High and Tight: World Series Predictions

The Detroit Tigers take on the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.Patrick McDermott/Getty Images; Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants are two of the most venerable and venerated franchises in major league history; the Tigers have been around since 1894, while the Giants can trace their lineage back to the New York Gothams of 1883. But while the two clubs are certainly no strangers to October glory – the Giants have won six World Series rings, and the Tigers four – these two behemoths have never actually faced off against each other in the Fall Classic. Until now . . .

While the 108th World Series doesn't pack the geographical or historical animosity of, say, a Tigers-Cardinals or Giants-Yankees matchup, this San Francisco-Detroit pairing still packs one helluva cultural clash. Think Mission burritos versus Coney dogs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti versus Elmore Leonard, the Fillmore West versus the Grande Ballroom, the Grateful Dead versus the Stooges, Sly & the Family Stone versus Parliament-Funkadelic, the City by the Bay versus the City of Impending Zombie Apocalypse.

Not to mention there's the showdown between two strong MVP candidates, AL Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera vs. NL Comeback Player of the Year Buster Posey, along with the intriguing possibility of a post-game pie-eating contest between Prince Fielder and Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval. And for once, the All-Star Game's determination of World Series home field advantage actually makes some kind of poetic sense: Giants ace Matt Cain was the ASG's winning pitcher (and now-disgraced Giants PED-popper Melky Cabrera was the MVP), while Tigers ace Justin Verlander served up the first-inning bombs that put the AL in a 5-0 hole.

But mostly, the 2012 World Series should be a dogfight between two very good teams with excellent pitching – you know, the thing that's supposed to trump hitting when the postseason chips are down. The Tigers would seem to have the advantage, at least in that their rotation (which has posted an otherworldly 1.02 ERA thus far in October) is well-rested and leading with Verlander against the inscrutable Barry Zito in Game 1, while the Giants are scrambling to reset their rotation after Monday's NLCS win, and we won't see Cain until at least Game 3. But the Giants have a stronger bullpen, and if Tigers skipper Jim Leyland (who often acts as if he's sending Strat-O-Matic cards in to pitch, rather than running-on-fumes relievers) reverts to his previous reliance upon Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde for the 8th and 9th innings, the Giants could easily head to Detroit with two walk-off wins in their back pockets.

There's also the "rest versus momentum" sub-plot: The Tigers, who finally got hot in mid-September after a season of underachieving, have now been off for five days, while the Giants are coming in fresh from a three-game win streak. Hardcore Tigers fans (full disclosure: I am one) still gag at the memory of the steaming, stinking dump Leyland's well-rested (and heavily favored) team laid against the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series. But Verlander and Omar Infante aside, this is an entirely different Detroit team than that '06 squad; and if Leyland's figured out a way to keep his players sharp, loose and motivated during their break – and if Posey continues to perfect the A-Rod impression that he unexpectedly unveiled against the Cardinals – the Giants could suddenly find themselves in deep trouble.

Either way, this is shaping up to be a great – maybe even truly epic – World Series between two immensely talented teams populated by some very memorable characters. If you can't get excited about it, you simply don't deserve baseball. My prognostication? Tigers, in seven very tough games. Now, let's see what our esteemed panel of rock & roll seamheads are predicting.

Name: Alice Cooper
Position: Vocals

A team has got to peak at the right time to win the series, and at this point, Detroit is peaking at just the right moment. I think they will win in six games. In fact, I think they will be tough to beat. And if it comes down to a Game Seven, they'd have Verlander. Maybe I'm biased – there's still a little kid from Detroit living inside me. Go Tigers!

Name: Scott McCaughey
Band: The Baseball Project, The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows
Position: Guitar, Vocals

I certainly can't pick against my Giants again, the way this topsy-turvy postseason is going. Though with Verlander on the hill two or three games for the Tigers, Los Gigantes have yet another uphill battle. More miracles, bad hops and clutch performances from unlikely sources ensue. San Francisco in six, celebrating in their appropriate colors on Halloween night.

Name: Ken Casey
Band: Dropkick Murphys
Position: Bass guitar, Vocals

The advantage goes to a rested Tigers rotation of Verlander, Fister, Sanchez and Scherzer. But the home field goes to the Giants. The postseason magic of guys like Zito, Scutero and Lincecum will fade here to the Triple Crown winner Cabrera and his accompanying cast of proven veterans, as well as their proven skipper in Jim Leyland. Tigers in five or six.

