08.05.07 Glavine's Glory

Aisle 205 Row 8 Seat 106

Miller Lite acknowledges the New York Metropolitans are in town.

Wonderful night for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

Tom Glavine going for win #300.

Father and son taking in the American pasttime.

Once again the Cubs have fan favorite Kerry Wood back on the healthy, active roster. Kerry was making his first appearance in over a year and the crowd was behind him. The "Ker-ry, Ker-ry, Ker-ry" chant was a deafening roar coupled with the standing ovation he got upon entering the game.

Night shot from Section 205. Can baseball get much better than this?

At the expense of the Cubs, Tom Glavine gets his 300th win, even driving in the Mets first run. While a loss is not what the Cubs fans came for, the opportunity to see a piece of history was a nice consolation prize.

I have now attended the last two 300th win games in MLB history. I saw Tom Glavine beat the Cubs and I was lucky enough to be sitting in right field at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco on a Saturday afternoon in August of 2004 when Greg Maddux won his 300th game beating the Giants. Heading into the game Sunday night, I thought I would be one of the few people who was at both of the last two 300 win games should Glavine win. Much to my surprise, it turned out the people sitting immediately next to me had also been in San Francisco for Maddux's win. What a small world.

Reflecting back on having personally been at two major milestone games, I must say that 300 wins, on the road must be about the most subdued major record that a person can get. Part of the problem was that each time the record setter was on the visiting team. This already does not help the celebration, but also a starting pitcher's record is harder to celebrate unless it is a no-hitter or a perfect game. Greg Maddux went 5 innings in 2004 and Tom Glavine went 6-1/3 on Sunday night. By the time the milestone was reached neither player was still even in the game. There is no big moment to celebrate immediately with the player. The game does not stop for a lap around the bases or a curtain call like a homerun record or the removal and replacement of a base at a stolen base record or milestone The knowledgeable fan still appreciates the effort and I saw many people tipping their caps to the effort and there were more Mets fans there than I would have thought that made some noise for Glavine.

I will cherish these two games as they are truly part of history and I have seen 2 of the 23 times that this event has happened and only the fouth time since 1990 (Ryan, Clemens, Maddux and Glavine). This milestone may never be reached again. Randy Johnson is 16 wins away but back problems may be ending his career, Mike Mussina needs 56 wins and is already 38 years old. The young guns have may too much time ahead them to even think about it yet. I can't say it won't be done again, but let's agree that it is not looking good. Being able to say I was at the last two times it happened is pretty cool. Baseball is a game of numbers and 300 is a big number. I congratulate Tom Glavine and his 21 years of always taking the mound and being classy.