Greg Maddux Retires

Today I am offering my blog to the greatest pitcher of my lifetime, while I may concede that Nolan Ryan is right there with him, Greg Maddux was simply the best of the best. THis week he announced his retirement and I must say that I sighed a loud sigh in regret. It is fitting that he retire at this time in his career, he is not as dominate as he once was, but he is still better than 90% of the rest of the pitchers in the majors. His fastball is slower, and his change up has lost some of its movement, but there is no one, read this again, no one I loved to see pitch more than Greg Maddux. Greg Maddux finished with 355 wins, more than any living pitcher and while I will leave it to others to quote his stasticics I will simply say he was the best I ever saw, day in and day out. His passion for the game, and his lack of greed made him someone to admire in a game of selfish individuals, he was a team player. Logging inning after inning for his team. In an era when a starting "pitcher" is expected to give 5 good innings, Maddux pitched more innings than any other pitcher of his generation. For 23 years, he graced the mounds of the major leagues and out pitched his competitors time and again. He re-defined the position of pitcher. When everyone is all excited about hard throwers, Maddux pitched. When Ryan, Clemens, Johnson and others where blowing fastballs past hitters, Maddux lured them into his web of science and out smarted the hitters. He faced throughout his career the best hitters the game has ever known and time and time again, he won. With a mediocre fastball (85 mph) and an incredible change-up he was able to confuse and confound hitters. I regret I never saw him pitch in person, I regret that I was not on hand to cheer on the greatest to ever take a mound, but I am better for having witnessed his grace on the field, his ability to play his position (winning 18 gold gloves) and his unassuming lack of ego. I hope we have not seen the last of Greg Maddux, I hope he writes a book on how to pitch, I hope he finds his way into a clubhouse soon where he can churn out clones of his masterful approach to the greatest game. I often tell my sons who are in little league and are fascinated with pitching like all boys are, "Greg Maddux out thinks his batters, that is the key to being a good pitcher, being two and three steps ahead of the batter. Not blowing it past them." I once watched in amazement as Maddux pitched a nine inning complete game with just 87 pitches. that is 9.67 pitches per inning! That kind of talent is not often found, and I am fortunate as a baseball fan to have witnessed his masterful artwork. Maddux was the Michelangelo of the profession, the true genius of throwing the sphere and he will be missed. Thanks Greg for the memories.