Name: Handsome Dick Manitoba
Band: Manitoba
Position: Vocals

The Manhattan Giants in six. With a team hitting on all cylinders, and a very good pitching staff top to bottom, the Tigers that looked like Christy Mathewson was throwing everyday versus the Yankees will be mauled. 

Name: Vinnie Paul
Band: Hellyeah, Pantera
Position: Drums

I predict the Detroit Tigers will win the World Series. I've been wrong about everything else this post-season, but I believe the Tigers have the mojo! Oh, and Verlander too! Tigers Roar!

Name: Scott Ian
Band: Anthrax
Position: Guitar

Well, since the Yankees played like the Bad News Bears without Kelly Leak, I'm backing Detroit. Cabrera deserves a ring for his Triple Crown season.

Name: George Thorogood
Band: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I'm going with the Tigers all the way. They have the pitching, and pitching wins World Series.

Name: Steve Earle
Position: Vocals, Guitar

It's finally Jim Leyland's year. Tigers in five.

Name: Ben Gibbard
Band: Death Cab for Cutie
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Tigers over Giants in six.

Name: Joshua Epstein
Band: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Position: Vocals, Keyboards

I have been watching the Tigers all season, and I must say that they finally look like the team we all expected to see. It is impossible for me to answer this impartially, as I have a dog in the fight, but I can't see the Giants beating the Tigers unless the long layoff has killed their momentum. The Tigers have the best hitter and the best pitching in the playoffs. This could be an exciting season in Detroit!

Name: Joe Pernice
Band: Pernice Brothers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I'd say Tigers in five. Very happy to see the Tigers in the Series.

Name: Tom Morello
Band: The Nightwatchman, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rage Against the Machine
Position: Guitar, Vocals

Very much looking forward to the Tigers-Giants World Series. If it can't be the Cubs, then those are two fine teams to slug it out.

Name: Steve Wynn
Band: The Baseball Project
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Well, if the last few weeks are any indication, the Series will go the distance, and that's just fine with me. The day after the end of the World Series is always such a drag – it brings on those long three-plus months before pitchers and catchers arrive in Florida and Arizona. Nah, let's play seven. All logic would seem to favor the Tigers, but this is no time for logic. I pick the Giants in seven, winning on a shocking, unscheduled start – and complete game shutout – by Tim Lincecum. Again, logic – who needs it?

Dan Epstein's book, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s, is now available in paperback.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

High and Tight: World Series Predictions

The Detroit Tigers take on the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.Patrick McDermott/Getty Images; Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants are two of the most venerable and venerated franchises in major league history; the Tigers have been around since 1894, while the Giants can trace their lineage back to the New York Gothams of 1883. But while the two clubs are certainly no strangers to October glory – the Giants have won six World Series rings, and the Tigers four – these two behemoths have never actually faced off against each other in the Fall Classic. Until now . . .

While the 108th World Series doesn't pack the geographical or historical animosity of, say, a Tigers-Cardinals or Giants-Yankees matchup, this San Francisco-Detroit pairing still packs one helluva cultural clash. Think Mission burritos versus Coney dogs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti versus Elmore Leonard, the Fillmore West versus the Grande Ballroom, the Grateful Dead versus the Stooges, Sly & the Family Stone versus Parliament-Funkadelic, the City by the Bay versus the City of Impending Zombie Apocalypse.

Not to mention there's the showdown between two strong MVP candidates, AL Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera vs. NL Comeback Player of the Year Buster Posey, along with the intriguing possibility of a post-game pie-eating contest between Prince Fielder and Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval. And for once, the All-Star Game's determination of World Series home field advantage actually makes some kind of poetic sense: Giants ace Matt Cain was the ASG's winning pitcher (and now-disgraced Giants PED-popper Melky Cabrera was the MVP), while Tigers ace Justin Verlander served up the first-inning bombs that put the AL in a 5-0 hole.

