Veteran pitchers Maddux, Johnson to battle Sunday

By Rob Miech

Friday, Sept. 5, 2008 | 2:10 a.m.

Randy Johnson is chasing down 300 victories.

Greg Maddux, the longtime Las Vegas resident and Valley High graduate, is chasing down Kid Nichols, Warren Spahn and Pud Galvin.

Mix in the playoff race, as Arizona and Los Angeles jockey for the top spot in the NL West, and Dodger Stadium will play host to a genuine early fall classic Sunday afternoon.

The unique duel on the mound promises to be one to savor.

Johnson, a 6-foot-10 lefty for the Diamondbacks who has relied on gas his entire career, turns 45 next week. He’s 294-159, on the verge of becoming the 24th pitcher to win 300 games.

That should provide enough off-season incentive for Johnson to return next season. He has endured two herniated disk operations in recent years but told the New York Times 300 is the goal.

“It’s looking me in the face,” he said during spring training.

That Johnson has won 16 games after celebrating his 43rd birthday might provide incentive for Maddux to chase Spahn, and beyond.

Maddux is 354-225. A recent victory over San Diego, which dealt him to the Dodgers last month for their playoff run, tied him with Roger Clemens at eighth place in career victories.

Next up in Maddux’s scope are Nichols (at 361 wins), Spahn (363) and Galvin (364).

The workhorse Nichols completed 531 of his 561 starts. He walked 1,268 batters over his 5,056 1/3 innings; Maddux has walked 997 in 4,984 1/3 innings. Nichols had a career earned-run average of 2.95, Maddux is at 3.15.

Nichols, nicknamed "Kid" for his baby face and 5-9 frame, made $2,400 a season at the peak of his career. Maddux will make about $330,000 per start this season.

Galvin -- the first to 300 -- died poor, at 45, in 1902.

Grover Cleveland Alexander (fourth, at 373), Christy Mathewson (also at 373), Walter Johnson (second, 417) and Cy Young (first, 511) complete the all-time victory chart.

Of that fabled group, only Spahn and Young threw when they were 43. Spahn was 6-13 at 43 and 7-16 at 44. Young went 7-10 at 43 and 7-9 at 44.

Time isn’t on your side in baseball when you turn 43.

Phil Niekro won the most games (78) of anyone who pitched after his 43rd birthday. Nolan Ryan had 35, current Philadelphia pitcher Jamie Moyer has 25, Satchel Paige won 18 and Cy Young 14.

Maddux, who turns 43 on April 14, has slipped. After 17 consecutive winning seasons, he will head into this winter having lost more than he’s won in two of his past four campaigns.

Of the luminaries ahead of Maddux in career victories, only Spahn did not throw in the low-mound, Dead Ball Era, when two-man rotations were common around the turn of the century.

Already the pitcher of his generation, Maddux becomes the premier pitcher of the modern era of the game with 10 more victories.

“I see no reason for Greg to retire,” Padres starter Jake Peavy told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “And I think with all that’s happened with (Roger) Clemens … Greg would be regarded as the greatest of all time.

“I think that honor would be in great hands.”

Maddux has not answered his cell phone for weeks. When he won his 300th game as a Chicago Cub in San Francisco on Aug. 7, 2004, he told the Sun he doesn’t like to look ahead.

“And I’ve never really looked back. When I’m done playing, I’ll look back and I’m sure I’ll pat myself on the back. Right now, it’s about my next start.”

The next start is always his lone concern. He decides about the next season during the offseason as he works on his chipping and putting on the golf course behind his Spanish Trail home.

He has said he will pitch as long as someone wants him.

It’s been speculated that he will wind up back in San Diego next season, a location that perfectly fits a Las Vegas guy with a vacation home in Carlsbad, Calif., just up I-5 from Petco Park.

Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said he has no doubt that Maddux has at least one more good year in him.

Four hundred might be a stretch.

Warren Spahn might not be.