That's what I'm saying, guy…

The Big Unit

Randy Johnson won his 300th career game yesterday — quite the milestone, though it won’t become legit to me until he wins another game that isn’t against the Washington Nationals, who happen to be the worst team in baseball history.

Okay, all kidding aside, The Big Unit has put together quite a remarkable career, even remaining effective at age 45. A bunch of memories come to mind when thinking about Johnson over the years — his complete game in Seattle’s one game playoff against California on the last day of the ’95 season, his incredible three wins in the 2001 World Series, the no-hitter in 2004 and, of course, the poor bird. His 4,843 career stikeouts ranks second all-time to Nolan Ryan and his 10.654 strikeouts/9 innings is the best in baseball history.

With teams babying pitchers until they turn 35 these days, the 300-game winner may soon become extinct, with Johnson perhaps becoming the last of the bunch. Only four other active pitchers have at least 200 career wins — Jamie Moyer (250), little Andy Pettitte (220), Pedro Martinez (214) and John Smoltz (210), but all are at least 37 and have virtually no shot at the milestone. Of course, there’s still a young crowd with years to go, but are they going to get a shot the way teams are using their bullpens these days? The fact that none of the five with at least 200 are even close means they likely won’t.