But mostly, the 2012 World Series should be a dogfight between two very good teams with excellent pitching – you know, the thing that's supposed to trump hitting when the postseason chips are down. The Tigers would seem to have the advantage, at least in that their rotation (which has posted an otherworldly 1.02 ERA thus far in October) is well-rested and leading with Verlander against the inscrutable Barry Zito in Game 1, while the Giants are scrambling to reset their rotation after Monday's NLCS win, and we won't see Cain until at least Game 3. But the Giants have a stronger bullpen, and if Tigers skipper Jim Leyland (who often acts as if he's sending Strat-O-Matic cards in to pitch, rather than running-on-fumes relievers) reverts to his previous reliance upon Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde for the 8th and 9th innings, the Giants could easily head to Detroit with two walk-off wins in their back pockets.

There's also the "rest versus momentum" sub-plot: The Tigers, who finally got hot in mid-September after a season of underachieving, have now been off for five days, while the Giants are coming in fresh from a three-game win streak. Hardcore Tigers fans (full disclosure: I am one) still gag at the memory of the steaming, stinking dump Leyland's well-rested (and heavily favored) team laid against the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series. But Verlander and Omar Infante aside, this is an entirely different Detroit team than that '06 squad; and if Leyland's figured out a way to keep his players sharp, loose and motivated during their break – and if Posey continues to perfect the A-Rod impression that he unexpectedly unveiled against the Cardinals – the Giants could suddenly find themselves in deep trouble.

Either way, this is shaping up to be a great – maybe even truly epic – World Series between two immensely talented teams populated by some very memorable characters. If you can't get excited about it, you simply don't deserve baseball. My prognostication? Tigers, in seven very tough games. Now, let's see what our esteemed panel of rock & roll seamheads are predicting.

Name: Alice Cooper
Position: Vocals

A team has got to peak at the right time to win the series, and at this point, Detroit is peaking at just the right moment. I think they will win in six games. In fact, I think they will be tough to beat. And if it comes down to a Game Seven, they'd have Verlander. Maybe I'm biased – there's still a little kid from Detroit living inside me. Go Tigers!

Name: Scott McCaughey
Band: The Baseball Project, The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows
Position: Guitar, Vocals

I certainly can't pick against my Giants again, the way this topsy-turvy postseason is going. Though with Verlander on the hill two or three games for the Tigers, Los Gigantes have yet another uphill battle. More miracles, bad hops and clutch performances from unlikely sources ensue. San Francisco in six, celebrating in their appropriate colors on Halloween night.

Name: Ken Casey
Band: Dropkick Murphys
Position: Bass guitar, Vocals

The advantage goes to a rested Tigers rotation of Verlander, Fister, Sanchez and Scherzer. But the home field goes to the Giants. The postseason magic of guys like Zito, Scutero and Lincecum will fade here to the Triple Crown winner Cabrera and his accompanying cast of proven veterans, as well as their proven skipper in Jim Leyland. Tigers in five or six.

Name: Handsome Dick Manitoba
Band: Manitoba
Position: Vocals

The Manhattan Giants in six. With a team hitting on all cylinders, and a very good pitching staff top to bottom, the Tigers that looked like Christy Mathewson was throwing everyday versus the Yankees will be mauled. 

Name: Vinnie Paul
Band: Hellyeah, Pantera
Position: Drums

I predict the Detroit Tigers will win the World Series. I've been wrong about everything else this post-season, but I believe the Tigers have the mojo! Oh, and Verlander too! Tigers Roar!

Name: Scott Ian
Band: Anthrax
Position: Guitar

Well, since the Yankees played like the Bad News Bears without Kelly Leak, I'm backing Detroit. Cabrera deserves a ring for his Triple Crown season.

Name: George Thorogood
Band: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I'm going with the Tigers all the way. They have the pitching, and pitching wins World Series.

Name: Steve Earle
Position: Vocals, Guitar

It's finally Jim Leyland's year. Tigers in five.

Name: Ben Gibbard
Band: Death Cab for Cutie
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Tigers over Giants in six.

Name: Joshua Epstein
Band: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Position: Vocals, Keyboards

I have been watching the Tigers all season, and I must say that they finally look like the team we all expected to see. It is impossible for me to answer this impartially, as I have a dog in the fight, but I can't see the Giants beating the Tigers unless the long layoff has killed their momentum. The Tigers have the best hitter and the best pitching in the playoffs. This could be an exciting season in Detroit!

