by David Fleitz

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Tom Glavine in 1989.  Glavine won his 10th game of the season on June 6, 2002 and joined the +100 club.  He now has a won-lost record of 234-134, with a 10-2 mark so far this year.

P.S.  I don't know what you think of Mike Mussina as a future Hall of Fame member, but his record of 164-92 (plus 72) is very close to that of Sandy Koufax (165-87, plus 78).

P.P.S.  The biggest plus-minus turnaround of all time was probably accomplished by Red Ruffing.  He pitched for the Red Sox from 1924 to 1930 and went 39-96 (-57).  In mid-1930 he was traded to the Yankees.  He became a perennial 20-game winner for the Yankees, and he retired in 1947 with a 273-225 (+48) record.  Ruffing was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967.

After I wrote a piece about Randy Johnson and pitchers with 100 more wins than losses (click here to see it) a few people asked me about the leading active pitchers in the plus-minus category. 

Here's the list of all pitchers, active in 2001, who owned plus-minus marks of +31 or better at the end of last year:

                   WON-LOST  +/-
CLEMENS ROGER      280-145   +135
MADDUX GREG        257-146   +111
JOHNSON RANDY      200-101    +99
GLAVINE TOM        224-132    +92
MARTINEZ PEDRO     132-59     +73
MUSSINA MIKE       164-92     +72
CONE DAVID         193-123    +70
BROWN KEVIN        180-118    +62
WELLS DAVID        166-114    +52
SABERHAGEN BRET    167-117    +50
PETTITTE ANDY      115-65     +50
MARTINEZ RAMON     135-88     +47
SMOLTZ JOHN        160-116    +44
SELE AARON         107-68     +39
NEAGLE DENNY       114-77     +37
RUETER KIRK         95-60     +35
MOYER JAMIE        151-117    +34
ROGERS KENNY       132-98     +34
HAMPTON MIKE        99-66     +33
APPIER KEVIN       147-115    +32
HUDSON TIM          49-17     +32
FINLEY CHUCK       189-158    +31
SCHILLING CURT     132-101    +31
HENTGEN PAT        122-91     +31

Remember, there are guys in the Hall of Fame with plus-minus records of +15 (Eppa Rixey), +24 (Rube Marquard), and +32 (Nolan Ryan).  Most pitchers need over 200 wins and +50 or better to get into the Hall of Fame, and it looks like the top four on the list already have a good shot at Cooperstown some day.  Pedro Martinez, if he stays healthy, has an excellent chance as well.

I'll keep an eye on Oakland's Tim Hudson, who is at +32 after only three seasons (though he's 3-6 so far this year).  I'll also watch Cleveland's C. C. Sabathia, who went 17-5 as a rookie in 2001 and is already at +12.

My biggest surprise on the list above is a comparison of Arizona's two aces, Curt Schilling (132-101, +32) and Randy Johnson (201-101, +99).  Schilling is now 35 years old and it took him quite a while to establish himself, even though he's one of baseball's best pitchers today.  I knew that he was some distance behind Johnson in career stats, but I didn't realize how far.  Schilling would have to win his next 68 games in a row to match Johnson's won-lost record.

Here are the worst plus-minus logs by active pitchers at the end of the 2001 campaign:
                   WON-LOST   +/-
TRACHSEL STEVE      79-97     -18  
HAYNES JIMMY        46-64     -18  
WENGERT DON         14-32     -18  
BONES RICKY         63-82     -19  
SHAW JEFF           34-54     -20  
LIRA FELIPE         26-46     -20  
RAPP PAT            70-91     -21  
REKAR BRYAN         25-47     -22  
HOLT CHRIS          28-51     -23  
SPRINGER DENNIS     24-47     -23 
HAWKINS LA TROY     29-54     -25  
BLAIR WILLIE        60-86     -26  
MORGAN MIKE        140-185    -45 


Figures, doesn't it, that three of the bottom eight - Lira, Holt, and Blair - all pitched for the Tigers?