"Mr. Clemens" may become first 300-game winner to miss the HOF.
For years now, winning 300 games over the course of his MLB career was the sure-fire path to the Hall of Fame for any big league pitcher. If you examine the list of all players who have won a minimum of 300 games, you will quickly see that the only ones from that group who are not HOF inductees already are the handful who have yet to pass the five year wait between retirement and voting eligibility.
Those players in waiting are Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson. They have all pitched far well enough to enter the HOF as inductees. There’s just one problem for one of these men. Roger Clemens may have to wait until hell freezes over because of his quagmire involvement in the steroid-use accusations and congressional denials that don’t exactly clear the mud.
We don’t know the truth about Roger Clemens and steroids. In spite of all the circumstantial evidence of the trainer-collected needles and paraphernalia, the eye witness testimony of the former trainer, the fumbling inferences from the testimony of Clemens’s pal, Andy Pettitte, and the abject denials of Roger himself, we simply do not know what really happened for certain on the usage of steroids question.
What we can know are these facts: (1) Roger Clemens was a great pitcher. He pitched well enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame; (2) If he used them, steroids did not make Roger Clemens a great pitcher, but they may have helped him heal faster and survive long enough to win a few extra games that might have otherwise escaped his capacity as a power pitcher; (3) It will be a shame if the steroid cloud keeps Roger Clemens out of the Hall of Fame; and (4) If he doesn’t make it into the Hall, Roger Clemens has to at least bear responsibility for keeping the company of a trainer who admits to the illegal administration of HGH and other so-called performance enchancing substances. If a guy of that character turns on you, lots of luck clearing your name with verbal or written denials.
Here’s a list of the 300-games plus winners and their pecking order on the all time order of things:
The 300 Game Winners List: Hall of Fame Bound All, Until Steroids:
| Rank | Player | W |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cy Young† | 511 |
| 2 | Walter Johnson† | 417 |
| 3 | Grover Cleveland Alexander† | 373 |
| Christy Mathewson† | 373 | |
| 5 | Pud Galvin† | 364 |
| 6 | Warren Spahn† | 363 |
| 7 | Kid Nichols† | 361 |
| 8 | Greg Maddux | 355 |
| 9 | Roger Clemens | 354 |
| 10 | Tim Keefe† | 342 |
| 11 | Steve Carlton† | 329 |
| 12 | John Clarkson† | 328 |
| 13 | Eddie Plank† | 326 |
| 14 | Nolan Ryan† | 324 |
| Don Sutton† | 324 | |
| 16 | Phil Niekro† | 318 |
| 17 | Gaylord Perry† | 314 |
| 18 | Tom Seaver† | 311 |
| 19 | Charley Radbourn† | 309 |
| 20 | Mickey Welch† | 307 |
| 21 | Tom Glavine | 305 |
| 22 | Randy Johnson | 303 |
| 23 | Lefty Grove† | 300 |
| Early Wynn† | 300 |
t = already a member of Hall of Fame.
Not just by the way, there are a number of Hall of Fame pitchers who did not reach 300 wins. Sandy Koufax at 165 career wins stands out as the poster child for starters on that list.
There also are a few near-300 win pitchers who have long been deserving of induction, but cannot get all the votes they need. Tommy John (288), Bert Blyleven (287), and Jim Kaat (283) stand out as my prime examples, with Blyleven being my favorite of the three for induction.
Among active pitchers, the little unstoppable time machine, Jamie Moyer, is still posting “W”s into his late 40s with a not-yet-sealed total of 267 wins.
If you care to examine an extended list of the top 500-game winners, check out this chart on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_leaders_in_career_wins
Have anice weekend, everybody!
Have a nice w
Tags: Baseball, History, top winning pitchers
The Pecan Park Eagle 
November 6, 2010 at 2:13 pm |
If Clemens ever gets into the HOF i believe both Bonds and McGwire should make it as well.
I also think Bert Blyleven was a HOF pitcher and possibly Tommy John but Kaat much like Moyer is simply a good pitcher who lasted a very long time.
November 6, 2010 at 3:00 pm |
I don’t see a place in the HOF for any user of banned or illegal PEDs. Bonds had a dirty test for amphetamines AFTER the CB bans, and admitted to using the “cream” and “the clear” thinking they were flax seed oil and rubbing balm; McGwire wasn’t interested in talking about the past, and Clemens is still trying to sue McAfee. I wonder if he’ll try to sue Pettitte? Ostensibly Clemens used before the ban, but they weren’t prescribed by an MD – assuming he can be proved to have used.
November 7, 2010 at 1:02 am |
One correction: the bans didn’t begin with the 2003 CBA. That’s where testing began. Bart Giamatti banned steroids over a decade before.