Name: Joe Pernice
Band: Pernice Brothers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I'd say Tigers in five. Very happy to see the Tigers in the Series.

Name: Tom Morello
Band: The Nightwatchman, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rage Against the Machine
Position: Guitar, Vocals

Very much looking forward to the Tigers-Giants World Series. If it can't be the Cubs, then those are two fine teams to slug it out.

Name: Steve Wynn
Band: The Baseball Project
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Well, if the last few weeks are any indication, the Series will go the distance, and that's just fine with me. The day after the end of the World Series is always such a drag – it brings on those long three-plus months before pitchers and catchers arrive in Florida and Arizona. Nah, let's play seven. All logic would seem to favor the Tigers, but this is no time for logic. I pick the Giants in seven, winning on a shocking, unscheduled start – and complete game shutout – by Tim Lincecum. Again, logic – who needs it?

Dan Epstein's book, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s, is now available in paperback.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

High and Tight: Speed Kings

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

High and Tight: Will There Be Another 300-Game Winner?

Justin Verlander and C.C. SabathiaLeon Halip/Getty Images; Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Ever since 1888, when James Francis "Pud" Galvin became the first major leaguer to win 300 games, reaching 300 wins has been an iconic goal for starting pitchers – a numerical Mt. Everest that bestows immortality upon all those who manage to scale it.

The majesty of the 300-win plateau has been chipped away in recent years by the sabermetricians who rightly question the validity of "W"s as the ultimate measure of a pitcher's worth, and by the killjoys who point out that certain pitchers – like Don Sutton and Phil Niekro, who notched their 300th career victories in their 21st and 22nd major league seasons, respectively – owe their membership in the 300-win club more to longevity than excellence. But while the perceived importance of wins-per-season has obviously declined (as exemplified by Felix Hernandez winning the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2010 with a 13-12 record), and there have been plenty of legitimately great pitchers (like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez) who never came close to winning 300 ballgames, there's no denying that a pitcher still has to be pretty damn excellent and pretty damn resilient in order to get the ball enough times over the course of their career to rack up 300 victories.

Or, put it this way: There are currently 24 pitchers in the 300-win club, and 20 of those 24 are quite deservedly enshrined in the Hall of Fame; the other four – Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson – aren't eligible for election yet. Clemens' admission to Cooperstown may take longer than he'd prefer, thanks to him probably being a juicer and definitely being a douchebag, but all four of those guys will most likely ride the magic "300" into the Hall in the not-too-distant future.

They may well be the last to do so. Among pitchers who have been active this season, only Jamie Moyer (269) and Andy Pettite (243) have passed the 200-win plateau, and Moyer's currently looking for another team to take a chance on his 49 year-old arm, while the odds of Pettitte accruing 57 more victories (even while pitching for the Yankees) are somewhat slim, considering that only 11 pitchers in MLB history have won 54 or more games after hitting the big 4-0, as Pettitte did in June.

C.C. Sabathia, a workhorse who just turned 32 and currently has 188 career victories to his credit, probably has the best shot at 300, though his recent elbow troubles could bode ill for his future. Mark Buerhle, a remarkably efficient pitcher who has 171 wins at age 33, stands a decent chance as well, though maybe not if he stays with the Marlins. Roy Halladay has 195, but he turned 35 in May. As dominant as Justin Verlander has been in recent seasons, he's 29 and (as of this writing) still needs 181 wins to reach 300 – which means he'd need to win roughly 16.5 games a year over the next eleven seasons to hit the mark by his 40th birthday. And that won't be easy, especially if he keeps getting anemic run support and the Tigers bullpen keeps blowing the leads he leaves them with.

That's not to say that Verlander – or anyone else – won't be able to do it. But in this age of pitch limits and increased bullpen specialization, starting pitchers have far less opportunity to "get the W" than they once did, even if their teams have solid bats and reliable relievers. So this week, we're asking our esteemed panel of rock & roll seamheads: Will we ever see another 300-game winner?

Name: Pete Yorn
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I do believe others will make the 300 mark. Only four players have joined the 300 club since 1990: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson . . . so the odds are against it. Add injuries and a five-man rotation to the picture and it seems to be an even more difficult achievement. That said, Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay (although this year doesn't help as much) and my boy C.C. Sabathia (he probably has the best shot) could get there. The Yanks will compete every year, and that benefits C.C. – who, by the way, is pitching Friday, I hear.

Name: Alice Cooper
Position: Vocals

The only other 300-game winners we might see would be Justin Verlander and maybe Roy Halladay. That's because they both seem to be healthy and on top of their game all of the time.

Name: Steve Wynn
Band: The Baseball Project
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I think that C.C. Sabathia might be the last one, not the least because he has incredible stamina and pitches for a team that scores a lot of runs. But beyond him? I just don't see it happening again.

Name: Tom Morello
Band: The Nightwatchman, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rage Against the Machine
Position: Guitar, Vocals

I think it's very unlikely that we'll see another 300-game winner as long as managers and the front offices remain chicken to leave their best guys on the mound.

Name: Handsome Dick Manitoba
Band: Manitoba
Position: Vocals

Yes. There are some amazing pitchers out there that, even in this day and age – especially in this day and age of specialty relievers – can go five, six or seven innings for a W. Longevity and staying off the DL obviously is the key for 300 wins, but it is a tall task: you'd need to average 17 wins for 18 years in order to hit 306. Whew!

Name: Ken Casey
Band: Dropkick Murphys
Position: Bass guitar, Vocals

Not a chance. Pitchers get too many no-decisions now, due to micro-managing and pitch counts.

Name: Joshua Epstein
Band: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Position: Vocals, Keyboards

Probably at some point. I could see Verlander winning 300 before it's all said and done. He's a machine.

Name: Vinnie Paul
Band: Hellyeah, Pantera
Position: Drums

No!!!! I think global warming has helped make this a thing of the past! Nothing wears a pitcher out more than heat, and we just had the hottest July in American history.

Name: George Thorogood
Band: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Anything is possible.

Name: Steve Earle
Position: Vocals, Guitar

No.

Name: Ben Gibbard
Band: Death Cab for Cutie
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Who cares?  Pitchers' wins are a virtually meaningless stat. Anyone with even an elementary knowledge of advanced metrics knows wins say nothing about the skill or efficiency of a pitcher. Why should it matter if someone gets 300 of them? 

Name: Scott McCaughey
Band: The Baseball Project, The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows
Position: Guitar, Vocals

Yes. In the future there will be bionic arms – the obvious next step from steroids. (See Rick Moody's prescient novel The Four Fingers Of Death.) I mean, really, in this day of great advancements in medicine, why should pitchers' arms be less likely to be durable than they were a hundred years ago?

Dan Epstein's book, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s, is now available in paperback.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

High and Tight: Will There Be Another 300-Game Winner?

Justin Verlander and C.C. SabathiaLeon Halip/Getty Images; Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Ever since 1888, when James Francis "Pud" Galvin became the first major leaguer to win 300 games, reaching 300 wins has been an iconic goal for starting pitchers – a numerical Mt. Everest that bestows immortality upon all those who manage to scale it.

The majesty of the 300-win plateau has been chipped away in recent years by the sabermetricians who rightly question the validity of "W"s as the ultimate measure of a pitcher's worth, and by the killjoys who point out that certain pitchers – like Don Sutton and Phil Niekro, who notched their 300th career victories in their 21st and 22nd major league seasons, respectively – owe their membership in the 300-win club more to longevity than excellence. But while the perceived importance of wins-per-season has obviously declined (as exemplified by Felix Hernandez winning the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2010 with a 13-12 record), and there have been plenty of legitimately great pitchers (like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez) who never came close to winning 300 ballgames, there's no denying that a pitcher still has to be pretty damn excellent and pretty damn resilient in order to get the ball enough times over the course of their career to rack up 300 victories.

Or, put it this way: There are currently 24 pitchers in the 300-win club, and 20 of those 24 are quite deservedly enshrined in the Hall of Fame; the other four – Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson – aren't eligible for election yet. Clemens' admission to Cooperstown may take longer than he'd prefer, thanks to him probably being a juicer and definitely being a douchebag, but all four of those guys will most likely ride the magic "300" into the Hall in the not-too-distant future.

They may well be the last to do so. Among pitchers who have been active this season, only Jamie Moyer (269) and Andy Pettite (243) have passed the 200-win plateau, and Moyer's currently looking for another team to take a chance on his 49 year-old arm, while the odds of Pettitte accruing 57 more victories (even while pitching for the Yankees) are somewhat slim, considering that only 11 pitchers in MLB history have won 54 or more games after hitting the big 4-0, as Pettitte did in June.

C.C. Sabathia, a workhorse who just turned 32 and currently has 188 career victories to his credit, probably has the best shot at 300, though his recent elbow troubles could bode ill for his future. Mark Buerhle, a remarkably efficient pitcher who has 171 wins at age 33, stands a decent chance as well, though maybe not if he stays with the Marlins. Roy Halladay has 195, but he turned 35 in May. As dominant as Justin Verlander has been in recent seasons, he's 29 and (as of this writing) still needs 181 wins to reach 300 – which means he'd need to win roughly 16.5 games a year over the next eleven seasons to hit the mark by his 40th birthday. And that won't be easy, especially if he keeps getting anemic run support and the Tigers bullpen keeps blowing the leads he leaves them with.

That's not to say that Verlander – or anyone else – won't be able to do it. But in this age of pitch limits and increased bullpen specialization, starting pitchers have far less opportunity to "get the W" than they once did, even if their teams have solid bats and reliable relievers. So this week, we're asking our esteemed panel of rock & roll seamheads: Will we ever see another 300-game winner?

Name: Pete Yorn
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I do believe others will make the 300 mark. Only four players have joined the 300 club since 1990: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Randy Johnson . . . so the odds are against it. Add injuries and a five-man rotation to the picture and it seems to be an even more difficult achievement. That said, Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay (although this year doesn't help as much) and my boy C.C. Sabathia (he probably has the best shot) could get there. The Yanks will compete every year, and that benefits C.C. – who, by the way, is pitching Friday, I hear.

Name: Alice Cooper
Position: Vocals

The only other 300-game winners we might see would be Justin Verlander and maybe Roy Halladay. That's because they both seem to be healthy and on top of their game all of the time.

Name: Steve Wynn
Band: The Baseball Project
Position: Vocals, Guitar

I think that C.C. Sabathia might be the last one, not the least because he has incredible stamina and pitches for a team that scores a lot of runs. But beyond him? I just don't see it happening again.

Name: Tom Morello
Band: The Nightwatchman, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rage Against the Machine
Position: Guitar, Vocals

I think it's very unlikely that we'll see another 300-game winner as long as managers and the front offices remain chicken to leave their best guys on the mound.

Name: Handsome Dick Manitoba
Band: Manitoba
Position: Vocals

Yes. There are some amazing pitchers out there that, even in this day and age – especially in this day and age of specialty relievers – can go five, six or seven innings for a W. Longevity and staying off the DL obviously is the key for 300 wins, but it is a tall task: you'd need to average 17 wins for 18 years in order to hit 306. Whew!

Name: Ken Casey
Band: Dropkick Murphys
Position: Bass guitar, Vocals

Not a chance. Pitchers get too many no-decisions now, due to micro-managing and pitch counts.

Name: Joshua Epstein
Band: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Position: Vocals, Keyboards

Probably at some point. I could see Verlander winning 300 before it's all said and done. He's a machine.

Name: Vinnie Paul
Band: Hellyeah, Pantera
Position: Drums

No!!!! I think global warming has helped make this a thing of the past! Nothing wears a pitcher out more than heat, and we just had the hottest July in American history.

Name: George Thorogood
Band: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Anything is possible.

Name: Steve Earle
Position: Vocals, Guitar

No.

Name: Ben Gibbard
Band: Death Cab for Cutie
Position: Vocals, Guitar

Who cares?  Pitchers' wins are a virtually meaningless stat. Anyone with even an elementary knowledge of advanced metrics knows wins say nothing about the skill or efficiency of a pitcher. Why should it matter if someone gets 300 of them? 

Name: Scott McCaughey
Band: The Baseball Project, The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows
Position: Guitar, Vocals

Yes. In the future there will be bionic arms – the obvious next step from steroids. (See Rick Moody's prescient novel The Four Fingers Of Death.) I mean, really, in this day of great advancements in medicine, why should pitchers' arms be less likely to be durable than they were a hundred years ago?

Dan Epstein's book, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s, is now available in paperback.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »