First, read this. Then tell us, who is the next pitcher to win 300 games?
| Roy Halladay |  41 (37.27%) |
| CC Sabathia | 17 (15.45%) |
| Both will get there | 16 (14.55%) |
| Neither makes it | 35 (31.82%) |
| Someone else currently active (tell us who!) | 1 (0.91%) |
110 votes | 8 featured comments
I have long believed that Halladay would pitch well into his 40s, and hoped that he returned here late in his career to collect a couple of sought-after rings. "The Cure of the Doc" works so much better than "The Curse of the Doc".
Anyways, I voted "both", which frankly is unlikely.
Anyways, I voted "both", which frankly is unlikely.
I voted only Halladay because he looks after himself, reads that pitching book and has great determination & work ethic.
CC may not have these qualities.
Hopefully playoff victories also count toward 300. So I believe both will choose strong teams, which improves their chances of winning.
Glavine played for a good team his entire career, mostly, which helped a lot.
CC may not have these qualities.
Hopefully playoff victories also count toward 300. So I believe both will choose strong teams, which improves their chances of winning.
Glavine played for a good team his entire career, mostly, which helped a lot.
Playoff wins do NOT count... other than that, I agree with what bpoz said and that is why I voted Doc.
I don't think Halladay gets to 300. Here's why.
- He has 188.
- Let's say he has three more great seasons -- this is his age-35 year, so that's generous. Add 66 wins (that's three years matching his career-best 22, with the '03 Jays), say, to get him to 254.
- He then has, again generously, three more Don Sutton-late-in-his-career "good" seasons, another 40 wins, say. that's 294 and he's 40.
- Does Doc hang around forever like Early Wynn did, trying to cobble together that last handful of wins? Are a couple of 3-8 seasons worth the milestone?
For me, sure. For many of us, sure. But for The Greatest Pitcher of His Generation? I doubt it. I thnk once he realizes It's Not Coming Back, say midway through the second Sutton season, he retires at about 280. Then five years later he is one of the closest-to-unanimous first-ballot selections in HOF history.
Frankly, I hope I'm wrong and he goes all Warren Spahn on MLB's keister, rolling off six or seven more 20-win seasons. I just don't see it ...
And not indicentally, if my math is right, as of 2014, Doc will have pulled in more than $167M in MLB salary, so there won't exactly be financial constraint motivations, either!
The career leaders in wins from age 40 (discarding the crafty lefties, Spahn and Moyer, and the knuckleballers) are Randy Johnson with 73, Nolan Ryan with 71 and Roger Clemens with 61. Objectively, the odds are pretty heavily against Halladay getting 50-70 wins from age 40, but subjectively, I think that he will. Unfortunately, there are no futures contracts on ballplayers.
I think you'd get very different results on a non-Jays/Phillies board. Halladay is 4 years older and has 12 more wins than Sabathia. Halladay would need to get 122 wins after he turns 35. Very very difficult to do. Another factor here is that the Phillies are a declining team with a mediocre offense in a quickly improving division while the Yankees spending will ensure that they will always be a good team no matter what.
Not saying it isn't possible, just very unlikely.
Not saying it isn't possible, just very unlikely.
If you use 15 wins a year as the base Halladay is just shy pf 8 years away from 300. So he would reach it at age 43. Is that possible - yes. Likely? No. But it is easy to imagine. 3 20 win seasons would shave it by a year.
Sabathia is more likely than Halladay to reach 300 wins, but if they both do Halladay is more likely to do so first.
I hope Doc makes it. And I think he has a good chance, but that might just be 50/50, which is still pretty fantastic when you consider all the pitchers in the world who don't make it.
I hope Doc makes it. And I think he has a good chance, but that might just be 50/50, which is still pretty fantastic when you consider all the pitchers in the world who don't make it.