In baseball, as in life, predicting the future is exceedingly difficult. Six years ago, when Cubs right-hander Greg Maddux took his long-reserved place in baseball’s venerated 300-win club, pundits across the sports talk universe wondered aloud whether another man would ever reach that milestone.
Two years and 363 days later, however, Maddux’s longtime teammate Tom Glavine reached the plateau as well. The rumblings grew louder: Tim Kurkjian and Peter Gammons, then the dynamic duo of ESPN baseball coverage, declared the club all but closed for the remainder of baseball eternity.
Less than two years after that, though, Randy Johnson (arguably the most dominant pitcher of the era) knocked down the door and entered the club himself. This time, it was ESPN’s Buster Olney leading an even stronger contingent of experts who believed that, given the limitations and constraints of the modern game, no pitcher would ever again reach pitching nirvana.
And yet…
New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia turned 30 years old just over a month ago, has won 19 games through just 29 starts this season and has a long-term contract in place to pitch for baseball’s winningest franchise for another half-decade. He has 155 wins and one Cy Young award so far, and could be the favorite to win a second.
Will Sabathia eventually become the 25th pitcher in the history of the game to win 300 times? Here are five good reasons to think so.