A Legend Retires


K

Kendrick

Well-Known Member
Here is all you need to know about the esteem in which Greg Maddux is held in major league baseball: when he announced his retirement Monday in a conference room at the Bellagio hotel, Ned Colletti, the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, stood behind the rows of reporters, taking a photograph with his cellphone.

Maddux retires with more victories than any living pitcher; he has 355 wins, one more than Roger Clemens. In his final season, with the San Diego Padres and the Dodgers, Maddux won his 18th Gold Glove award and led the National League in fewest walks per nine innings for the ninth time.

In all, he captured four Cy Young awards (1992 to 1995), helped the Braves to the 1995 World Series title and broke Cy Young’s record for consecutive seasons with 15 or more victories, with 17. His career earned run average was 3.16.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/sports/baseball/09base.html?ref=baseball
 



I was so upset when the Cubs let Maddox sign with the Braves in 1992. But he came back to win his 300th game with the Cubs.

Boy, he was my favorite pitcher to watch and laugh at too........


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CurtDog 1971 said:
Now I wish Smoltz and Glavine will go on and retire so they all can go into the HOF together.
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I think Smoltz probably will retire, considering he is coming off arm surgery and advancing in age. It would be nice to see those guys go into the Hall of Fame together.

Back in the 90s, Smoltz, Glavine, Maddox and Avery were the best in baseball. Some people even said Avery was the best one. It turned that the old guys were a little better.
 
CurtDog 1971 said:
Now I wish Smoltz and Glavine will go on and retire so they all can go into the HOF together.
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that would be awesome to see the three of them go in together. They are all 1st Ballot guys. Matter of fact, if they were to all retire right now, I think that MLB should give a special consideration and just let them go in immediately.....like the NHL did THE GREAT ONE!
 
wbishop3 said:
that would be awesome to see the three of them go in together. They are all 1st Ballot guys. Matter of fact, if they were to all retire right now, I think that MLB should give a special consideration and just let them go in immediately.....like the NHL did THE GREAT ONE!
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No player in baseball history has ever gone into the Hall of Fame like that. Not even Babe Ruth, and he was the most influential player in the game before Jackie Robinson.

Damn, not even Robinson got special treatment. He had to wait five years as well.
 
They'll have to wait their 5 years

But arguably, you can say that the Braves' rotation during that time was the best ever in baseball, since they were shutting cats down left and right in the genesis of the Steroids Era and the move to single-sport retro stadiums like Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and the like.

Maddux was always my favorite pitcher. He was a magician on the hill, fooling hitters with guile and trickery rather that brute arm strength.

Maddux showed us baseball folk what the TRUE three rules of pitching are: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
 
Journalist said:
They'll have to wait their 5 years

But arguably, you can say that the Braves' rotation during that time was the best ever in baseball, since they were shutting cats down left and right in the genesis of the Steroids Era and the move to single-sport retro stadiums like Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and the like.

Maddux was always my favorite pitcher. He was a magician on the hill, fooling hitters with guile and trickery rather that brute arm strength.

Maddux showed us baseball folk what the TRUE three rules of pitching are: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Click to expand...

Yes they were that 95 team was fundamentally sound all the way!
 
kendrick said:
I think Smoltz probably will retire, considering he is coming off arm surgery and advancing in age. It would be nice to see those guys go into the Hall of Fame together.

Back in the 90s, Smoltz, Glavine, Maddox and Avery were the best in baseball. Some people even said Avery was the best one. It turned that the old guys were a little better.
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a little?????

Avery had a couple of good seasons and then he flopped.

He doesnt belong in the conversation with these greats.

Maddox was the best. :tup:

Braves aint been the same since (I havent even seen a braves game in a few years (live or on television)
 
Journalist said:
They'll have to wait their 5 years

But arguably, you can say that the Braves' rotation during that time was the best ever in baseball, since they were shutting cats down left and right in the genesis of the Steroids Era and the move to single-sport retro stadiums like Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and the like.

Maddux was always my favorite pitcher. He was a magician on the hill, fooling hitters with guile and trickery rather that brute arm strength.

Maddux showed us baseball folk what the TRUE three rules of pitching are: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Click to expand...

Not too many people know that when Maddox first came up with the Cubs in 1987 he was topping out at 94 MPH. He realized that he could not win throwing like that. Maddox knew he had to be a "pitcher."
 
I know that it won't happen, but that was just wishful thinking of if all of them retired this offseason. Together, with Avery, the were arguably one of the greatest - if not the greatest - starting pitching staff in MLB history.
 



I think if Billy Beane was not so concerned about his Moneyball idea, Zito, Mulder and Hudson in Oakland could have been the greatest rotation of all-time.

You can also throw in Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton with the Dodgers.
 
kendrick said:
I think if Billy Beane was not so concerned about his Moneyball idea, Zito, Mulder and Hudson in Oakland could have been the greatest rotation of all-time.

You can also throw in Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton with the Dodgers.
Click to expand...

I think the Glavine-Smoltz-Maddux trio stacks up pretty well with Koufax, Drysdale and Sutton...
 
Journalist said:
They'll have to wait their 5 years

But arguably, you can say that the Braves' rotation during that time was the best ever in baseball, since they were shutting cats down left and right in the genesis of the Steroids Era and the move to single-sport retro stadiums like Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and the like.

Maddux was always my favorite pitcher. He was a magician on the hill, fooling hitters with guile and trickery rather that brute arm strength.

Maddux showed us baseball folk what the TRUE three rules of pitching are: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Click to expand...

Well written. He was a true tactician on the mound, as his superb location probably caused more ground ball outs than any pitcher of all time. His fastball rarely was more than 85 mph as his ptich was a moving target from the moment it left his hand. The movement of his fastball was a thing of beauty - much like that Sid Bream slide at home plate to start the Braves dynasty.
 
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