ATLANTA (Ticker) -- It does not get any easier for the Philadelphia Phillies tonight as they oppose Greg Maddux in the second game of a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves. Coming off his 11th consecutive season in which he won at least 15 games, Maddux (18-9, 2.22) counters for the Braves. The four-time Cy Young Award winner actually struggled at times last season but was good enough to capture the ERA title for the fourth time in his illustrious career. He went 15-5 with a 1.53 ERA over his first 25 starts but struggled down the stretch, going 1-3 in his last six outings. Maddux went 0-1 in two starts against the Phillies last season despite yielding only one earned run and 10 hits over 16 innings. He is 21-11 with a 3.21 ERA in 39 career games versus Philadelphia.
April 5, 1999
Glavine's start marked only the second time in the last seven years that Greg Maddux wasn't on the mound to start the season. Maddux is scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Chad Ojea.
April 5, 1999
Nate: I am a big Braves fan. How will they do this season without The Big Cat? Can Ryan Klesko step up and can they make the World Series?
Rob Neyer: Well, it's not going to be easy. Klesko's never had as good a season as Andre Galarraga's 1998, and it's unlikely he'll do it this year. However, the Braves are still immensely talented, and unless Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine goes down, they should win another division title. In fact, I'm picking them to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
Luria: Greatest player of our generation: Maddux or Barry Bonds? I don't think anyone else warrants mention.
Rob Neyer: Actually, it's Maddux, Bonds or Roger Clemens. I'm partial to everyday players, so I gotta say Bonds. But in historical context, you certainly can argue for one of the pitchers.
Big D: Your column rocks, baby. Do you think we've seen the end of the 300-win pitcher? Do you think Maddux will get to No. 300, and after he's gone, will anyone else even approach it, or has the game changed too much?
Rob Neyer: I think Maddux and Clemens will both get there, and then I think other pitchers will win 300 in future seasons. The game has changed, but most players still like to hang around as long as they can.
April 4, 1999
Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, right, combined to go 38-15 last year and over the last five years the two together have won 165 games compared to only 71 losses.
Greg Maddux-Key pitch still fastball, all dozen or so of them.
April 1, 1999
Greg Maddux suffered his first loss of spring training, giving up three hits and one run over three innings. He also allowed a run to score on a balk in the first inning.
March 29, 1999
After discussing it with the Braves and doctors, Greg Maddux said Monday he has decided to wait until the offseason to get laser surgery on his eyes.
March 29, 1999
by Carroll Rogers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vero Beach, Fla.--Pitcher Greg Maddux is considering having corrective laser surgery on his eyes. Maddux approached manager Bobby Cox on Saturday, saying he was having trouble with his contacts and wanted to have surgery soon. Maddux normally wears his contacts on the days he pitches and glasses the rest of the time. But Cox said Sunday he did not think Maddux would have surgery. "He's been talking about it ever since he got down here, but I don't think he's going to do anything," Cox said. Maddux found out about a doctor at Emory Hospital, who has performed surgery on patients who returned to work in a few days. But the Braves are concerned there could be complications that would cause Maddux to miss too many games.
March 29, 1999
Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Greg Maddux has always pitched with laserlike precision. Now he wants to fix his eye sight the same way. The four-time Cy Young Award winner told the Atlanta Braves he would like to undergo corrective laser eye surgery so he would no longer have to wear contact lenses. "He's been talking about it since he got down here," manager Bobby Cox said Sunday. "I don't know if he'll have it." Maddux, who wears contact lenses when pitching and small, wire-rimmed glasses off the field, has said if he had the surgery he probably wouldn't even miss a start. "It's no big deal," Maddux told The Orlando Sentinel. "It's something that if I do it, great. If not, it's no big deal." Maddux has been having problems with several different sets of contact lenses, the newspaper said. The paper added that Cox was concerned that if Maddux had the procedure done, there could be complications, including blurred vision. Both Cox and Maddux agreed to talk to general manager John Schuerholz and team doctors before any action is taken. Maddux, who did not travel to Vero Beach for a game against the Dodgers on Sunday, was not immediately available for comment. Schuerholz was not at the club's spring training office and his secretary said he would not be available until Monday. Maddux pitched six innings in a 6-1 victory against Kansas City on Saturday, allowing six hits and one run and lowering his spring ERA to 2.25 in 20 innings. Maddux was 18-9 last season with a 2.22 ERA and has a 12-year career mark of 202-117 with a 2.75 ERA.
March 27, 1999
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) _ Greg Maddux allowed six hits and one run in six innings Saturday and the Atlanta Braves scored five first-inning runs in a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Maddux, who will make one more start before the regular season, didn't walk a batter and struck out two. He threw 59 pitches, 43 strikes and lowered his ERA to 2.20 in 20 innings this spring.
