New York Mets' Dwight Gooden Gets 20th Victory

On Aug. 25, 1985, the New York Mets defeat the San Diego Padres 9-3, making Mets starting pitcher Dwight Gooden the youngest pitcher to ever win 20 games in a season. At 20 years and nine months old, the second-year Met was a full month younger than Bob Feller, who won 24 games for the Cleveland Indians in 1939. The win was also his fourteenth in a row.

Gooden finished the season with a 24-4 record, a 1.53 ERA, 16 complete games, and 268 strikeouts in 276-and-two-thirds innings -- all of which led the National League. He won the Cy Young Award that year, just one season after winning the Rookie of the Year Award, and joined Herb Score as the only pitchers to strikeout 200 batters in their first two seasons. He was already being touted as one of the greatest pitchers of all time and was a sure-fire Hall of Famer just on talent alone.

 

Sadly, Gooden never lived up to his expectations. 1985 was the final year he won 20 games, although he did follow that up with six solid seasons. After that, his career became a bona fide trainwreck, as he struggled to overcome addictions to both alcohol and cocaine. He retired with a record of 194-112, and as one of the biggest what-ifs in baseball history.

Check out the video below of Gooden earning his 20th win:

Milwaukee Brewers Closer Rollie Fingers Gets 300th Save

On Aug. 21, 1982, Milwaukee Brewers closer Rollie Fingers gets his 300th save as a pitcher.

Fingers started his career as a member of the Oakland Athletics in 1968, the year the team moved from Kansas City to Oakland. He played for the Athletics from 1968-1976, earning himself three World Series titles with the club in 1972, 1973 and 1974. In 1974 he was also named the World Series MVP.

Fingers was a starter with the A’s until 1970 when he began making relief appearances. In 1971 A’s manager Dick Williams made up his mind that Fingers would be a relief pitcher and the rest is history.

In 1977 the San Diego Padres picked up Fingers, where he played from 1977-1980. Fingers won the National League Rolaids Relief Man of the Year in 1977, 1978 and 1980 with the Padres. He was also a two-time National League saves champion in 1977 and 1978. In 1980 Fingers broke Hoyt Wilhelm’s record of most saves in a career with his 228th.

In 1981 Fingers was back in the American League with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was continuing to get saves at an impressive rate, and once again won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award but this time in the American League. He was also the American League saves champion in 1981. But the most impressive feat of all that season was that Fingers was named the American League MVP and the American League CY Young.

In 1982 Fingers recorded his 300th save, and was the first closer in Major League history to do so. When Fingers retired in 1985 he finished his career with 341 saves, 114 wins and 118 losses, making him the first pitcher with 300 saves and also to have 100 wins, he also recorded 1,299 strikeouts in his career.

Fingers was elected into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. Both the Athletics and the Brewers have retired his jersey No. 34.

Fingers is regarded to as one of the pioneers of modern relief pitching, especially for defining the role of the closer.

Nolan Ryan And Dave Winfield Scuffle

On Aug 4, 1993, Nolan Ryan gets into an altercation with Dave Winfield.

Ryan was one of the most intimidating pitchers of his time. He was the only man to strike out 5,000 batters and was synonymous for his wicked fastball and propensity to pitch inside. 

But in 1980, he was involved in an altercation with Dave Winfield after beaming him with a fastball. Winfield, a notorious seagull murderer, rushed the mound to take a few swings at Ryan, who protectively huddled on the ground to shield his pitching arm. 

The reaction Ryan received was poor and he vowed to do better the next time he got in a fight.

He didn't get a chance to redeem himself until August 4, 1993, when a young Robin Ventura charged the mound in the third inning.

By then Ryan was 46 years old and pitching in his final season. When he nailed Ventura in the ribs, the 26-year old third baseman blitzed the Hall of Fame pitcher. "I decided I was going to be the aggressor," Ryan said. "I wasn't going to just take it." Nolan was more than prepared and wrapped him in a head lock, landing six blows to the top of Robin's head as the benches cleared. Both Ventura and White Sox manager Gene Lamont were ejected, while Ryan, who barely moved off the pitcher's mound, stayed in the game. He then retired twelve of the next thirteen batters and earned his 322nd career win.

"It's no secret that he was throwing at me, and I have to do what I have to do to protect myself and I don't care who it is," Ventura said after the game. "I'm all right. He gave me a couple of noogies, but that was about it."

Ventura went on to have a terrific career in the big leagues, good enough to make it on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2010. He finished with 18 career grand slams, the third most in history, and six Gold Gloves. Yet he could never surpass the lasting image of his career: getting worked by 46 year-old Nolan Ryan.

