Book excerpt: Since the beginning of major league baseball, more than 12,000 pitchers have thrown from the mound. Of them, only twenty have reached the ultimate goal of their profession: to be a 300-game winner.Rich Westcott, celebrated sports historian and journalist, offers in Winningest Pitchers profiles of each of those twenty pitchers, including Cy Young, Gaylord Perry, and Nolan Ryan. In small biographies, photographs, and stats, we gain a full picture of each of these rare players whose combined greatness contributes to baseball's continued importance to American athletic life. Author note: Rich Westcott has some idea of what it's like to stand on the mound and face an opposing hitter, having been a pitcher himself before it became apparent that his fingers were more useful pounding keyboards than gripping baseballs. He is the author of 12 previous, including, most recently, Great Home Runs of the 20th Century and A Century of Philadelphia Sports, both published by Temple. His career as a writer and editor has covered forty years, and he is the founder and for fourteen years served as editor and publisher of Phillies Report. Westcott lives in Springfield, Pennsylvania.