Scott Leius had two hits for Kansas City, including a run-scoring single in the fifth off Maddux.
March 23, 1999
I don't have my BBBA yet, but last year they were similar enough to STATS that I'll just use BP and STATS projections. These are actual projections based on expected Home park Factors and predicted playing time -- they have not been normalized to a league average. Line 1 is BP and line 2 is STATS.
Pitchers -- all from STATS
Maddux---21-6--2.17--245IP
Smoltz----16-8--2.90--211IP
Glavine---16-10--3.17--233IP
No prediction for Millwood surprisingly.
Interesting that the ratings this year are almost in step. I think I remember that BP can no longer use the VLAD projection system which frequently took chances at predicting a breakout season and collapses of veteran players based on trends and age factors. STATS has for the most taken a much more conservative approach basing most of their predictions on 3 year averages, MLE's, and park factors.
March 23, 1999
Published in The Orlando Sentinel
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- With just over a week to go in spring training, the Atlanta Braves look like they're more than ready to start the season and defend their divisional championship for the eighth straight season.
One day after last year's Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine shut down the Houston Astros on one run in five innings, four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux was every bit as good as he bewildered the Cleveland Indians through five innings in the Braves' 11-2 win over the Tribe Monday at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
"I don't know if this was my best outing," said Maddux. "But I felt better physically than I have all spring. Not that I've felt bad before. Tonight I just felt real strong."
Maddux, making his fourth appearance of the spring, held the Indians to no runs on three hits as a crowd of 9,241 looked on.
"I felt like a kid out there," he said. "The weather was perfect, everything was right. Tonight is what spring training is all about to me."
Maddux went on to say that he was right on schedule with the regular season closing in.
"The first few times out in the spring I need to adjust to seeing the target," he said. "I need to get the feel for pitching again."
March 22, 1999
by Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Walt Weiss had three singles and a double, scored three runs, drove in one and stole a base as the Atlanta Braves beat the Cleveland Indians 11-2 Monday night.
The offensive outburst made it easy for Greg Maddux (2-0), who gave up three hits in five innings, walking two and fanning one.
Eddie Perez and Weiss had consecutive singles to open the second and Maddux was safe when he forced out Perez at third. Andruw Jones then had a run-scoring single and Maddux scored on a Nagy (1-3) balk. Ozzie Guillen singled home a run and he scored later on a sacrifice fly by Jordan.
March 22, 1999
Manager Bobby Cox had been fighting a stomach virus for three days when it finally got the best of him Monday. Cox, after coming to the ballpark in the morning, was sent home to rest by trainer Dave Pursley. Bench coach Pat Corrales managed Monday night's game against the Indians in his absence. Tony Graffanino also was sent home because of flu symptoms. Similar symptoms have already made their way through the Braves roster, hitting George Lombard, Greg Maddux and Mike Remlinger. Walt Weiss missed a couple days of workouts because of strep throat.
March 17, 1999
In his third outing of the spring, Greg Maddux looked a lot like his typical self. In his first three innings Wednesday, he gave up only an infield hit and a walk and got a double play and two groundball outs to the mound. In his final inning, Maddux gave up three consecutive hits; he said he pitched better the second two innings than the first.
March 17, 1999
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Braves treated Andres Galarraga to a 10-4 victory over a split squad of Detroit Tigers as Greg Maddux pitched four strong innings and Chipper Jones continued to swing a hot bat.
Maddux allowed one run and four hits in four innings with two strikeouts for the win. Jones was 2-for-3 with a triple and has 11 hits in 18 at-bats this spring (.611).
March 17, 1999
HOLIDAY SPIRIT?: The Braves wore green caps in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The players weren't so sure they liked feeling in the holiday mood. "Weak, weak," Jones said. "They need to get us some green pullovers or something." Starting pitcher Greg Maddux wasn't that impressed either. "I thought we looked like dorks," Maddux said. Maddux said the caps might have been short on style but they had the right fit. "I like them because your hats shrink up and they start to squeeze your head a little bit," Maddux said. "These were the adjustable ones." Still, it wasn't a cap worth keeping. "I gave it to my dad, so I'll never see it again," Maddux said.
MENTAL MADDUX: Maddux was pleased with his outing from a physical perspective. He allowed four hits and one earned run in four innings. "I didn't get tired, so that's good," Maddux said. "I know four innings isn't that much but I haven't thrown that many innings in a while. I'm kind of glad to get through it and say I felt OK. If you go out there and throw four and felt like you could have started the fifth in good shape, that's a big plus." As for the mental part of his game, Maddux said he's behind. It's nothing too specific. "You just kind of think like a moron,'' Maddux said. "You do stupid things. You throw pitches that have no purpose whatsoever. Your mind wanders out there. I need to improve on that."
