"Anticipation shot through the visiting clubhouse Tuesday, briefly interrupting the video games and the card games that occupied the San Francisco Giants.

They seemed to sense a milestone approaching, a date sure to be recorded, a moment they will not soon forget. Only this moment had nothing to do with Randy Johnson, the pitcher who will attempt Wednesday to become the latest 300-game winner.

Instead, Wednesday's scheduled visit to the White House dominated conversations the way Johnson has long dominated the opposition. Johnson strolled through the clubhouse, slim as ever, 6 feet 10 inches, unnoticed and unbothered, on the verge of a landmark victory but not inclined to speak about it.

He left the questions of his place in history to others, left them to answer why, at 45, he continues to walk to the mound every fifth game, even after the five Cy Young Awards, the perfect game and the World Series championship.

"He's trying to establish himself as one of the greatest pitchers of all time," said Dave Valle, one of Johnson's catchers in Seattle. "It hasn't been about the Cy Youngs. He's done that. It wasn't about the money. He has that."

To win his 300th on Wednesday would be fitting, considering that Johnson is pitching for the Giants, a team near where he grew up in Northern California, and against the Nationals, the franchise that drafted him in 1985 when it was the Montreal Expos.

"This is his opportunity to really carve his name into the record books," Valle said. "And he's certainly doing that."

After 606 games, after more than 4,000 innings and 4,843 strikeouts, Johnson is one victory from becoming the 24th pitcher - the sixth left-hander - to reach 300 wins.

Valle said he could not have fathomed Johnson's longevity or dominance when the big lefty now known as the Big Unit arrived in Seattle in 1989. The Mariners were the second of Johnson's six clubs, and he arrived with all of three victories after a trade with Montreal."