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Revision as of 06:03, 10 November 2006 editDale Arnett (talk | contribs)Administrators294,786 edits →Statistics: Win total also puts him third in the live-ball era.← Previous edit Revision as of 08:23, 15 November 2006 edit undoEpeefleche (talk | contribs)Pending changes reviewers150,049 edits →StatisticsNext edit →
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* In 2006, Maddux broke ]'s record (17) of seasons among the league's top 10 pitchers in games won. Maddux has now finished 18 seasons among the top 10 in the league in wins. * In 2006, Maddux broke ]'s record (17) of seasons among the league's top 10 pitchers in games won. Maddux has now finished 18 seasons among the top 10 in the league in wins.
* Holds record for times leading the league in games started (7 times). * Holds record for times leading the league in games started (7 times).

==Quotes==

"Consistency is something you can always improve on. You can be more consistent with your mental approach, the things you do physically on the mound. Instead of doing 5 good pitches an inning, try to make 6. You can always do more of what you are doing well and try to be as consistent as you can be." - Greg Maddux

"I could probably throw harder if I wanted, but why? When they're in a jam, a lot of pitchers...try to throw harder. Me, I try to locate better." - Greg Maddux

"I try to do two things: locate my fastball and change speeds. That's it. I try to keep as simple as possible. I just throw my fastball (to) both sides of the plate and change speed every now and then. There is no special food or anything like that, I just try to make quality pitches and try to be prepared each time I go out there." - Greg Maddux

"Oh, poor me (jokingly, after being told that Randy Johnson & Pedro Martinez would make more in 2003 than he would). What do I do now? I guess I'll have to get a second job." - Greg Maddux

"Every pitch has a purpose. Sometimes he knows what he's going to throw two pitches ahead. I swear, he makes it look like guys are swinging foam bats against him." - ]

"He makes it look easy. You wish there was another league he could get called up to." - ]

"It seems like he's inside your mind with you. When he knows you're not going to swing, he throws a straight one. He sees into the future. It's like he has a crystal ball hidden inside his glove." - ]

"Greg Maddux could put a baseball through a life saver if you asked him." - ]

"(Greg) Maddux is a cerebral assassin on the mound. He knows his strengths and limitations as well as those of every hitter. That knowledge allows him to be more efficient than any hurler, resulting in the fewest pitches per start (77.9) in the National League. The righthander possesses pinpoint control, gets ahead in the count and mixes his pitches as well as anyone. He rarely tops the high 80s with his fastball, but his outstanding movement on the pitch produces groundball outs. Maddux also throws a cut fastball and a plus changeup at any time in the count. He refuses to waste pitches or give in to hitters, instead opting to keep his offerings low in the strike zone while moving his pitches off both corners of the plate." - Stats, Inc. (2003)

"When he's on like this, it can be a boring game for the fans. It looks like you're not even trying." - ]


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 08:23, 15 November 2006

Greg Maddux
Position Starting Pitcher
Team Los Angeles Dodgers
Experience 21 years
W-L Record 333-203
Age 40
Height 6' 0" (1.83 meters)
Weight 180 lb (82 kilograms)
Bats Right
Throws Right
Place of Birth San Angelo, Texas
Selection 2nd round amateur draft, 1984
Drafted by Chicago Cubs
Major League Debut September 3rd, 1986
Nickname Mad Dog, The Professor

Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966, in San Angelo, Texas, USA) is a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. He is, arguably, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball, and is one of only nine pitchers in Major League history to achieve 300 career wins and 3000 strikeouts. He won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher.

300-win club

Winning 300 games is a feat that is much more difficult to achieve now compared to the past due to the increased use of relief pitching, which has reduced the number of decisions for starting pitchers. In addition, Maddux has pitched his entire career in the era of the 5-man rotation, in which starters are given fewer starts per season. For that reason, some baseball historians have said he may be the last pitcher to achieve 300 career wins for decades, if not ever, although the recent return to form by his former Atlanta Braves teammate Tom Glavine has once again made Glavine a strong candidate for 300 wins. On July 26, 2005, Maddux joined an even more exclusive club when he recorded his 3,000th strikeout, a feat generally accomplished by power pitchers, not a finesse pitcher like Maddux. Although this feat has been accomplished by several other pitchers, Maddux is one of just three who have done so while allowing fewer than 1,000 walks. The two other pitchers who allowed so few walks with as many strikeouts are Fergie Jenkins and Curt Schilling. Maddux has won 20 games only twice, in 1992 and 1993 (although interrupted seasons in 1994 and 1995, when Maddux won 16 and 19 games respectively, likely cost him more). Maddux has won 19 games five times, and 18 games twice.

