Greg Maddux
From Sports Library
| Image:Greg Maddux.jpg |
|
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres — No. 30 | |
| Starting Pitcher | |
| Born: April 14 1966 (age 42) | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| September 3, 1986 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through May 4, 2007) |
|
| Win-Loss | 336-205 |
| Earned Run Average | 3.08 |
| Strikeouts | 3191 |
| Teams | |
Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is a pitcher for the San Diego Padres. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to have 300 career wins, 3000 strikeouts, and less than 1000 walks. He won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher and is considered to be one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball.
Contents |
Early life
Greg Maddux was born in San Angelo, Texas, but spent a majority of his childhood in Madrid, Spain, where the United States Air Force had stationed his father.[1] His father exposed him to baseball at a rather young age, and kindled his passion for the sport. Upon his return to Los Angeles, California, Maddux and his brother trained under the supervision of Ralph Medar, a former scout from the majors.[1] Though Medar died before Maddux graduated from Valley High School, he instilled a firm foundation that would anchor Maddux’s future career.[2] Despite having a successful high school career, he did not receive many athletic scholarship offers to play collegiate baseball.[3] This prompted Maddux to declare eligibility for 1984 amateur MLB Draft after graduation.
Professional career
Chicago Cubs (1986-1992)
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 not to 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.
Atlanta Braves (1993-2003)
He 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 won the last three of his four consecutive Cy Young Awards (1993-1995), and pitched in three World Series, his team winning one in 1995.
During this period, Maddux was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. In the strike shortened 1994 season he posted an ERA of 1.56, the second lowest ERA since Bob Gibson's historic 1.12 in 1968 (the lowest since the mound was lowered is Dwight Gooden's 1.53 for the 1985 New York Mets). He also led the National League in wins, with 16, and innings pitched, with 202. The following year he won 19 games and posted the third-lowest ERA since Gibson, 1.63, en route to winning the World Series and his fourth Cy Young Award.
Maddux's tenure with the Braves also allowed him to pitch alongside fellow aces 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). Most of his greatest accomplishments came as an Atlanta Brave (see accomplishments section below).
Chicago Cubs (2004-2006)
He returned to the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2004 season. During his return to the Cubs Maddux notched his 300th career win in 2004 and 3000th strikeout in 2005.
Maddux's second stint with the Cubs lasted until mid-season 2006, when he was traded, for the first time in his career, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Cesar Izturis on July 31, 2006.
Los Angeles Dodgers (2006)
When Maddux was acquired by the Dodgers they were in the thick of a playoff race. On 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 and earning another 15 win season.
San Diego Padres (2007-present)
On December 5, 2006 Maddux was presented with a one year, $10 million deal with the San Diego Padres with a player option for the 2008 season. He and teammate David Wells are called The Odd Couple. [1]
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. 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." 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. His primary pitches have always been variations of the standard fastball and changeup, though over his career, he has gradually added to his reportoire other, more complex pitches, thrown occasionally, like the split-fingered fastball and the screwball.
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[2]) 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 and third-basemen Brooks Robinson for the most Gold Glove awards in a career. He would become the sole record holder if his consistently 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.
He holds the major league record for consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins with 17 (1988-2004). 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.
Maddux is tough to beat when his team's offense gives him support. As of the end of the 2006 season, he is 120-0 in his career given a lead of 5 runs or more, with 2 no decisions.[3]
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 2/3 World Series innings.
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 has been elected to the National League All-Star team eight times.
300-win club
Template:Unreferenced 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. 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.
Trivia
- 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, with 944 walks at the beginning of the 2007 season.
- In 2003, he earned a salary of $14,750,000. His current contract pays him an average of $10,000,000 a year for the 2006-07 season. Maddux was the first Major Leaguer to earn over $100,000,000 in total salary in a career.
- Maddux, whose nicknames include "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 during 2003 spring training, 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?"
- Maddux shares his birthday with former teammates Steve Avery and David Justice (Justice was born the same year as well).
- Maddux made his major league debut in relief of present Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer
- Greg has 2 children; a daughter, Amanda "Paige", and a son, Chase.
Statistics & Records
- 4-time winner of Cy Young Award (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)
- 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 K'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 5th in National League Most Valuable Player voting (1994)
- Finished 3rd in National League Most Valuable Player voting (1995)
- 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 Cy Young and Warren Spahn's shared 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).
- As of the end of the 2006 season, is 120-0, with 2 no decisions, when given a lead of 5 or more runs
Career statistics
| Seasons | G | GS | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 686 | 682 | 336 | 205 | 0.621 | 3.07 | 109 | 35 | 4676.0 | 4351 | 1593 | 319 | 951 | 3200 |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jrank.org, Greg Maddux Biography Retrieved on May 17, 2007
- ↑ Jrank.org, Medar's Influence Retrieved on May 17, 2007
- ↑ Jrank.org, Getting His Start Retrieved on May 17, 2007
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
| Preceded by Tom Glavine |
National League Cy Young Award 1992-1995 |
Succeeded by John Smoltz |
| Preceded by Bill Swift |
National League ERA Champion 1993-1995 |
Succeeded by Kevin Brown |
| Preceded by Pedro Martinez |
National League ERA Champion 1998 |
Succeeded by Randy Johnson |
| Preceded by Ron Darling |
National League Gold Glove Award (P) 1990-2002 |
Succeeded by Mike Hampton |
| Preceded by Mike Hampton |
National League Gold Glove Award (P) 2004-present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| 1989 National League East Champion Chicago Cubs Starting Lineup: 1. Jerome Walton CF | 2. Ryne Sandberg 2B | 3. Andre Dawson RF | 4. Mark Grace 1B | 5. Dwight Smith/Lloyd McClendon LF | 6. Luis Salazar/Vance Law 3B | 7. Shawon Dunston SS | 8. Joe Girardi/Damon Berryhill/Rick Wrona C Starting Pitchers: Greg Maddux | Mike Bielecki | Rick Sutcliffe | Scott Sanderson | Paul Kilgus |
Categories: 1966 births | Living people | Major league pitchers | Atlanta Braves players | Chicago Cubs players | Los Angeles Dodgers players | National League All-Stars | Major league players from Texas | 300 win club | 3000 strikeout club | Gold Glove Award winners | National League ERA champions | People from San Angelo, Texas | People from Las Vegas
