difference.

Younger Weaver wins again, #42

Jeff Weaver has pitched in some big games over his career. In fact over his 10 year career he has won 96 times. This year he is playing for the first place Dodgers and he is 3 and 1.

Jered Weaver is the younger brother. In fact he is 6 years younger than his big brother. Jered's performances are even more impressive this year. Jered beat the Padres on Sunday night, throwing a complete game shutout, allowing just 5 hits, and striking out 5. He moved into second place among the AL E.R.A. leaders with a mark just over 2.00. The only hurler with a better E.R.A. is Zach Greinke. That is impressive.

What is more impressive is that Jered is now 7-2 on the year and had win #42 of his career. I have a prediction. Jered Weaver will win more games than his brother during their careers and that the Cy Young award will come to Jered over the next three years. I believe that by the time Jered turns 30 that he will have notched between 100-110 wins, and that an 18 to 20 win season is within reach. I love to watch this guy pitch. He just gets the ball and goes to work.

What do you think about Jered? Is he a potential 300 game winner?

The Giants may have the best one two punch

Once a team makes the playoffs the starting pitching roster gets shortened and you can win a playoff series with two or three dominant pitchers. If you look around the majors right now, one of the more dominant one/two pitching combinations has to be the Giants with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. They are both overpowering . Throw in Randy Johnson with his 301 wins and you have the makings of a great playoff team. Can they make the playoffs?

They are unlikely to win the West as the Dodgers are the hands on favorites. Maybe they can win the wild card. I believe once they get to the playoffs they are a team not many would want to face.

Yesterday, Matt Cain proved again why he is such a dominant pitcher. Cain beat the A's to go 9-1, and joined Marquis and Billingsley with 9 wins. He handled the Oakland squad giving up only 4 hits and 0 walks over 9 innings. He had 9 strikeouts on the day and the only run he gave up was a solo homerun in the first to Jack Cust. Final score was 7-1 and Cain notched career win #39.

With a starting staff of Lincecum, Cain, Johnson, Jonathan Sanchez and the cuveballer Barry Zito, the wild card is not of the realm of possibility. Do you think they can hit enough to make the post season?

Billingsley wins # 44

Here is the stat line for win #44, 7 IP...2 ER...5 H....3 K in a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers.

Chad is just 24 and he pitches well beyond his years. He continues to be the ace of the staff and joins Jason Marquis as the only 9 game winners in the N.L. this year.

Billingsey's ERA dropped to 2.72 and he continues to be one of the top young pitchers in all of baseball. I have a feeling that Chad will have 100+ wins by the time he hits 27. He is playing on a great team so the wins should be pretty regular.

Santana Struggles

If Johan is going to be a 300 game winner he is going to have to pitch a lot better than he did today. Talk about being blown out, 7 runs in 3+ innings. I suppose every pitcher has a bad day, but Santana has been really struggling lately.

On the opposite side of this game A.J. Burnett pitched out of a no out bases loaded jam with a couple of big K's. I think that Halladay has had a positive influence on AJ during AJ's time with the Jays prior to his signing with the Yankees.

Thats one of the main reasons I think someone should give Glavine a chance. He could have such great influence over a young staff, just like another 300 game winner, Greg Maddux. I think all teams with really young pitching talent need someone to teach them how to pitch.

Randy Johnson now in 22nd place, win 301

Wow, what can be said about Randy Johnson as he made another great start to get to win #301. Johnson pitched 7 solid innings and gave up just 2 earned runs, and allowed only 4 hits. What an amazing feat at age 45. Maybe Johnson will get to 325 wind before he retires.

With win # 301, "The Big Unit" passed Lefty Grove and Early Wynn. Next in line for Johnson is Tom Glavine with 305 wins.

I am hoping that Glavine will get picked up by a team that he can help out. He was dropped by the Braves last week and he probably deserved to be treated better. If he can catch on with someone I can see him getting to 310 soon.

I love the fact that Randy started his career with the Expos. The Expos produced many great players over the years, unfortunately they could not keep a team in Montreal. Johnson did win his first three games in the Expos uniform.

Today on the mound are three future 300 game winners: Santana, Billingsley, Weaver and Cain.

I am hoping all four have great days. It is time to watch the history makers.

My picks

I am a big baseball fan!!! One thing I really appreciate is good pitching, and baseball history. I decided that the chance to add another member to the three hundred win club will be difficult.

Randy Johnson has recently become the newest member, in fact he is the 24th pitcher to do so, but speculation is that maybe no other pitcher will reach that place again. It will be very difficult for sure, but right now I feel like 11 guys have a chance. Here are my top 11 and how many wins they have as of today, June 13/2009.

1. Roy Halladay 141
2. CC Sabathia 122
3. Johan Santana 117
4. Justin Verlander 53
5. Felix Hernandez 45
6. Chad Billingsley 43
7. Zach Greinke 42
8. Cole Hamels 42
9. Jered Weaver 41
10. Matt Cain 38
11. Tim Lincecum 31

I am going to spend some time, watching these 11 closely and adding to them as I see young players, coming up and having the potential to move into the elusive 300 club.

Let me know who you think might be someone to consider and I will add them to this discussion.