Glavine's 300th win says a lot about Bert

Biggest Hall Of Fame Atrocity?

Time for Bert Blyleven to enter Cooperstown

By Bullpen Catcher

Tom Glavine earned his 300th win Sunday and sent sports talk radio hosts into a tizzy with them making predictions like we won't see another 300-win pitcher in our lifetime.

There's enough talk generated by Glavine that Kelly Thesier and others got into the act in newspapers and online publications. The discussion is who is next to 300? Is it Johan Santana (89 wins at age 28) or Mark Buehrle of the White Sox (103 wins at 28)? Randy Johnson is having surgery on his arm in Arizona, but sits 16 short of 300 at age 43 (he turns 44 Sept. 10).

I'll say someone will break 300 in my lifetime again. I'd also say Santana has a horrible shot at it. He's left-handed for one thing (only six lefties in the Hall). He also could be on his way to a bad case of Blylevenitis.

Blylevenitis is named for the most famous person to have suffered through the condition that haunts him to this day. Symptoms include being a great pitcher for many, many years; playing for several mediocre teams; not playing for any New York, Chicago or Boston team; and, I believe, for having red hair, a beard and being from Holland.

So Glavine won his 300th game and that "automatically" puts him in the Hall of Fame in the future. Great. I'm happy for you. But is 300 the only measure? Ask yourself if Randy Johnson is a Hall of Fame pitcher. Is he? C'mon, think hard.

I'll help: Johnson is pitching in his 20th season. His career stats sit at 3.81 ERA, 284-150 record, 3,855 IP (566 games played), 4,616 strikeouts, 3,065 hits allowed, 98 complete games, 37 shutouts, 368 HR allowed.

Blyeven: 22 seasons, 3.90 ERA, 287-250 record, 4,970 IP (692 games played), 3,701 strikeouts, 4,632 hits allowed, 242 complete games (!), 60 shutouts, 430 home runs allowed.

Blyleven didn't do this playing with Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle) or Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez (Arizona) or Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and company (Yankees). Nope, Bert sludged alongside teammates in such hallowed 1970s and '80s powerhouses as the Twins (1970-76, 85-88), Texas Rangers (76-77), Pittsburgh Pirates (78-80), Cleveland Indians (81-85), and California Angels (89-92). He was a part of World Series champions in 1979 and 1987, but often his work went without much bat help.

Glavine's 300 wins is nothing short of fantastic. I'm not belittling the feat at all. But if you ask yourself if Randy Johnson (next on the active wins list) retired today, would he be in Cooperstown and you say yes -- then you must also say the same for Bert.