Teams

Maddux was drafted in the second round of the 1984 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs, making his Major League debut in September 1986 after some time in the minor leagues. Oddly, his first appearance in a major league game was as a pinch runner. At the time, he was the youngest player in the majors.

In 1986, Maddux defeated his older brother, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mike Maddux, marking the first time rookie brothers had ever pitched against each other. In 1987, his first full season in the Majors, Maddux finished with a disappointing 6-14 record and 5.61 ERA. In 1988, Maddux surprised the league by finishing 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA. This began a streak of 17 straight seasons in which Maddux recorded 15 or more wins. No other pitcher has achieved a streak as long as Maddux's. Cy Young ranks second with 15 straight 15-win seasons. In 2006, Maddux again won fifteen games for a total of 18 seasons with 15 or more wins.

Maddux established himself as the Cubs' ace in 1989, winning 19 games, including a September game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium that clinched the Cubs' second National League Eastern Division championship. Manager Don Zimmer tabbed him to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the San Francisco Giants. It was a rough postseason debut for Maddux, as he was chased in the fourth inning, the lethal blow being Will Clark's grand slam home run with 2 outs in the fourth. Maddux felt that just before the grand slam, Clark was able to read Maddux's lips during a conference at the mound between Maddux and Zimmer, discerning how he was going to be pitched. Since that incident, Maddux always covers his mouth with his glove during conversations on the mound in an effort to not repeat that mistake.

After strong 1990 and 1991 seasons, Maddux came into his own in 1992, winning 20 games and his first National League Cy Young Award. During the 1992 season, negotiations between him and the Cubs became contentious and eventually broke off. Cubs' general manager Larry Himes claimed that Maddux and his agent, Scott Boras, made unreasonable demands, but Maddux and Boras insist that Himes and Tribune Company executive Jim Dowdle failed to work in good faith with them.

After the 1992 season, Maddux filed for free agency and the Cubs decided to pursue other free agents, including Jose Guzman, Dan Plesac and Candy Maldonado. After seven seasons in Chicago, Maddux signed with the Atlanta Braves.

Maddux made his Braves' debut as Opening Day Starter against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and beat his old teammates 1-0, the losing pitcher being Maddux's good friend Mike Morgan. Maddux went on to star for the team through 2003. In his time with the Braves, he pitched in three World Series, his team winning one in 1995.

He returned to the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2004 season. Maddux's second stint with the Cubs lasted until mid-season 2006, when for the first time in his career, he was traded, sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Cesar Izturis on July 31, 2006. Although the trade surprised many, Maddux chose not to use his "no trade" contract clause and accepted the trade. September 30, 2006, Maddux pitched seven innings in San Francisco, allowing two runs and three hits in a 4-2 victory over the Giants, clinching a playoff spot for the Dodgers along with another 15 win season.

The Braves Years

Maddux's tenure with the Braves allowed him to pitch alongside Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. The three of them formed the core of one of the best pitching staffs in the history of the game, and were indispensable in the Braves’ ten straight division titles during Maddux's Braves tenure (1993-2003, with the exception of the strike year of 1994).

Maddux has pitched in 11 Division Series contests, 15 League Championship games and five World Series games, and has a 3.22 ERA in 190.0 post-season innings.

Maddux is also known as the best-fielding active pitcher in the game, having earned 16 Gold Glove Awards, tied with Jim Kaat and Brooks Robinson for the all-time record of the most Gold Gloves by a single player. Maddux won 13 straight Gold Gloves from 1990 to 2002.

Maddux has been elected to the National League All-Star team eight times.

Talents

Maddux is a right-handed pitcher known for his pinpoint accuracy and his ability to psyche out hitters. While the speed of his pitches has decreased with time, and never truly having had a blazing fastball like such contemporaries as Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, Maddux relies on location rather than power, having lost his already modest velocity over the years. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs said of Maddux, "It seems like he's inside your mind with you. When he knows you're not going to swing, he throws a straight one. He sees into the future. It's like he has a crystal ball hidden inside his glove." Dwight Gooden once commended Maddux, saying, "You wish there was another league he could get called up to." Joe Morgan once said that "Greg Maddux could put a baseball through a Life Saver." Maddux was also remarkable for the late movement on his pitches, which, combined with his superb command, made him one of the most effective groundball pitchers in history; hitters were often unable to make solid contact with his pitches.

Accomplishments

Maddux's best season was likely in 1995 when he finished 19-2 with an incredible 1.63 ERA in a year when the overall National League ERA was 4.23. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, he had an even lower ERA of 1.56, the best single-season ERA among currently active pitchers, which compared even more favorably to the NL in that year (4.26), but had a 16-6 record. He finished with a 2.20 ERA in 1997 and would have likely won the Cy Young Award that season had Pedro Martinez (to whom Maddux finished 2nd in the voting that year) not had an even more spectacular season. In 1998, Maddux carried a cumulative 1.65 ERA through late August, but a late-season slump caused his ERA to rise to 2.22. He still ended up with the lowest ERA in the National League, struck out over 200 batters for the only time in his career, and won 18 games.

His career ERA is 3.07, behind only Pedro Martínez and Roy Oswalt among all active starting pitchers. From 1993-1998, Maddux led the National League in ERA four times, and was second the other two seasons. Since the introduction of the live-ball era in 1920, there have only been five pitchers to have full-season ERAs under 1.65: Luis Tiant and Bob Gibson in the anomalous 1968 season, Dwight Gooden in 1985, and Greg Maddux, twice (1994 and 1995).

Maddux has never walked more than 82 batters in any season of his career. He has averaged fewer than 2 walks per game. In 1997, Maddux allowed 20 walks in 232+ innings, or 0.77 per 9 innings. Another strength is his defense: Maddux added his 16th Gold Glove award in 2006, tying him with fellow pitcher Jim Kaat for the most Gold Glove awards in a career. He has a shot of becoming the sole record holder if his consistantly strong defense carries into 2007 and he wins a 17th Gold Glove.

Maddux also won four straight Cy Young Awards from 1992 to 1995, a feat matched only by Randy Johnson. He has finished as high as third in MVP voting, and has been in the top ten several times. During the time Maddux won his consecutive Cy Young awards, many joked that it should be renamed the "Greg Maddux Award," since no one else had ever won three in a row and only Steve Carlton had won four awards overall at that time.

On April 28th, 2006, Maddux began his 21st season by winning each of his first five starts. This marked the third time winning five games in a month for Maddux, and the first time in his career that he had ever started a season off 5-0. He ended the season by winning his 15th game on September 30, completing his 18th 15-win season, tying the record set by Cy Young.

Some have criticized Maddux for his under .500 postseason winning percentage. However, this is largely a result of his teams having the weaker offenses than opposing teams, and Maddux has actually been an excellent postseason pitcher. He has produced a very strong 3.34 postseason ERA, including an outstanding 2.09 ERA in his 38.67 World Series innings.

Miscellaneous

On August 7, 2004, Maddux defeated the San Francisco Giants, 8-4, to garner his 300th career victory. On August 30, 2006, he got his 330th career win, passing Steve Carlton to take sole possession of 10th on the all-time list. On July 26, 2005, Maddux struck out Omar Vizquel to become the thirteenth member of the 3000 strikeout club and only the ninth pitcher with both 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. He is also one of only three pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts and fewer than 1,000 walks.

In 2003, he earned a salary of $14,750,000. His current contract pays him an average of $8,000,000 a year for the 2004-2006 seasons. Maddux was the first Major Leaguer to earn over $100,000,000 in total salary in a career.

Maddux, whose nicknames include "The Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is an avid golfer.

He graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada and currently lives there.

During the construction of the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, which was converted into Turner Field after the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Braves front office challenged the golden trio of Braves starters (Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz) to win the World Series in 1995 by saying that if they did, a putting green would be installed in the locker room at Turner Field.

A baseball traditionalist, Maddux insisted that the Cubs wear their white home jersey or grey away jersey (as opposed to the team's blue "alternate" jersey) on the days that he was their starting pitcher. He also prefers to be called a baseball player, not merely a pitcher; he is a perennial Gold Glove winner and has a reputation as an effective situational batter.

Beginning in 1988, Maddux won 15 or more games for a record 17 straight seasons. This eclipsed the previous mark set by Cy Young who recorded 15 straight seasons with 15 or more victories. Maddux has also reached at least 13 wins in 19 consecutive seasons, tying Cy Young for that record.

Maddux is known for his sense of humor and keen wit. Upon walking into the Braves clubhouse at during spring training for the 2003 season, Maddux saw doughnuts bought from a local grocery store and said "Where's the Krispy Kreme? How do they expect us to play like champions if they don't feed us like champions?"

Statistics

  • Ranks tenth all time in number of wins, second among active pitchers, and third among pitchers who played their entire careers in the live-ball era (333 wins)
  • Twelfth all time in number of career strikeouts, third among active pitchers (3169 SO's)
  • 8-time All-Star (1988, 1992, 1994-1998, 2000)
  • Lowest ERA single season record among active pitchers at 1.56 ERA (1994)
  • Led National League in ERA four times (1993-95, 1998)
  • Led National League in wins three times (1992, 1994-95)
  • Led National League in shutouts 5 times (1994-95, 1998, 2000-01)
  • Third among active pitchers in shutouts (35)
  • Finished 3rd in National League Most Valuable Player voting (1995)
  • Finished 5th in National League Most Valuable Player voting (1994)
  • Tied for first among Rawlings Gold Glove Awards with 16 (1990-2002, 2004-2006)
  • Holds record for most consecutive seasons with 15 wins or more, with 17 (1988-2004)
  • Second in Innings Pitched among all active pitchers
  • In 1999, he ranked Number 39 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking pitcher then active, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. However, when TSN updated their list in 2005, Maddux fell to number 51 despite his having since reached the 300-win and 3,000-strikeout plateaus.
  • In 2006, Maddux broke Warren Spahn's record (17) of seasons among the league's top 10 pitchers in games won. Maddux has now finished 18 seasons among the top 10 in the league in wins.
  • Holds record for times leading the league in games started (7 times).

Quotes

"Consistency is something you can always improve on. You can be more consistent with your mental approach, the things you do physically on the mound. Instead of doing 5 good pitches an inning, try to make 6. You can always do more of what you are doing well and try to be as consistent as you can be." - Greg Maddux

"I could probably throw harder if I wanted, but why? When they're in a jam, a lot of pitchers...try to throw harder. Me, I try to locate better." - Greg Maddux

"I try to do two things: locate my fastball and change speeds. That's it. I try to keep as simple as possible. I just throw my fastball (to) both sides of the plate and change speed every now and then. There is no special food or anything like that, I just try to make quality pitches and try to be prepared each time I go out there." - Greg Maddux

"Oh, poor me (jokingly, after being told that Randy Johnson & Pedro Martinez would make more in 2003 than he would). What do I do now? I guess I'll have to get a second job." - Greg Maddux

"Every pitch has a purpose. Sometimes he knows what he's going to throw two pitches ahead. I swear, he makes it look like guys are swinging foam bats against him." - John Smoltz

"He makes it look easy. You wish there was another league he could get called up to." - Dwight Gooden

"It seems like he's inside your mind with you. When he knows you're not going to swing, he throws a straight one. He sees into the future. It's like he has a crystal ball hidden inside his glove." - Wade Boggs

"Greg Maddux could put a baseball through a life saver if you asked him." - Joe Morgan

"(Greg) Maddux is a cerebral assassin on the mound. He knows his strengths and limitations as well as those of every hitter. That knowledge allows him to be more efficient than any hurler, resulting in the fewest pitches per start (77.9) in the National League. The righthander possesses pinpoint control, gets ahead in the count and mixes his pitches as well as anyone. He rarely tops the high 80s with his fastball, but his outstanding movement on the pitch produces groundball outs. Maddux also throws a cut fastball and a plus changeup at any time in the count. He refuses to waste pitches or give in to hitters, instead opting to keep his offerings low in the strike zone while moving his pitches off both corners of the plate." - Stats, Inc. (2003)

"When he's on like this, it can be a boring game for the fans. It looks like you're not even trying." - Paul O'Neill

See also

Team Tenure

External links

Preceded byTom Glavine National League Cy Young Award
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 		Succeeded byJohn Smoltz
Categories: