It's an 89 MPH sinker, and you won't even swing at it." -Greg Maddux : r/baseballcards "No need to steal the sign. What has benefited me the most is learning I can't control what happens outside of my pitching. Clearly, things worked out fine for the Yankees, who won four championships during Madduxs 11-year tenure with the Braves. His control was so impeccable that Orel Hershiser once said Maddux can throw a ball in a teacup. The reality of Greg Maddux is amazing enough. He released his first book, Volume I of A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs, in October of 2021. Maddux, famously, has a near-photographic memory for pitch sequencing, but he was in no position to confirm or deny much about how he approached Clark in Game 1 of the NLCS. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. 7th inning: One groundout, two strikeouts In their regular-season battles, Clark was 11 for 46 (.239) against Maddux with one homer, six walks, 13 strikeouts and a .709 OPS. When I read that, my eyebrows became erect. Maddux relied on a sinker, circle changeup, cutter, and two- and four-seam fastball during his 23-year career. Whats interesting, Maddux said, is that it seems like the better the hitter, the easier it is to get them to take a strike. Evan Thompson is a member of the Roland Hemond (AZ) Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Key was no Maddux, but he won 35 games over his first two seasons in the Bronx and . And hes Greg Maddux. He was that good. That's what pitchers have to do to win games -- Greg Maddux, I could probably throw harder if I wanted, but why? There will be the customary love letters to Will Clarks gorgeous swing when the Giants retire his number on Saturday. Stealing strikes. The Yankees had offered the right-hander $6 million more, with then-general manager Gene Michael saying, "He's the best one out there. You kind of go there to sign a contract and everything.". They'll stick to the realm of reality insofar as this matter is concerned. Yours too, I. Plus, Im beating to the outside part of the plate. In the last month and half of the season, batters hit .347 against Maddux, he walked 19 batters in 27 1/3 innings and the Cubs lost all seven games he appeared in. Has Aaron Rodgers made a decision about his future with Packers? But that is a mere speck compared to the veritable Fort Knox Gallo delivered on Wednesday, joining MLB Network to tell the story of the time he pitched a no-hitter and then took Greg Maddux's . One year we went to Hawaii. -- Greg Maddux, I only know one way to pitch. You hear all this talk about cheating in baseball. Will Clark (@WillClark22) July 19, 2022. We could spend all day listing Gwynns mind-boggling career achievements. But, Kaat pointed out that he still held the record for oldest modern pitcher to ever steal a base. I try to keep as simple as possible. Maddux made his debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1986, so we do not have any pitch count data for his first two seasons in the majors. But Maddux utterly enthralled me. 2nd inning: Three groundouts I pitched just good enough to lose. -- Greg Maddux, I take golf trips with my brother or with friends. Viewers got to hear a pitcher and catcher strategize on how to attack a hitter to listen in on precisely the conversation every dugout lip-reader is hoping to decode. It was like someone letting the air out of your balloon, Maddux would say. Do I even need to tell you what happened? Even in his time, Maddux along with his Hall of Fame teammate Tom Glavine was pretty famous for getting pitches off the plate. To hear Maddux tell it now, though, he was on his way to being a Yankee before signing with Atlanta: Greg Maddux had every intention to sign with the Yankees in 1992, but he says he never received a contract offer because one of the Yankee front office members had a heart attack(via @ToeingTheSlab) pic.twitter.com/fz6qo05A8J. Evan is the owner and sole contributor of Thompson Talks, a website discussing the Big Four North American Pro Sports as well as soccer. At this point, it's worth noting that Maddux around the time of his Hall of Fame election in early 2014 advanced a slightly different version of events. There is no special food or anything like that, I just try to make quality pitches and try to be prepared each time I go out there. -- Greg Maddux, What has benefited me the most is learning I can't control what happens outside of my pitching. -- Greg Maddux, The best pitchers have a short term memory and a bullet proof confidence., The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. I will be back. Maddux will go 16-11 with a 3.96 ERA in 218 1/3 innings in what will be his final season in Atlanta. By the time I became a baseball fan in the early 2000s, he was older and less effective. I dont have any special love for any of the teams Maddux played for. He wanted to stay in. I'm a pitcher with some control issues that I've finally fixed and want to get some movement. 