Pitcher Tom Glavine: Where Does He Rank Historically?

Tom Glavine begins the 2007 season pitching again for the New York Mets as a 41-year-old. He led the Mets to the Eastern Division title last year. He has had a fine career, but just how well does he stack up against his peers, and the all timers?

Here is Glavine's record to date:

Lifetime record of 290-191. Good for a winning percentage of .603, which is currently good for 96th place all time on the active list, and 82nd place all time on the retired list. His win total of 290 ranks 23rd all time.

His K rate is 5.4, while his BB rate is 3.0. That works out to a 1.8 K to BB ratio.

Career ERA of 3.46, which is 83% of the League ERA over his career. A fine number bested by about three dozen retired pitchers. Other retired pitchers who have also pitched to 83% of the League ERA in their careers include, Red Faber, Ed Lopat, Orval Overall, Deacon Phillippe, and Billy Pierce. Faber is in the Hall of Fame.

Glavine has won the Cy Young Award twice so far in his career, in 1991 and 1998, both while with the Atlanta Braves. He has been an All Star 10 times in his career.

He currently has 2,481 strikeouts, which is good for 30th place all time.

Glavine has pitched in 24 post season series. His record in those series is 14-16, with a 3.42 ERA. His teams have gone 13-11 in those series. In 5 World Series, his record is 4-3, with a 2.43 ERA. His teams have gone 1-4 in the World Series. As a member of the Braves, he lost the World Series to the Minnesota Twins in 1991, and twice lost to the New York Yankees in 1996 and 1999. Glavine was the MVP of the one series his team did win, in 1995 when the Braves defeated the Cleveland Indians in 6 games (Glavine went 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA).

Leaving out his first year, when he went 2-4 in 50 innings, and Glavine's career record stands at 288-187 (.606). The teams he has pitched for have gone a combined 1643-1362 (.547) over that time frame. So Glavine has pitched .059 better than the teams he played for in his career to date.

That is a fine number that only about three dozen retired pitchers have ever bested in their careers, and it is currently ahead of the average Hall of Fame pitcher (.055).

At the start of the 2007 season Tom Glavine needs just 10 more wins to reach the magical 300 number. A number that will ensure his eventual entry into the Hall of Fame. His statistics show that he has been a fine pitcher throughout his career, and fully deserves the eventual honor regardless.

Tom Glavine cannot be considered one of the all time immortal pitchers to ever play the game. But he is one of the best pitchers to ever play the game.