By Hal Bock

NEW YORK - For Tom Glavine, among all the people who called to congratulate him on his 300th win, two stood out: Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.

"Those guys were way better (at hockey) than I ever was at this game," said Glavine, a former Los Angeles Kings draft pick. "It was mind-boggling that those guys, great as they were, took the time to congratulate me."

Oh, and there was a voice mail left by another pretty good left-hander, Sandy Koufax. That left Glavine in awe.

"I feel like a kid when that happens," Glavine aid.

Glavine became the 23rd 300-game winner on Sunday night - and just the fifth lefty - when he led the New York Mets over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. He was saluted by congratulatory messages from dozens of people, from commissioner Bud Selig to other 300-game winners such as Tom Seaver.

"There were a couple of moments when I had a chance to think about it," Glavine said Tuesday at Shea Stadium. "Winning 300. My God, that's a lot of wins. When I look over my whole career, never thinking about being here, then being here and realizing how long a journey it's been."

When the Mets got the final out of their 8-3 victory, Glavine came on the field smiling broadly as he exchanged congratulations with his teammates.

"It was a really proud moment," Glavine said. "That was a genuine smile on my face. I was playing through my mind all the people who helped you. It was a humbling feeling, how much they wanted me to do it."

And the location meant a lot to him.

"I loved the fact that I won it in one of the three most historic parks in the history of baseball," he said.

Glavine admitted to a bad case of nerves as he watched the final innings from the dugout with the bullpen trying to protect his landmark win, something it had failed to do five days earlier in Milwaukee.

"It was a different kind of nervousness than when I pitched," he said. "When you're not in control, it's a different feeling of nervousness. I was nervous Sunday before the game. `You think, `What's going to happen on a given day?' Once I got out there and got through the first inning, I settled down."

After the game, clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels made sure Glavine would have plenty to remember this night by, gathering mementos, everything from baseballs to his uniform.

"You name it, I have it," Glavine said. "I have a lot of stuff."

Well, not everything.

"I don't think I saved my underwear," he said.

Most important, Glavine said, was how much his accomplishment meant to those near to him.

"What most people see is me out there every five days," he said. "Friends and family see what I go through every day. They share the emotions. It's a big support group, who were there for a lot of ups and downs."

As he reflected on his accomplishment, Glavine viewed the 300 wins as a snapshot in his life.

"I am a baseball player for a short period of time in the scope of my life," he said. "I have a whole lot more time as a person away from baseball. Character is what matters."