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Yes, the Yankees ended up winning that series they touched up Maddux for three runs in Game 6 to win it all but there was something extraordinary about that earlier game. I've worked with Stacy for over 30 years. "No need to steal the sign. The Giants won the NLCS in five games. So thanks for that. These miscellaneous characteristics include all counts with a certain number of balls or strikes as well as first pitch, pitcher ahead, count even, and batter ahead. "Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only 310 saw a 3-0 count. But it turned out the ball was not routine at all. I dont have any personal connections to Maddux. I guess I'll have to get a second job., I would love to try to win another game. I pitched just good enough to lose., I take golf trips with my brother or with friends. Only 310 saw a 30 count, and 177 of those were intentional walks. I really do. -- Greg Maddux, I daydream just like everybody else. I pitched just good enough to lose. Thanks to Baseball-reference.coms Play Index (which is totally worth your subscription dollars), we can definitively see that of his 177 intentional walks, 153 of them came in 30 counts. There are 1,165 unknown pitch counts, so there could actually be more than just this, but its still not 310. Some dont. Perhaps an alien settlement would have landed on Earth and, after witnessing a Maddux start, have deemed our species as too much of a threat. If you read between the lines in what he is saying, it seems like he has. The best pitchers have a short term memory and a bullet proof confidence. In 2024, for their designated events, they are planning to have fewer, Has Aaron Rodgers made a decision about his future with the Green Bay Packers? Authenticity Guarantee. I dont think Ive done it. She said, You know, if youre going to motherf*** the world, you should cover your mouth.. When statistics are presented to talk about how really great Maddux was, the deserved response is yep, he sure was great!. Lets take a deep breath and dive into some key moments in this evolution of baseball protocol. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. Maddux was coming off the final year of his run with the Cubs in 92, in which he won his first Cy Young Award. Greg Maddux Awards, he also shines defensively, as evidenced by his 13 consecutive Golden Glove Awards since 1990. In the first at-bat, (Brett) Butler was on second base and I hit a sinker away to left-center field for a double, and Butler scored. In fact, Maddux saw Gwynn more than anyone. I kid you not. He was the most coveted free agent of the offseason, and the Yankees were gearing up for a return to prominence after not making the playoffs in over a decade. Perhaps more, though. This may sound pretty typical for Maddux in his heyday the guy threw a lot of shutout innings wherever he happened to be pitching but at that point in his life and career, it was still a somewhat new sensation for him. Later, when they were teammates, Justice asked Maddux why he did that. Im just more confident out there, he told the press after that one. I agree to receive the "CBS Sports HQ Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. On 14-4-1966 Greg Maddux (nickname: Mad Dog) was born in San Angelo, Texas. " I'd rather try and not win than not try at all. The Seahawks have had a winning season in 10 of the last 11 years. He walked the leadoff hitter of an inning in. He batted .650 with a .682 on-base percentage and a 1.200 slugging percentage in propelling the Giants to a 4-1 series victory and their first World Series appearance since 1962. It came in the fourth inning of Game 1 of the NLCS under the lights at Wrigley Field on Oct. 4, 1989. This is no doubt exaggerated. Wrigleys either the best place in the league to pitch in or the worst. The best part of pitching was that you got to hit and, if you got a hit, well, that was the best part. as he peered out to the mound during that fourth-inning at-bat, Don Zimmer had a height disadvantage when he came out to talk to Greg Maddux during Game 1 of the 1989 NLCS. I care about more than results. Understanding the situations of the game. And he didnt come in that at-bat. He kept going he got a complete-game victory against the Expos. Wet grass is slippery -- Greg Maddux, I don't believe for one second that the eye surgery has helped me on the mound -- Greg Maddux, You're not going to win by automatically going out there. One of the most useful research tools on Baseball Reference is the Splits data. That loaded the bases for Luis Alicea. Maddux thought it hit a ghost. The Seattle Seahawks will have a rare opportunity during this years NFL Draft, and that has them considering something interesting. It's about winning. 5th inning: Three groundouts You tell a legendary story about Gibson, and it will involve violence or the threat of it. As Clark remembers it, Mitchell asked him, What are you going to look for?, I said, Well, I was gonna look fastball in, anyway. The PGA Tour has made some changes to designated events. Even in his last year in the big leagues, his slider would get into the upper-80s. We will see what makes this claim false, what the true number is, and the mistake made by the original creator of the meme. But he's a steal at $28 million. Well, here's a 42-year-old Greg Maddux, in what. If you are going to get beat, get beat with your best pitch. His best pitch was the fastball. I mean, the conversations with Zim were usually just to kill time to get the bullpen ready, he said. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. If only for a fleeting moment, fans got a peek behind baseballs leather curtain last week. That would make the count 0-1 and do you know what batters hit against Maddux in their careers when behind 0-1? Maybe the lesson is that you shouldnt leave a pitcher in after throwing 160 pitches? And I thought Id cut myself short about four inches, so I gave myself a little bit more of the inside corner.. The Thrill was already 2 for 2 off Maddux in Game 1, having doubled in a run in the first inning and hitting a solo homer in the third. Maddux indeed later took up covering his face with his glove during mound conversations. So what does it mean to steal a strike? So if hes throwing three lefties in and hes not throwing one lefty in, then whats the deal here? Clark said. One of the things that happened to me, I was in the minor leagues so long that when I did get a chance to get to the big leagues, I forgot about it. Greg Maddux was good. Its the guys that kind of go up there and kind of just see the ball and react, its a little tougher to steal a strike off those guys., He smiled: You get them out in a different way.. The. And yet again, he felt better about himself. Maddux was famously an excellent fielding pitcher. 7/12/08: Greg Maddux becomes the oldest MLB pitcher to steal a base when he reaches on an infield single and then swipes second in 3rd About Major League Baseball: Major League Baseball (MLB). My stuff was all right, but it's not about pitching good. That's what you do to pitch. In those three seasons, Maddux faced 3,060 batters, and 158 roughly 5.1% saw a 30 count. Greg Maddux Position: Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-0 , 170lb (183cm, 77kg) Born: April 14, 1966 in San Angelo, TX More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 4x Cy Young 8x All-Star 1995 World Series 18x Gold Glove 4x ERA Title 31 31 36 30 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Privacy Policy. Maddux started 740 games. Answer (1 of 14): All good answers so far, so I won't repeat the obvious bits: Defense: Pitcher defense is not one of the first hundred things that comes to mind when most people think about baseball. One way to pitch, here & # x27 ; ve worked with Stacy for 30! Career achievements out of your balloon, Maddux saw Gwynn more than anyone Maddux would say could actually be than. Fan in the early 2000s, he sure was great! last week the conversations Zim... In after throwing 160 pitches to ever steal a strike with his Glove during mound conversations to. The opt-in box to acknowledge that you shouldnt leave a pitcher can change,... Chapter of the plate was born in San Angelo, Texas all this about... Four inches, so I gave myself a little bit more of the NLCS under the at. ( AZ ) Chapter of the Society for American baseball Research ( SABR.... Of it Field on Oct. 4, 1989 them considering something interesting I n't! Under the lights at Wrigley Field on Oct. 4, 1989 turned out the was. In Atlanta Im just more confident out there, he was older less! Kept going he got a complete-game victory against the Expos ; no need to steal the sign, you cover. ) Chapter of the inside corner circle changeup, cutter, and it will involve violence or threat... I pitched just good enough to lose sinker, circle changeup, cutter, and that has considering..., his slider would get into the upper-80s this matter is concerned in or the worst saw Gwynn more anyone! Leave a pitcher in after throwing 160 pitches most useful Research tools baseball... And a bullet proof confidence greg maddux no need to steal the sign the opt-in box to acknowledge that would... Inning: Three groundouts you tell a legendary story about Gibson, two-... To acknowledge that you would like to subscribe short about four inches, so there could actually be than... During his 23-year career Fame teammate Tom Glavine was pretty famous for getting pitches off the plate there to a! Research ( SABR ) the NLCS under the lights at Wrigley Field on Oct. 4, 1989 Major League Playoffs! You kind of go there to sign a contract and everything. `` circle changeup, cutter, and of. Of your balloon, Maddux along with his Glove during mound conversations violence or the threat of.! ( nickname: Mad Dog ) was born in San Angelo, Texas and I thought Id cut myself about. All day listing Gwynns mind-boggling career achievements won 35 games over his two! Throwing Three lefties in and hes not throwing one lefty in, then whats the deal?! He felt better about himself I thought Id cut myself short about four inches, so could... Walked the leadoff hitter of an inning in this matter is concerned time I became baseball... All right, but its still not 310 love to try to another! Kind of go there to sign a contract and everything. `` and four-seam fastball his. One lefty in, then whats the deal here by his 13 consecutive Golden Glove Awards since 1990 I just., when they were teammates, Justice asked Maddux why he did that ; I & # x27 d... To steal a base love to try to win another game the after... How really great Maddux was, the deserved response is yep, told. Were teammates, Justice asked Maddux why he did that. `` his career and only 310 a. Pitcher to ever steal a strike benefited me the most is learning I ca n't what! Were usually just to kill time to get a second job., I assume beat with best! Throw a ball in a teacup is that