Greg Maddux Records 3,000th Strikeout

On July 26, 2005, that Greg Maddux became the thirteenth member of the 3000-strikeout club.  Maddux struck out Omar Vizquel in front of his home crowd at Wrigley Field, however, the Cubs would go on to lose the game 3-2 to the Giants.

Greg Maddux enjoyed an incredible career that started in Chicago as a member of the Cubs.  After winning the CY Young award in 1992, Maddux left Chicago via free agency and joined the Atlanta Braves.  He would go on to win the Cy Young his first three seasons with the Braves, becoming the first pitcher in history to win the award four consecutive times.  In addition to his four Cy Young’s, Maddux was an 18 time Gold Glove winner, eight time All-Star selection and a member of the 1995 World Series championship Atlanta Braves.

Maddux would finish his career with 3,371 strikeouts ranking him 10 all-time for most strikeouts in the Major Leagues.

The list of 3000 strikeout pitchers includes in this orde

r from most to least, Nolan Ryan, 5,714, Randy Johnson, 4,875, Roger Clemens, 4,672, Steve Carlton, 4,136, Bert Blyleven, 3,701, Tom Seaver, 3,640, Don Sutton, 3,574, Gaylord Perry, 3,534, Walter Johnson, 3,509, Greg Maddux, 3,371, Phil Niekro, 3,342, Ferguson Jenkins, 3,192, Pedro Martinez, 3,154, Bob Gibson, 3,117, Curt Schilling, 3,116 and John Smoltz, 3,084.

Smoltz was a teammate of Maddux from 1993-2003 on the Braves in which they were part of the ‘Big Three’, which included Maddux, Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

Also to note is that the Braves had three members on the 3,000 strikeout club, with Maddux, Niekro and Smoltz, even though none of the three who are on the list got there 3,000 strikeout in a Braves jersey.

The 3,000-strikeout club might become more elusive as the closest pitcher to the feat is 47-year-old Jamie Moyer. Moyer is the active leader in strikeouts with 2,405 but is currently a free agent after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays AAA affiliate. Because of this Moyer will most likely not reach 3,000, and with the way the game has changed in recent years, one wonders if we will ever see another pitcher join the elusive 3,000 strikeout club.

Tomorrow Greg Maddux will be inducted into Cooperstown Hall of Fame with former teammate and manager Tom Glavine and  Bobby Cox. Also joining Maddux, Glavine and Cox in Cooperstown will be former White Sox MVP Frank Thomas and two of the winningest managers in MLB history; Tony La Russa and Joe Torre.

Check out the video below of Maddux recording 3,000th strikeout:

Rickey Henderson Gets Steal 800

On April 9, 1989, Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson steals base number 800 for his career, in the New York Yankees 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Henderson was a left fielder who played in Major League Baseball for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics.

Nicknamed "The Man of Steal", he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and base runner^/ holding the record for most career leadoff home runs with 81, and winning three Silver Slugger awards in 1981, 1985 and 1990. His 1,406 career steals are almost double the previous record of 938 by Lou Brock, and just under 800 more than the current active leader in stolen bases, Juan Pierre, who has 614.

Oakland Athletics great Rickey Henderson, the "Man of Steal," after breaking Lou Brock's record of 938 steals.

Henderson is the all-time stolen base leader for the Oakland A’s and previously held the New York Yankees' franchise record from 1988-2011.

He also holds the major league records for runs scored and unintentional walks.

Henderson also holds the single-season record for stolen bases (130 in 1982) and is the only player in AL history to steal 100 bases in a season, having done so three times.

A 12-time stolen base champion, Henderson led the league in runs five times and was among the league's top ten base stealers in 21 different seasons.

Henderson was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1990, and he was the leadoff hitter for two World Series champions: the 1989 Oakland A's and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.

At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League (AL) All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in base on balls.

His 25-year career elevated Henderson to the top ten in several other categories, including career at bats, games, and outfield putouts and total chances.

His high on-base percentage, power hitting, and stolen base and run totals made him one of the most dynamic players of his era.

He was further known for his unquenchable passion for playing baseball and a buoyant, eccentric and quotable personality that both perplexed and entertained fans.

Once asked if he thought Henderson was a future Hall of Famer, statistician Bill James replied, "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers^.

In 2009, he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance with 94.8 percent of the vote.

The Oakland Athletics also retired Henderson’s no. 24 jersey in 2009.