Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series presents Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux was the winningest pitcher of his generation and elevated ‘control’ to a new definition, both with the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves.

Greg Maddux spent most of his childhood in Spain, where his father, Dave, was stationed with the Air Force.  As a child, all Maddux wanted to do was play baseball.  When he came home from school, he and his brother, Mike Maddux, came home from school, headed straight outside in the hot Spanish sun and play baseball, soon coming to the realization that this is what they wanted to do.

While in high school, Maddux played junior-varsity basketball but he and his brother were persuaded by coaches to focus solely on baseball. By his junior year, his high school won the state championship.

Helping mold Greg Maddux into a great high school pitcher was Ralph Medar, a former scout who worked with Maddux and taught him that movement was more important than velocity.  Maddux didn’t turn heads with out-of-this-world stuff, a blazing fastball or a 12-to-6 curveball.  Without this luxury, Maddux had to learn to pitch.  He didn’t disappoint.

He was known for his control, late movement in pitches and, simply knowing what he was doing.  A cerebral pitcher, Maddux studied hitters and got them out with pitches that hardly seemed imposing on their way to the plate.

After attending the University of Arizona in Tucson, Maddux was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the 1984 draft.  He progressed through the minor leagues with a steady rhythm, defining his work on the mound and demonstrating a pitching intelligence beyond his years after winning a combined 27 minor league games during the 1985-86 years.  He saw a three-level promotion through Class A to Triple.  By September of 1986, he earned a call-up to the Majors.

Chicago Cubs: Rocky start, quick emergence

Maddux made his big league debut not as a pitcher but a pinch-runner in a 17-inning game against Houston on Sept. 3.  The game was started during the day but, without Wrigley having any lights installed, it was suspended by darkness.  He stayed in the game and pitched in the 18th inning, taking the loss.  Four days later, he started against Cincinnati, going the distance in an 11-3 win, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cubs.

Maddux made five starts for the Cubs during that 1986 season. His final one, against Philadelphia, saw him going opposite a familiar face, his brother, Mike.  Greg prevailed against his older brother, winning 8-3.

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Maddux played winter ball following the 1986 season in Maracaibo, Venezuela.  His brother Mike, an opposing adversary during the season, became his teammate.  While playing that winter, Maddux met Dick Pole, a pitching coach who worked with Greg and helped teach him the value of a groundout.  “You don’t have to strike him out,” Pole would say about opposing batters.  “You just have to get him out.”  Pole discovered that Maddux was fearless on the mound, a pitcher that would throw any pitch at any time.  He warned Maddux not to throw a changeup on a full count in the ninth inning.  However, Maddux did and invariably batters still got caught looking.

Maddux struggled as a 21-year old in 1987 with the Cubs, going 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA.  However, from there, he went almost two decades before posting another losing record.

He greatly improved in 1988, pitching his way to an 18-8 record and his first selection to the All-Star team.  That year also marked the first of 17 straight seasons with at least 15 victories, the longest streak by any pitcher in big league history.

In 1989, Maddux went 19-12 with a 2.95 ERA, leading the Cubs to the National League East title while finishing third in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

He won 15 games in 1990 along with the first of his record 18 Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in innings pitched in 1991 with 263 – the first of five straight seasons in which he led the league in that category.

After the season, Maddux became a free agent and was at the top of the market.  His agent, Scott Boras, expected top dollar.  The Cubs offered Maddux a 5-year, $27.5M contract, but appeared to back off when they signed pitcher Jose Guzman and offered Maddux a lesser contract.  It was then reported that the New York Yankees topped all offers with a $37.5M price tag.  With Maddux posed to go to the Bronx, a late entry by the Atlanta Braves, a club coming off two straight World Series appearances, caught the eye of Maddux and he quickly agreed to a 5-year, $28M contract with the team.