March 14, 1999
by Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Atlanta Braves backup catcher Eddie Perez has a prediction: Greg Maddux will win the 1999 Cy Young Award.
Perez and No. 1 catcher Javy Lopez usually make predictions during spring. Lopez correctly called John Smoltz (1996) and Tom Glavine (1998) winning the award. Now it's Maddux's turn again.
If anyone can spot something in Maddux, it's Perez. He's been Maddux's personal catcher for most of the last three seasons. Perez has caught 63 of Maddux's last 67 starts. He says it's a matter of communication--and success--that keeps them together. It started in 1996 when Perez caught 16 of Maddux's games and he recorded a 1.89 ERA in 114.0 innings.
"We talk a lot," Perez said. "We go through the hitters before the game and we just talk a lot about hitters on other teams when he's not pitching.
"Javy can do the same job or better. But Greg wants somebody to concentrate on him, to talk about what we have to do in a game. Javy has to catch four or five more guys."
Perez batted .336 last season with six home runs and 32 RBIs in 61 games. Combined with his skills behind the plate, he seemed destined for a full-time job elsewhere via free agency. Instead, he signed for two more seasons with Atlanta for a simple reason.
"I think this is the best team to be with," Perez said. "A lot of people have been telling me that I could go elsewhere, but I love to be here. I don't know if I could go to another team and play every day. There's no guarantee of that. To be a backup catcher here, play once a week and catch Greg is a great situation.
March 13, 1999
DAVENPORT, Florida (Ticker) -- John Smoltz started for Atlanta and pitched three scoreless innings. Fellow Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux also worked three innings and allowed a pair of runs, one on a single by Larry Sutton that scored Johnny Damon, who tripled.
March 11, 1999
By Doug Mittler
SportsTicker Baseball Editor
ORLANDO, FLORIDA (TICKER-Yahoo!) -- Imagine painting next to Picasso. Or sitting next to Hemingway in an English class. Maybe belting out a tune with Sinatra.
If there is a baseball equivalent, it belongs to Atlanta Braves rookie Bruce Chen, who is learning his craft alongside one of the best starting staffs in the history of the game.
When the Braves traded Denny Neagle to Cincinnati over the winter, it was with the assumption that the 21-year-old Chen would be able to move into the fifth spot in the rotation behind Cy Young Award winners Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine as well as Kevin Millwood.
"I'm very lucky. You hear stories of guys that have a mentor on the staff. I have three or four of them," said Chen, who made his second start of the spring Thursday against the Houston Astros, allowing three runs in three innings.
Chen, a native of Panama, was just 16 and was not even out of high school when the Braves signed him in 1993. He steadily advanced through the minors and made it to the Braves as a September callup last season, making four starts.
Maddux recalls that earlier in his career he was in awe of Rick Sutcliffe and Lee Smith in the Chicago Cubs clubhouse, but realized that should not stop him from seeking advise. At the same time, he is careful in his teaching.
"Sometimes we can do more harm than good," Maddux said. "We don't throw his fastball or have his motion, and he has to be careful who he listens to."
Chen may have cracked the pitching fraternity, but he is a long way from joining the Cy Young winners on the golf course. All three take their golf games seriously and play regularly. Smoltz even invited Tiger Woods and Lee Janzen to take batting practice before Wednesday's game.
Last month, Chen hacked his way to a triple-digit round, breaking the driver of minor league pitcher Jason Marquis in the process.
"They were giving me mulligans, but they wouldn't let me cheat," Chen lamented.
"His golf game has a long way to go," said Maddux. "A long way to go."
March 7, 1999
by Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Two innings of work was long enough for Greg Maddux on Sunday.
``You have to walk before you can jog, jog before you can run,'' Maddux said after yielding a first-inning run in Atlanta's 10-2 exhibition victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
``We have a month and a half,'' the four-time Cy Young Award winner said. ``The vast majority of managers and players and coaches think spring training's too long. So why push it?''
Maddux allowed a pair of singles that led to the run but got out of the inning on a groundout and double play. In the second, Maddux had a strikeout and another double play.
He gave his performance mixed reviews.
``You don't want to go out there and get your brains beat in,'' he said. ``I thought I got hit halfway decent today, even the outs were hit halfway decent. I felt good to be out there again. It was actually fun. I didn't want to give up the run, but I felt all right.''
Maddux has logged more than 2,800 major-league innings and has had 11 consecutive seasons with at least 15 victories. But he said Sunday afforded him an opportunity to fine-tune the simplest of pitching tasks: remembering where to throw.
