The Great Greg Maddux…We’ll Never See Another Like Him

Let me give a belated tip of the cap to the great Greg Maddux, who will easily enter Cooperstown when he’s eligible. He announced his retirement with 355 wins, 8th most of all times. Maddux is the type of pitcher we’ll never see again. How amazing is Maddux’s accomplishment? The pitchers ahead of him all ended their careers by 1965, and all but one of them did not pitch after 1930.

Maddux wasn’t as exciting as Randy Johnson to watch pitch. He would never blow you away with fastballs, but he would get you out. I’ve seen this guy throw a complete game in less than 90 pitches. This is what made Maddux so durable.

Maddux was special as well in that he worked at the whole game of baseball. He was the best fielding pitcher in baseball history, winning 18 Gold Gloves awards for his fielding prowess, more than any player at any position in the history of the game. While no one would mistake Greg Maddux for Babe Ruth, Maddux never made himself an automatic out at the plate, a rarity for a pitcher.

Johnson, Roger Clemens, and Tom Glavine have their place in baseball history, but Greg Maddux is truly a once-in-a-generation pitcher. It was a pleasure to watch him pitch.