New York Daily News
Monday, August 6th 2007, 4:00 AM
CHICAGO - In the end, after Tom Glavine officially had stamped himself as a Hall of Famer by claiming his 300th win, the overwhelming emotion he said he felt was not so much joy as relief.
Can you blame him?
Nothing has come easy for Glavine since he joined the Mets five years ago, and on a night when it looked as if he might have a laugher for the milestone victory, he had to sweat out another bullpen scare before the hitters helped him finally enjoy an 8-3 victory over the Cubs.
But beyond that, his understated emotion was typical of Glavine's career, one defined by class and precision pitching. You surely wouldn't expect him to pull a Rickey Henderson and pull the rubber up on the mound and declare himself the greatest of all time.
Instead Glavine made a point of addressing his teammates in the clubhouse after the game, thanking them for "putting up with all this crap," meaning the circus atmosphere that surrounded his quest for the 300th victory.
Then he went out and hugged his wife, Chris, in front of the dugout, and thanked his friends and family who had gathered there for being part of his historic night. They too were cause for his relief, because he had started to worry about what a burden this would become for everyone if he didn't win last night.
That and the fact that his kids would need to return to Atlanta to start school in a week made yesterday the most stressful day of all during his chase of the magic number for pitchers.
"I was nervous today, more so than in Milwaukee last week," he said after the game. "With everybody following me around, and knowing I had only one more start before my kids would go back to school, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it done.
"I guess that's why, now that it's over, I have such a sense of relief."
It was one more reason so many people feel so good to see Glavine have this moment: He has a selfless quality, a way of keeping things in perspective, that makes him easy to like, easy to root for.
So while he always will be remembered as a Brave, not a Met, it was a nice thing to see so many Mets fans making themselves heard at Wrigley Field, and then most of them standing behind the dugout, chanting Glavine's name as the game ended.
But it was perhaps more telling that Cubs fans, like Brewers fans in Milwaukee the other night, gave Glavine a warm ovation as he came out of the game. Even opposing fans can't help but admire the style and grace with which he's gone about his business all these years.
As such it was appropriate that he reached his milestone in this Sunday night showcase, the game on national TV so that both fans and fellow major leaguers around the country could watch.
After all, there is an entire generation of pitchers, particularly lefthanders, who grew up not only watching Glavine from around the country on WTBS, the Braves' superstation, but believing they could become big-leaguers at least partly because they saw an average-sized pitcher with an average fastball showing the world you could be a dominant pitcher with smarts, precision control and a great change-up.
Randy Johnson was more dominant, but at 6-10 he also was something of a freak of nature. Glavine, by contrast, is practically the everyman of Hall of Famers.
Two Cubs' lefthanders, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill, made that point yesterday when asked about Glavine, saying they had grown up learning to pitch at least in some ways by watching him.
"Tom Glavine is a guy I watched and learned from," Lilly said. "I watched a lot of tape of him, trying to copy just about everything he does. He's a great guy for anyone to watch and learn how to pitch, because he showed that you don't have to be overpowering to be a great pitcher."
Hill too tried to emulate Glavine.
"Besides the pitching side of it, there was the way he carried himself out on the mound," Hill said. "I liked to watch the way he handled tough situations. You could learn a lot from him. I still do."
He will leave a legacy in that respect, as well as for the sheer magnitude of the accomplishment. No one will ever argue that Glavine is in the argument as the greatest pitcher of his era. He didn't have that kind of transcendent talent, but he brought a toughness to the mound you'd expect of a former hockey player good enough to be selected in the NHL draft years ago.
Indeed, he never has been on the disabled list in his career, and he reminded everyone last night that he could hit a little too, his hard single through the middle contributing to the Mets' first run.
Yes, No. 300 was fitting in so many ways. Reason to celebrate, even if Glavine only wanted to take a deep breath and be glad it was over.
jharper@nydailynews.com
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