Well here's a guy we don't need to argue about at all when it comes to his HOF credentials. One of the very best of the last 30 years, and a true credit to the game.
Among the greatest ever (obviously). That stretch in the 90s is the stuff of legend. And despite being a pain in the ass for all Giants fans in the 90s, high inspiration for me as a high school pitcher who could put the ball wherever I wanted it despite not being able to throw a fastball through a wet paper towel.
I don't think it was the game mentioned above, but I remember once on Sportscenter, Olbermann said that someone like Maddux was pitching and the game lasted like 1:57 and he and Patrick both started clapping.
He's the guy I see as having a real chance to be the first unanimous pick to the HoF. Defense, consistency, and reasonable offense (for a pitcher), plus being the man for a number of years makes it really hard for me to see how anyone could not think of him as the stereotypical HoF'er.
Tim
Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit. -- Erasmus
All others things being equal, the simplest solution is usually stupidity. -- Darwin Minor
Greatest pitcher of my lifetime. I got to watch the man pitch gem after gem for my Braves. There may even be an argument that he was the greatest free agent signing in history. Seriously, there was NOTHING that went wrong in his stint with Atlanta. At no point could you look at his contract and think "geez, he's not worth that".
Seriously, who puts together a 16-6 season with a 1.56 ERA and then proceeds to TOP IT the following year with a 19-2, 1.63 ERA. Model of consistency. I'll miss you Greg.
Joe Posnanski wrote a great tribute to Maddux (sportsillustrated.cnn.com) a few months ago. In another Posnanski post, he described some Maddux ancedotes, such as the time Maddux was on the bench and told his teammates to keep their heads up since the next pitch was going to be fouled into the dugout. Lo and behold, Maddux knew the batter's tendencies so well that the pitch was indeed lined into the dugout.
Growing up I watched the man pitch to learn how he did it. He set an example to me (and others in this thread and around the world) that you don't need power to pitch. You need brains.....well, world class defense helps too. A class act on and off the field. Needless to say, I will miss watching him play.
Oh, and he did it drug free too. Also; "Maddux finished one win ahead of Roger Clemens on the career victory list". That makes me smile too.
One could make a very convincing arguement in saying that Greg Maddux is the greatest pticher of all time.
(edited by El Nastio on 6.12.08 1017) You know, I really don't know what to put here. Close your eyes and thank of something funny!
Originally posted by El NastioOne could make a very convincing arguement in saying that Greg Maddux is the greatest pticher of all time. (edited by El Nastio on 6.12.08 1017)
Maybe of the modern era over the longest period of time but Kofax and Gibson are ahead of him. Kofax for less time but damn he was dominant and Gibson was just downright terrifying.
As a guy whose first baseball love, team-wise, was the Atlanta Braves, I offer Maddux my sincerest congratulations on one of the best pitching careers ever, and if ever there was a unanimous Hall of Fame choice in baseball, he has to be one of them.
I just wish he hadn't had to suffer year after year of playoff disappointment, and leave baseball with "only" one World Series championship to his name. (Which is still more than a lot of people ever had, but).
"If I let myself get hung up on doing things that had any actual chance of success, I'd never do anything!"
Originally posted by ekedolphin I just wish he hadn't had to suffer year after year of playoff disappointment, and leave baseball with "only" one World Series championship to his name. (Which is still more than a lot of people ever had, but).
Eke, that's true but how many years in a row was he part of a team that won a divisional championship. I know they should have had more than one ring but he was part of a great team that lasted a long time. And I am a Indians fan who wanted to kill them all when they won their ring from the tribe.
Originally posted by El NastioOne could make a very convincing arguement in saying that Greg Maddux is the greatest pticher of all time. (edited by El Nastio on 6.12.08 1017)
Maybe of the modern era over the longest period of time but Kofax and Gibson are ahead of him. Kofax for less time but damn he was dominant and Gibson was just downright terrifying.
I would say Maddux at his peak is even better than Koufax.
For Maddux to put up those numbers in an enviornment where teams were scoring on average at least one more run per game just is amazing to me. In the post dead-ball era only one pitcher has ever had a year where they were so incredibly ahead of everyone around them, and that was Pedro Martinez in his otherworldly 2000 season. Even Gibson in the immortal 1968 season wasn't racing as far ahead of the field as Maddux in 1994-1995.
Maddux was also not pitching in a "pitcher's park" like Dodger Stadium. Nor was he the sycophantic darling of the New York sports media and the followng generation of sports media that grew up in NYC.
Yeah, I just got back from the game. Goddamn, that was the craziest thing I've ever seen. First no hitter at Fenway since 1965 I think they said. And to think, I wanted to see Pedro pitch. Forget that, from now on, it's Lowe all the way baby!