On...Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

The best pitcher of his generation is hanging up the cleats. 355 game winner Greg Maddux is retiring at 42 years old even though he is clearly in good enough shape for a few more years and a few more wins. But every career must come to an end. Even you you have that many wins, 4 consecutive Cy Young Awards and 18 Gold Glove Awards (the most by anyone ever). He is also 10th all time in Strikeouts (3,371) and only Walter Johnson and Warren Spawn have more wins since 1900. And 17 straight seasons with at least 15 wins or more. That there is amazing.

I've enjoyed watching Maddux since I was a kid loving the Cubs and their ace, Mad Dog in the late 80s and early 90s. A nickname by the way which is clearly a joke. The guy is nice, almost vanilla, but he could paint the corners and tear apart a batting line up. I still admired him when he went to the Atlanta Braves (and yes helped beat my Cleveland Indians in the 1995 World Series). By the way he was 19-2 with a 1.63 ERA. That too is freaking amazing. And the year before his ERA was 1.53. He did make it back to Chicago for a few years before finishing his career with the Padres and Dodgers who gave him little run support. He should have at least 10 more wins.

He is a first ballot Hall of Famer and should get one of the highest percentages of all time in the voting. No one can deny Greg Maddux the halls of Cooperstown. Later Mad Dog.

ESPN has a nice article HERE about Maddux

Career stats HERE

Plus the classic and hilarious "Chicks Dig the Long Ball"
Nike ad from the 90s with fellow Brave Tom Glavine.