``The first two times out, you just want to get used to seeing a catcher, a hitter, an umpire back there again,'' Maddux said. ``I've been throwing for the last month mostly into the screen, or in the bullpen or playing catch. It looks different.''
One of the different looks the Braves have this spring is the addition of second baseman Bret Boone from Cincinnati. Boone showed his value to the Braves and especially Maddux by handling a tough in-between hop in the second inning that resulted in an inning-ending double play.
``He's going to help us out a lot,'' Maddux said. ``He's one of those guys that if he hits .200, he's still makes your team a lot better.''
For now, Maddux is out to make himself better. His goal is consistent innings throughout the remainder of spring.
Manager Bobby Cox shakes his head when told of Maddux's desire to strive for improved consistency.
``I don't know what to say. I'll take him the way he's been,'' Cox said. ``I'll take his inconsistencies.''
NOTES: Cox agrees on Maddux's assessment of Boone's second-inning stab that he turned into a double play. ``He makes things look routine that are not routine,'' Cox said. ``He's that good.''
March 7, 1999
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) _ Four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux made his spring debut and allowed one run and three hits in two innings. Maddux gave up a run in the first on singles by Randy Wynn and Dave Martinez followed by Robert Smith's double-play grounder.
March 7, 1999
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP-CBS) Two innings was enough for Greg Maddux.
"You have to walk before you can jog, jog before you can run," Maddux said Sunday after allowing a first-inning run in the Atlanta Braves' 10-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
"We have a month and a half," the four-time Cy Young Award winner said. "The vast majority of managers and players and coaches think spring training's too long. So why push it?"
Maddux allowed a pair of singles that led to the run but got out of the inning on a groundout and double play. In the second, Maddux had a strikeout and another double play.
"You don't want to go out there and get your brains beat in," he said. ``I thought I got hit halfway decent today, even the outs were hit halfway decent. I felt good to be out there again. It was actually fun. I didn't want to give up the run, but I felt all right."
Maddux has logged more than 2,800 major league innings and has had 11 consecutive seasons with at least 15 victories. But he said Sunday afforded him an opportunity to fine tune the simplest of pitching tasks: remembering where to throw.
"The first two times out, you just want to get used to seeing a catcher, a hitter, an umpire back there again," Maddux said. "I've been throwing for the last month mostly into the screen or in the bullpen or playing catch. It looks different."
One of the different looks the Braves have this spring is the addition of second baseman Bret Boone from Cincinnati. Boone showed his value to the Braves and to Maddux by handling a tough in-between hop in the second inning that resulted in an inning-ending double play.
"He's going to help us out a lot," Maddux said. ``He's one of those guys that if he hits .200, he's still makes your team a lot better."
Maddux's goal is to be consistent throughout the remainder of spring.
"I don't know what to say. I'll take him the way he's been," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "I'll take his inconsistencies."
March 3, 1999
by Carroll Rogers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- On the last day of workouts before the Braves begin their exhibition season, Greg Maddux sat down and shared some of his thoughts on spring training, the Braves and some finer points of pitching. As always, some of his replies were serious, some not.
Q: Is spring training fun for you?
A: It's a blast. You get to get up early, and the first thing you do is play baseball instead of the last thing. You get to get up, play baseball, and there's usually a lot of sunlight left by the time you're done. Your family's down here; you don't have to go on any road trips; you can play golf, fish; you can take your kids to Disney.
Q: Several days ago, while running in from the outfield to pitch, you stopped at second to take a throw from Javy Lopez. You looked like you were having fun with that. Do you secretly wish you were a position player?
A: It's fun, stuff like that. You can't do that during a game. Nope. I'm very glad I'm pitching. I wouldn't want to play every day. I got used to watching games and pitching every fifth day. I watch these guys play every day; I don't know how they do it. I really don't. I don't know how you foul a ball off your foot, which is going to hurt for two weeks. You still got to play. Or watch a guy slide into a base, rip his knee open, put a couple Band-Aids on it, and you're sliding on it again the next night. Something happens to me, I've got four days to get right.
Q: How did you like watching Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa fight it out for Roger Maris' record last year?
A: I liked it. Come on -- it was the greatest record of all time, gone. It was great to be a part of it. That's something I'll be talking about, hopefully, 50 years from now. 'Course, then I might be 90.
Q: Did you contribute to it?
A: Sammy got me (in Atlanta) early, April or May. First inning, fastball away, right down the middle. If Andruw (Jones) would have jumped, he would have caught it. If he could jump about 50 feet in the air, he would have caught it.
Q: How do you like this team, especially considering the loss of Andres Galarraga?
A: I think we're all right. Obviously, we're going to miss Cat, but we've still got some pretty good players left. It's going to be hard. Obviously, you can't replace him; we know that. Each guy needs to do what he's been doing, and we'll be all right. ... If we get anything positive out of it, it will help us.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a member of this pitching staff?
A: What you really enjoy is the days you're not pitching, because you know you're going to get a good-pitched game. A good-pitched game usually means a fast game. A good-pitched game usually offers a few tips for down the road here and there.
Q: How is it that the Cy Young has become somewhat of a Braves team award?
A: I think the thing is we all want to win a ring. In order to do that, you have to be consistent each month of the season, each week of the season, and I think when you do that, you just kind of back into a Cy Young. It just kind of happens. I've won a few that way. I think that's how Glav, Smoltzie won, being consistent. Not having seven or eight outstanding games but having 25 or 30 very good games.
Q: How did you like your year last year?
A: I liked everything but the ending. Everything but the last month.
Q: Speaking of endings, which playoff loss this decade was the toughest?
A: Florida was hard; last year was hard; Philly was hard. It might be just a hair easier to lose in the World Series than it is the NLCS. At least you made it to the dance.
Q: Over the years, does it get easier or harder to get outs in the major leagues?
A: Mentally it's easier; physically it's harder. Does that make it harder or easier? I don't know. You know your own tendencies better. When you understand yourself more as a pitcher, it's easier to pitch. ... Hitters have been the same since I came up. You've got some righties; you've got some lefties; you've got some fastball hitters; you've got some guys that'll steal bases, guys that hit homers. They just have a different name on their back. That's why I think understanding yourself makes it easier.
Q: What's been harder for you to do physically as you've gotten older?
A: You wake up in the morning and run the first sprint. The first sprint now is a jog. A very light one. Rebound (between starts) is a little harder.
Q: At what point do you start to wonder if age is affecting your pitching?
A: I'm on extra credit. I've been on extra credit for a couple years now. I'm free-rolling right now. I'm enjoying it. I'm doing my job. Pitching is fun, traveling is fun, hanging out with the guys is fun, messing around when the games aren't going on is fun.
March 3, 1999
Active players among the top 100 of all time in Total Baseball Ranking:
Rickey Henderson, 12th (79.7 wins)
Barry Bonds, 13th (79.0 wins and still adding 7 wins/season: barring collapse, he's likely to end up as #2 all time, as he's only 15.1 wins behind #2 Nap Lajoie. He's #2 behind Ruth in TPR/150 games.)
The 10 names immediately behind Henderson and Bonds: Schmidt, Mantle, Musial, Collins, F. Robinson, Gehrig, Alexander, Mathewson, Ott, Grove. Roger Clemens, 27th (54.1 -- 7th all-time among pitchers)Tim Raines, 28th (52.6) Greg Maddux, 30th (51.4 -- 8th all-time among pitchers)Tony Gwynn, 33rd (48.8) Wade Boggs, 42nd (44.1)Barry Larkin, 51st (41.6)Cal Ripken, 59th (39.9) Ken Griffey Jr., 61st (39.5)Jeff Bagwell, 83rd (36.0)Frank Thomas, 85th (35.5).
Other active notables among the next 50:Craig Biggio, 111th (31.5), Albert Belle, 114th (31.3)Mark McGwire, 120th (30.5), John Franco, 127th (29.9 -- #2 behind Wilhelm all-time among pitchers who threw predominantly in relief)Mike Piazza, 131st (29.5)
Edgar Martinez, 147th (27.8).
February 19, 1999
Associated Press-ESPNet
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Mark Wohlers showed no sign Thursday that he has found a cure for his loss of control.
"We're trying to support him," starting pitcher Greg Maddux said. "Obviously he's our teammate, but he's also our friend. Because of those two things, you do everything you can to help support him. We all know we're a much better team with him on it."
Maddux said he still looks for ways to improve his game this time of year, even if he has won four Cy Young Awards.
"You're always trying to improve, even if it's just a little bit," he said. "Sometimes just a little bit in this game goes a long way, so that's what you're always looking for."
February 7, 1999
Who says athletes won't go the extra mile? Greg Maddux went more than a few extra to help raise money for the Atlanta Braves Foundation at its first Winter FanFest, Feb. 6-7 at Turner Field. The four-time Cy Young winner caught a red-eye from his Las Vegas home and flew 2,000 miles to Atlanta. He arrived at 6 a.m, slept for several hours, signed autographs for two hours, and then flew back to Vegas. Maddux wasn't the only Braves player to pitch in for the team's foundation, which raises money for community work. Andres Galarraga, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, Brian Jordan, Otis Nixon and Kevin Millwood were among the 20 players who signed autographs. The event drew approximately 10,000 fans who paid $10 ($5 for seniors and children) to run the bases on Turner Field, play free interactive games and take free clubhouse and museum tours. They raised $80,000 in two days.
Baseball Weekly
January 21, 1999
By Rob Neyer
ESPN.com
Let's talk about right-handed starting pitchers today.
When I start thinking about something like this, my first instinct is to consult Total Baseball. They've got a nifty little thing called Total Pitcher Index (TPI), which essentially describes how many games a pitcher was worth, relative to an "average" starter, assuming he pitched in a typical ballpark and was blessed with typical run support.
However, TPI can be a tad deceptive. Of the top seven pitchers on the all-time list, not a single one of them pitched an inning after World War II.
Now, does it seem possible that the seven greatest pitchers are all long dead?
The problem -- if you want to consider it a problem -- is that because pitchers in the old days started a higher percentage of their teams' games than do pitchers now, they had more chances to rack up TPI, just as they had more chances to rack up victories.
For that reason, I also like to look at something we might call Relative ERA (RERA). Relative ERA is simply a pitcher's ERA divided by the league ERA. The lower, the better.
Here, then, are my candidates for the top five right-handed starters of all time.
------------------Years--W---L--Pct.---ERAA--LgERA--RERA
Walter Johnson------21--417-279-.599--2.17---3.24--.669
Cy Young------------22--511-316-.618--2.63---3.61--.727
Christy Mathewson---17--373-188-.665--2.13---2.91--.733
Pete Alexander------20--373-208-.642--2.56---3.39--.755
Tom Seaver----------20--311-205-.603--2.86---3.68--.777
Some of you will immediately realize a problem with these raw stats -- they don't take ballparks into consideration. Sorry about that, but I would venture to say that none of these pitchers toiled in great pitcher's parks. Washington's Griffith Stadium, where Johnson spent many years, was certainly a pitcher's park, though it favored lefty hurlers more than righties. Seaver benefited from Shea Stadium.
Another thing the raw stats don't consider is the possibility that baseball has changed over time in some fundamental way. Essentially, what Stephen Jay Gould described as "a decrease in variation."
For most of baseball's history, the extremes have been moving toward the middle. In a nutshell, that's why nobody's hit .400 since 1941. I suspect that this decrease in variation, after all these years, is reversing, but I don't have any solid proof other than two guys hitting more than 65 home runs last year.
Anyway, the decrease in variation means that Tom Seaver's .777 Relative ERA must be viewed in a particularly impressive light. Another thing I like about Seaver -- he pitched 20 seasons, and in only one of those was his ERA higher than the league average. Shoot, even in his last campaign, in which he went just 7-13, his 4.03 ERA was a little better than the league.
I submit that Seaver was the best pitcher between 1940 and today, and it's a shame that nobody really seems to know it.
It might seem strange to call Cy Young underrated, given that there's a big award named after him and everything. But when people see that he's got 511 wins, they sort of discount them because, you know, he got a bunch of them when guys would win 40-odd games per season.
Well, it's true that pitchers in the 19th century would win 40 or more games in a season. However, it's also true that they typically burned out after a few seasons, because with all those victories came tons of innings. The record books are full of flingers who lit up the league for three or four years, only to quickly flame out.
The amazing thing about Young was that he was able to pitch a ton of innings, season after season after season. I mean, if it was so easy to win 511 games, how come only one other pitcher -- Walter Johnson -- was able to win 400?
There are two Bobs about whom you might be wondering: Feller and Gibson. Both were premier pitchers, hullabaloo hurlers, marvelous moundsmen.
Neither can realistically be considered among the five greatest ever, however. Feller's career ERA was 78 percent of the league. Gibson's was 81 percent of the league. Feller and Gibson led their leagues in ERA exactly once apiece. Among the five pitchers in the chart, Young won two ERA titles, and the other four all won at least three.
While Feller's Relative ERA isn't that much worse than Seaver's, Feller won 45 fewer games than Seaver did. And while it's true that Feller missed nearly four full seasons during World War II -- unlike most star ballplayers, he actually saw some combat -- I don't think we can simply add 60 or 70 victories to his career total. Pitchers aren't the same as hitters. There's a pretty good chance that, given the incredibly high pitch counts he used to pile up, Feller would have hurt his arm sometime during those four seasons. As it was, he was essentially finished at the age of 36.
Feller was essentially a 1940s version of Nolan Ryan. As I've probably written before, Ryan was a fine pitcher for a long time, but he really wasn't ever the best pitcher in his league. In fact, most casual fans are surprised to learn that Ryan never won a Cy Young award.
