Happy Birthday to Greg Maddux, one of the all-time greatest crown jewel Starting Pitchers ever to play. Pitching twenty-three seasons, all during the steroid era, his prime seasons took place with the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves while also making stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.
Greg Maddux Career Statistics/Accolades (1986-2008):
355-227 W-L 3.16 ERA 5,007.1 IP 3,371 K 1.143 WHIP 740 Starts
•8x All-Star
•18x Gold-Glove
•4x NL Cy Young
•1995 World Series Champion
As a Pitcher
Greg Maddux wasn’t considered a big-time power pitcher who blew hitters away with high velocity. Maddux used a combination of location and changing speeds to keep hitters off balance. Mostly, his average fastball stayed in the upper 80’s. Former Braves Pitching Coach once said, “He can throw you a strike and still not give you anything good to hit,” and that “He’s a master at that. It’s the greatest command I’ve ever seen consistently.” Not being a big-time thrower who depended on throwing every pitch as hard as he could helped him stay healthy and avoid significant stints on the DL.
Maddux had 18 years of winning 15 or more games, leading the league three times. Nine seasons he maintained an ERA under 3.00, as well as leading the league four times. Maddux pitched 200 Innings or more in 19 seasons, 15 consecutive, leading the league five times. Maddux led the league or majors 31 times in Pitching Categories such as Wins, Starts, Innings Pitched, ERA, WHIP, Shutouts, and Complete Games.
As a Fielder
What also made Maddux great on the mound was his defense. No player in the history of baseball at any other position, has won more Gold Gloves than Maddux has at 18. His career Fielding Percentage of .970 was .13 above the league average among pitchers throughout his career. While his 1,194 Assists ranks 11th all-time, his 546 Putouts and 98 Double Plays are the most by any pitcher in baseball history. As well as leading the league in Assists 12 times and Putouts 8 times, in 1990, 1995, and 2006 he recorded a perfect Fielding Percentage.
Best Years
Winning the Cy Young Award in four straight seasons1992-95, it’s hard to pick out his best year, but I’ll say his 1995 campaign was his best, having the lowest ERA and WHIP of his career as he and the Braves would go on to win the World Series. Down below are his eight best seasons, however take away 2000 he had a seven year peak from 1992-98 of maintaining a 2.15 ERA and 0.968 WHIP over the span of 1,675.1 Innings pitched.
1992: 20-11 W-L 2.18 ERA 268.0 IP 199 K 1.011 WHIP (35 Starts)
1993: 20-10 W-L 2.36 ERA 267.0 IP 197 K 1.049 WHIP (36 Starts)
1994: 16-6 W-L 1.56 ERA 202.0 IP 156 K 0.896 WHIP (25 Starts)
1995: 19-2 W-L 1.63 ERA 209.2 IP 181 K 0.811 WHIP (28 Starts)
1996: 15-11 W-L 2.72 ERA 245.0 IP 172 K 1.033 WHIP (35 Starts)
1997: 19-4 W-L 2.20 ERA 232.2 IP 177 K 0.946 WHIP (33 Starts)
1998: 18-9 W-L 2.22 ERA 251.0 IP 204 K 0.980 WHIP (34 Starts)
2000: 19-9 W-L 3.00 ERA 249.1 IP 190 K 1.071 WHIP (35 Starts)
In terms of coming up with an all-time five man Starting Rotation, it’d be criminal to not include Maddux, given how dominant he was in the PED era. He is a first ballot Hall of Famer and rightfully so, however he chose not to wear a hat in Cooperstown due to his fondness of the Cubs and Braves. However, both teams retired his number. In 1999, after have winning four Cy Young Awards, he was ranked #39 on The Sporting News list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers.
References:
- Greg Maddux Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maddugr01.shtml
- Cubs Insider. Cubs legend Greg Maddux’s pitching philosophy via NBC Sports. Published April 19th, 2020 https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/cubs-legend-greg-madduxs-pitching-philosophy-its-not-speed-contest
- Thornley, Stew. Greg Maddux via SABR. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/greg-maddux/
- Muder, Craig. Maddux sets record with 17th Gold Glove Award via Baseball Hall. https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/maddux-sets-record-with-17th-gold-glove-award
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