The end of the 300 game winner?

I was one of those who believed that RJ would be among the last, but now I am not so sure. Yes, we have 5 man rotations, pitch counts, the "Joba rules" and other nuances that make it very difficult for a pitcher to get enough starts for enough years to make 300 wins a reality, but these things are cyclical as well. I don't believe it will always be this way. Plus, what's to say there won't be another Clemens (minus the roids) or Johnson on the horizon? I disagree that we will see them at a larger rate, but I don't think it is the end of the 300 game winner either.

And people have been bemoaning the end of the 300 game winner since at least Ryan's turn in 1990, and probably long before that. It's always the same drivel -- "last of his kind", "we'll not see his type again", "today's pitchers just aren't made from the same cloth" rot. Well, sure, it sells to the cheap seats, and avoids the sticky issue raised if the other side is argued, that of, okay, if there is going to be another, who is it? And unless someone is breathing on the milestone (Johnson entered 2009 with 295 W), there is no way to make a prediction even remotely reliable.

But a review of history tells us otherwise. The 300 W guys have never been a common breed, but they tend to show up in clusters, and on average two pop up every 20 years or so. (WWII mucked things up a bit, service time likely costing Feller and one or two others their chances at 300.) There were six in 1982-90, beneficiaries of the 1960s expansion wave, and we've seen another four in the last few years (two of whom pushed past 350).

There will be others. We just don't know their names yet, they might not yet be in the pros at any level, and they might not yet be born. But they'll get here.

And Pedro's back. He probably won't do it, but he's back, and he's always had the talent.

I disagree. There will always be 300 game winners no matter what era in baseball you play in, just like there are always elite pitchers and average pitchers. You also have to realize not all great pitchers get 300 wins. Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Jim Palmer, Bob Feller, and Bert Blyleven never got 300 wins, but are still considered some of the greatest pitchers of all-time.

no offence to early baseball, but like you said, it was pretty easy to reach very high milestones back then, and now the 80's through present generations we have to beat thiose milestones, i mean there are great pichers out there now, but really dont know if the are 300 game winner material.so i would have to agree. Its the end.

its the end for a while until another rule change such as more games in a season

I think so, and actually, I thought Glavine was the last one.

Lincecum has the only chance.