Trivial Matters

The 300 Club

ROGER'S RATIO With 298 wins as of Monday, Yankees righty Roger
Clemens was close to becoming the 21st pitcher to reach 300 wins.
In 20 seasons Clemens has a winning percentage of .660. Among
300-game winners, who had the best career winning percentage?

a. Steve Carlton c. Christy Mathewson

b. Lefty Grove d. Cy Young

BRONX BEST Despite the Yankees' long history of success, Clemens
would be just the third man who pitched for the team to win 300
games (not necessarily all in pinstripes). Who are the others?

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP Match the following pitchers with the team
they beat for their 300th victory.

1. Nolan Ryan a. Brewers

2. Tom Seaver b. Cubs

3. Warren Spahn c. White Sox

4. Early Wynn d. Yankees

CALL TO ORDER Clemens has 153 losses yet has never lost more than
14 games in a single season. Rank these 300-game winners in order
of the most losses they endured in a single season.

a. Grover Alexander c. Old Hoss Radbourn

b. Walter Johnson d. Don Sutton

ANSWERS

ROGER'S RATIO: b. Lefty Grove won 300 games and lost 141 for the
A's and the Red Sox from 1925 to '41, a .680 winning percentage.

BRONX BEST: The two onetime Yankees in the 300-win club are
Gaylord Perry, who went 4-4 with New York in 1980 (and two years
later beat the Yankees for his 300th), and Phil Niekro, who won
his 300th game as a Yankee in '85 and won a total of 32 games for
New York in '84 and '85.

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP: 1. a (July 31, 1990); 2. d (Aug. 4, 1985);
3. b (Aug. 11, 1961); 4. c (July 13, 1963)

CALL TO ORDER: Radbourn (31 losses in 1886); Johnson (25 in
1909); Sutton (18 in '69); Alexander (17 in '12).