Chicago Cubs: A crown jewel of his class

His first start with Atlanta came in the 1993 season opener against a familiar group – the Chicago Cubs.  He outdueled Mike Morgan and won the 1-0 ballgame, unfazed by Wrigley’s booing fans.  Maddux understood the fans’ reaction but was hurt by comments made by former teammates, such as Ryne Sandberg, who accused Maddux of using the Cubs as a bargaining chip to obtain a larger contract elsewhere. 

Maddux vehemently denied these claims, stating that he repeatedly made calls to the Cubs front office during the final stages of negotiations and, had they put their original offer back on the table, he would have “heavily” considered re-signing with them.

While the Cubs dipped further into mediocrity, the Braves added what Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker called, “the greatest free-agent signing in baseball history.”

Maddux didn’t disappoint and was stellar in his first year in Atlanta going 20-10, leading the Braves to their third straight NL West title and leading the league with a 2.36 ERA – the first of four ERA crowns he would capture.  He became the lynchpin and crown jewel of Atlanta’s much-vaunted rotation that also included John Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

During the next two strike-shortened seasons, Maddux was practically untouchable – going 16-6 with a 1.56 ERA in 1994 and then following that with a 19-2 mark in 1995 that included a 1.63 ERA, a minuscule in any historical relation in any era.  That same season, in June and July, he threw 51 consecutive innings without issuing a walk.

Maddux continued rolling into the postseason, going 3-1 and helping the Braves win the World Series, topping the Cleveland Indians in six games.  He set on early tone in the series with a nine-inning, no walk, two-hit performance in Game 1 against Orel Hershiser.

During his four straight Cy Young Awards from 1992-1995, Maddux dominated opposing hitters, with a 75-29 record and a 1.98 ERA.  He became the first player ever to win the award four consecutive years – a record that went unchallenged until Randy Johnson tied it from 1999 to 2002.

Maddux continued to improve his control every year, notching 889 1/3 innings from 1994 to 97, walking just 102 batters in that span.  Writers, analysts, and fellow ballplayers touted him as the best right-handed pitcher since Walter Johnson.

Chicago Cubs: A legacy cemented in Cooperstown

Despite being an average-looking right-hander, Greg Maddux was the winningest pitcher of his generation and elevated “control” to a new definition throughout his career.  His mastery of the strike zone truly seemed effortless.

He was one of the most consistent pitchers in the history of the game.  Along with winning at least 15 games in 17 consecutive seasons and at least 13 in an astounding 20 consecutive seasons.

His superior pitching mechanics helped him avoid serious arm injuries throughout his career as he only landed on the disabled list once in 2002, for a total of 15 days.  This reputation allowed him to pitch at least 200 innings (often upwards of nearly 270) in 18 seasons.

Maddux achieved this by frequently throwing complete games with low pitch counts.  On July 22, 1997, Maddux needed just 78 pitches (63 pitches and 15 balls) to defeat the Chicago Cubs.  Three weeks earlier, he needed just 84 in a shutout against the defending World Champion New York Yankees.

His ability to outthink and outwit opponents is legendary.  He used every psychological edge he could.  Once even intentionally allowing a home run to Houston’s Jeff Bagwell, in anticipation of facing him later in playoffs.  As Bagwell would instinctively be looking for the same pitch again, Maddux would play mind games and catch him looking on another one.

He is one of only four pitchers (Ferguson Jenkins, Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez) to finish his career with at least 3,000 strikeouts while allowing fewer than 1,000 walks (he had 999).  At one point in 2001, he pitched 72 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up a walk.  This streak only ended after an intentional walk to Arizona’s Steve Finley.  He frequently hit long streaks of 40 innings pitched without issuing a free pass during his career.

Maddux ended his career with 355 wins and only 227 losses, a .610 winning percentage.  His win total ranks eighth-best all-time and his inning total (5,008 1/3) ranks 13th.  His 18 career Gold Gloves is an all-time record for any position.

On May 3, 2009, the Cubs held a ceremony to retire the No. 31 worn by both Maddux and Fergie Jenkins.  The Braves promptly retired the number themselves, two months later. Five years on, in his first year of eligibility, Maddux was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  However, there was a surprise as he opted not to have a team logo on his official plaque.