Of course, there are a couple of guys pitching right now who eventually will have to be part of this discussion. The only reason I haven't already mentioned Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux is that they've only pitched 15 and 13 seasons, respectively.
------------------Years--W---L--Pct.---ERAA--LgERA--RERA
Roger Clemens-------15--233-124-.653--2.95---4.30--.686
Greg Maddux---------13--202-117-.633--2.75---3.90--.705
You'll note that Clemens and Maddux would rank Nos. 2 and 3 on the RERA list, behind only The Big Train himself. Of course, that's not really fair to Messrs. Young and Mathewson, etc., because Clemens and Maddux are likely to see their numbers suffer a bit as their careers wind down.
However, you can make the argument -- I know, because I've made it -- that over a six- or seven-year period, nobody's been better than Clemens and Maddux.
Anyway, here's how I rate them:
1. Walter Johnson
2. Cy Young
3. Tom Seaver
4. Christy Mathewson
5. Pete Alexander
It pains me some to see four pre-World War II pitchers among my top five, but anything else requires some leaps of reasoning I'm not ready to try. Ask me again in five years, though, and I'll bet The Rocket is in there someplace, and maybe The Smartest Pitcher That Ever Lived, too.
Oh, one more note. Have you ever wondered why we split up right- and left-handed starters when we make these lists? If you think about it, it's a little silly, like making separate rankings for right-handed- and left-handed-hitting center fielders. After all, a pitcher's job is exactly the same, whichever arm he uses.
Well, it's more fun this way because we get to write about twice as many guys. I'll tell you what I'll do, though. After I rate the lefties in a future column, I'll also combine the rankings so we have a list of the all-time greatest starters, no matter their handedness.
January 14, 1999
We know. We know. Nobody is supposed to be worth $105 million, let alone a starting pitcher who performs only once every fifth day.
But you know what?
You can't win a pennant without great starting pitching. And if you want to acquire great starting pitchers, you must pay a premium.
This is why Kevin Brown just might be worth every penny of his new seven-year, $105 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And if he's worth it, by God, so are Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Brown, who'll forever be known as the first baseball player in history to crack the $100 million barrier, has led two different teams to the last two World Series, and only crummy run support has prevented him from being a 20-game winner.
This guy has a 2.33 ERA over the last three years, and only 11 pitchers in the last 78 years have had a lower ERA during a three-year period. He has led all of baseball with 81 quality starts (three or fewer runs in at least six innings) in the last three years.
You wonder how good Brown is? Who else could hold Mark McGwire to a .156 career batting average with 15 strikeouts in 45 at-bats and Barry Bonds to a .143 lifetime average?
The question, now, of course, will be whether Brown will still be effective at the end of his seven-year contract with the Dodgers when he turns 40. After all, only the great Maddux has thrown more innings over the last three seasons.
Maddux might not only be the greatest pitcher in the game, but also, ''the best who ever pitched in the game,'' according to Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone.
The credentials are almost unfathomably strong. He is a six-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner. Remarkably, though he has performed in the era of the hitter, Maddux's career ERA is 2.75. His ERA has actually been lower than his career average each of the last seven years. He had back-to-back seasons of 1.56 and 1.63 in 1994 and 1995, making him the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1918-19 to have consecutive seasons with a sub-1.70 ERA.
In 14 big-league seasons he has pitched 2,8491/3 innings and never been on the disabled list. He has won at least 15 games in each of the past 11 seasons, pitching at least 200 innings each season. He also has won 18 or more games in five of the past seven years.
Maddux simply is the best.
It's just not fair, is it?
Clemens, who was supposed to be washed up four years ago, has won five Cy Young awards, including two in a row, and is only getting better.
Clemens certainly will go down as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. He has gone 41-13 with 563 strikeouts the last two seasons, while pitching 4982/3 innings.
Just what kind of a roll is the man on? Sammy Sosa has hit 53 home runs since Clemens' last loss back in May. Incredible.
NEAR THE SUMMIT
It's like being Joe Frazier in an era dominated by Muhammad Ali. Or Scottie Pippen on the same team as Michael Jordan. Or Roger Maris in the same lineup as Mickey Mantle.
No matter what you accomplish, it is overshadowed by sheer greatness.
Say hello to Tom Glavine and John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves. They have won three Cy Young awards and have posted five 20-win seasons, but when you happen to be in the same rotation as Maddux, you tend to get ignored.
Glavine and Smoltz would be the aces on just about any other staff in America. There might not be a pitcher who has nastier stuff than Smoltz, and Glavine is putting up numbers that should land him in the Hall of Fame.