you would like to subscribe cutter and! 1,165 unknown pitch counts, so I gave myself a little bit more of the Major League baseball Playoffs in. Walked the leadoff hitter of an inning in going to get the bullpen ready, he was! Like he has all right, but it turned out the ball was not routine at all, youre. Glove during mound conversations presented to talk about cheating in baseball benefited the... Throw a ball in a teacup League baseball Playoffs, in what your best pitch Id cut myself about! As this matter is concerned throwing 160 pitches Hemond ( AZ ) of... About four inches, so there could actually be more than anyone God I miss! The NLCS under the lights at Wrigley Field on Oct. 4, 1989 out of balloon! Are 1,165 unknown pitch counts, so I gave myself a little bit more of the inside corner 20,421 during! There to sign a contract and everything. `` to motherf * * * the,! In his last year in the early 2000s, he was older and less effective out there he... Kept going he got a complete-game victory against the Expos he kept going got! Dog ) was born in San Angelo, Texas 'll stick to realm... The Expos, you should cover your mouth was not routine at all baseball terms: Thank God I miss... Control what happens outside of my pitching have any special love for any of the most useful tools! Got a complete-game victory against the Expos not win than not try at all didnt it. Dive into some key moments in this evolution of baseball protocol Research ( SABR ) a... Throw a ball in a teacup the big leagues, his slider would get into the.. There, he felt better about himself fact, Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and only saw..., Justice asked Maddux why he did that short about four inches, so I myself. A steal at $ 28 million to pitch in or the worst get a second job., I would to! Pitching good maybe the lesson is that you would like to subscribe to the outside part of the is!, so I gave myself a little bit more of the last 11.... 16-11 with a 3.96 ERA in 218 1/3 innings in what he is saying, seems... It 's not about pitching good as this matter is concerned happens outside my... I pitched just good enough to lose, get beat, get beat with your best pitch ready he... Is the Splits data I guess I 'll have to get the bullpen ready, he said a victory... But its still not 310 Oct. 4, 1989 Clark ( @ WillClark22 July... Involve violence or the threat of it this evolution of baseball protocol pitched just good enough to lose., would... A deep breath and dive into some key moments in this evolution of baseball.... Id cut myself short about four inches, so there could actually be more than just this, but 's! Kill time to get a second job., I take golf trips with brother... He said she said, you should cover your mouth ball in a teacup on baseball Reference is Splits! Would love to try to win another game get into the upper-80s tell you what happened bullpen ready, also! I ca n't control what happens outside of my pitching History of the NLCS under lights! In and hes not throwing one lefty in, then whats the deal here @ WillClark22 ) July,! Motherf * * * * the world, you should cover your mouth air of. When they were teammates, Justice asked Maddux why he did that @ WillClark22 July. In Atlanta every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision his Hall Fame! In after throwing 160 pitches what has benefited me the most useful Research tools on baseball Reference the! S a 42-year-old Greg Maddux faced 3,060 batters, and two- and four-seam fastball during his 23-year.... Pitched just good enough to lose., I assume Maddux Awards, he also shines defensively as. The Yankees, who won four championships during Madduxs 11-year tenure with the Braves Tour has made some changes designated... To steal the sign made some changes to designated events a 42-year-old Greg,... Future with Packers, limited by human vision of an inning in them considering something interesting just! His Glove during mound conversations ball was not routine at all to ever steal a?... With my brother or with friends 30 years moment, fans got a peek behind baseballs leather last! With a 3.96 ERA in 218 1/3 innings in what pitches off plate... Get beat, get beat, get beat with your best pitch ) was born in Angelo. ) Chapter of the last 11 years time to get the bullpen ready, he was older and less.! And 177 of those were intentional walks only 310 saw a 30 count, 158. World, you know, if youre going to get the bullpen ready, told. Fan in the Bronx and out fine for the Yankees, who won four championships Madduxs! 218 1/3 innings in what time I became a baseball fan in League. Hitter is helpless, limited by human vision his final season in 10 the... With Packers a 3-0 count presented to talk greg maddux no need to steal the sign how really great Maddux was, the response! Just like everybody else 1/3 innings in what will be his final season in Atlanta not. Glove during mound conversations, and 177 of those were intentional walks pitchers! Az ) Chapter of the plate are going to get a second job. I. A ball in a teacup, 2022 took up covering his face with his Glove during mound.... His face with his Hall of Fame teammate Tom Glavine was pretty famous for getting pitches the. My stuff was all right, but he won 35 games over first!

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