Greg Maddux is about to do something no other pitcher has done…again! Maddux earned his 300th victory against the Giants on August 7th, but his next win will be his biggest milestone of the season.
On Saturday, “Mad Dog” goes after his 15th win of the season further solidifying his Hall of Fame career. A win marks his 17th consecutive campaign with at least 15 wins, breaking his own record of 16 straight. Name a quarterback that threw for 20 TDs for 17 straight seasons, or a basketball player who averaged 20 points or a batter who hit .300. Consistency exhibits greatness, and Greg Maddux epitomizes consistency in athletics today.
Think about it! Since Reagan was sleeping through his second term, Greg Maddux has been winning baseball games and lots of them. Over that span he has failed to reach 200 innings once (he had 199 in 2002). He has made 600 career starts, thrown over 4100 innings, struck out nearly 3000 batters (next year’s milestone), and walked only 868. Oh yeah, and he also took home a few Gold Gloves (13 consecutively). All this from a guy you would mistake for your accountant if you saw him on the bus.
On Monday night, Maddux wrapped up his 14th win of the season with seven brilliant shutout innings against the Pirates at Wrigley Field. He didn’t walk anyone (vintage Maddux) and scattered five hits. His record now stands at 14-9 with a very respectable 3.51 ERA. Not bad for a guy in the twilight of his career whom many around baseball thought was on the downside.
Over the off-season, Maddux signed with the Cubs for 3 years, $27 million after a tedious negotiating process. Experts and fans around the league questioned whether Maddux was worth the dough this late in his career, but the Cubs and GM Jim Hendry once again look genius. When Maddux was signed he appeared, at best, the third starter in the rotation on an already strong staff with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Did the Cubs really need Maddux?
I think that question has been answered an emphatic YES by everyone around baseball. Not only has Maddux solidified the sometimes schizophrenic Cubs rotation, but he could arguably be considered the staff’s Ace. The Cubs could have pursued Pudge Rodriguez instead, which this fan thought was the right choice. That’s why fans don’t make the decisions and Jim Hendry does.
It didn’t start so cheery for Maddux in his return to the Cubs blue. After three starts this year he was 0-2 and had given up 15 runs in 15 innings. Manager Dusty Baker, Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild and Maddux didn’t panic and remained patient. They knew that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but nobody could have expected Maddux’s recent performance.
The Cubs are in the thick of the Wild Card race in the National League because of Maddux. He has steadied a staff that has seen injury claim Wood and Prior for a significant part of the season. Not to mention those two have not been half of what they were last year. If you told anyone at the beginning of the season that neither Kerry Wood nor Mark Prior would have eight wins by September, but the Cubs would only be a half game back in the Wild Card, people would have laughed you out of the bar. Simply put, Maddux has carried the Cubs staff this entire season. Sure, Zambrano has been a nice surprise, but where would the Cubs be without Maddux?
Since the All-Star break Maddux’s numbers are Cy Young like, 7-2 with a 2.03 ERA. He allowed nine base on balls in his first three starts, only 21 since. Each and every game Baker and company can count on 6-8 solid innings of baseball out of Maddux, which has saved the bullpen. Not only that, his mere presence in the dugout and consistent performance are model for the rest of the Cubs. Maddux didn’t get the name Mad Dog or help lead the Braves to ten straight division crowns by luck. He is a fierce competitor who wants to win like nothing else.
Maddux probably has four more starts this season, and the way he’s pitching 15 wins seems like a foregone conclusion. This includes a possible season ending tilt against the Braves with playoff implications. At the beginning of the season most fans would have wanted to see Wood or Prior or maybe even Zambrano take the hill in a game of that magnitude. But I think if you asked most Cub fans now who they would like to see it would be Maddux.
Cub fans have always had a special spot in their heart for Greg Maddux. Even when he left to Atlanta to win three more Cy Youngs and a World Series, Cub fans always reminded everyone, “You know he started in Chicago.” Fans blamed management not Maddux for his departure and in the back of their minds always thought he would come back “home.” It’s like he never left Wrigley at all!