HOLDING ON
Tim Belcher might have been the most underrated starter in the game the past three seasons. Belcher is one of only four major league pitchers to have thrown at least 200 innings a year during every full season since 1991, joining Maddux, Glavine and Scott Erickson. Yet, after spending the last three years with the lowly Kansas City Royals, he might as well have been in the witness protection program.
By Bob Nightengale (Baseball Weekly)
January 14, 1999
The numbers have been crunched, and the finesse of Greg Maddux won out over the power of Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson.
The Atlanta right-hander, who won four consecutive Cy Young Awards this decade, dominated five of six categories used by Baseball Weekly to rate the pitchers: wins, ERA, innings pitched, opponents' batting average and walks per nine innings. He failed to crack the top 20 in strikeouts per nine innings -- but that hardly affects his performance.
Points were awarded on a 20-for-first, 1-for-20th basis in each category. Maddux (92 points) edged Clemens (86) and Johnson (81) for overall supremacy.
Our results also confirm what casual fans have known for years: The Braves have the(italic) (/italic)dominant staff of the '90s. Teammates John Smoltz and Tom Glavine join Maddux in the top six.
Here's the list:
1. Greg Maddux (92 points): He has the most wins (157) and lowest ERA (2.44) this decade. You can't do much better than that. Known for his pinpoint control, Maddux has walked just 1.68 batters per nine innings in the '90s. His career ERA of 2.75 would rank fourth all time (behind Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Whitey Ford) were he not 1502/3 innings shy of the 3,000 required. He'll have no trouble picking that up next season. He has never been on the disabled list and has at least 200 innings pitched each of the past 11 seasons. He also has eight Gold Gloves. His 2.14 ERA from 1992 to 1998 is the lowest over a span of six or more years since World War II. His .635 winning percentage (202-116) is eighth all time among pitchers with 200 or more wins.
2. Roger Clemens (86): He gets better with age (36). He led the AL in wins, strikeouts and ERA for the second consecutive year, the fourth man in history to win consecutive Triple Crowns. That success led to an unprecedented fifth Cy Young Award two months ago. His 1,120 strikeouts the past five years are second to Randy Johnson. He's the active leader in shutouts (44) and strikeouts (3,153). His six ERA titles are second to Lefty Grove.
3. Randy Johnson (81)
4. David Cone (74): Like Maddux, he has substituted guile for overpowering stuff and won 20 games last year for the first time since 1988 (the longest stretch between 20-win seasons in history). He also went 96 starts without back-to-back losses between May 1, 1995, and Sept. 19, 1998, the second-longest stretch this century.
5. John Smoltz (66): Despite coming off December 1997 elbow surgery, he was 17-3 with a 2.90 ERA last season. Said to have the nastiest stuff on the Braves' staff, he is 56-23 over the past three seasons for a major league-leading .709 winning percentage -- better than Maddux's .684 and Tom Glavine's .681. His 56 wins the past three years are the most in the majors -- one more than the Yankees' Andy Pettitte.
6. (tie). Tom Glavine (54): The crafty southpaw ranks second to Maddux with 150 wins in the '90s. He joins Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain as the only pitchers in franchise history with as many as four 20-win seasons. He is ninth among active pitchers with a .622 winning percentage. That percentage rises to .691 since September 1990. He led the majors last year with a 1.78 road ERA. He is the winningest left-hander over the past 11 years, with 173 victories.
6. (tie). Pedro Martinez (54)
8. Kevin Brown (41): The $105 million man posted his only 20-win season in 1992 with Texas, but he has come into his own the past three years (2.33 ERA). He led his teams (Florida, San Diego) to the past two World Series. He was 18-7 last year, but the Padres scored just 13 runs in his seven losses. And 75.1% of the balls hit off him last year were ground balls -- second in the majors to Maddux's 76.6%.
9. Jose Rijo (40)
10. Curt Schilling (38)
11. Hideo Nomo (36)
12. Sid Fernandez (35)
13. Chuck Finley (32)
14. (tie). Kevin Appier (27)
14. (tie). Shane Reynolds (27)
16. Mike Mussina (24.5): He has 82 wins in five years -- second to Maddux's 87 -- and his .667 winning percentage (118-59 record) leads all active pitchers.
17. Bret Saberhagen (24): He gives up just 1.65 walks per nine innings, second to Bob Tewksbury (1.29) and a hair better than Maddux.
18. (tie). Andy Benes (23)
18. (tie). Al Leiter (23)
18. (tie). Ramon Martinez (23)
By Bill Koenig (Baseball Weekly)
January 14, 1999
ATLANTA — The best pitcher of the '90s was standing around at a recent All-Star Gala talking with his wife and a newspaper reporter. Greg Maddux, 5-11, 175 pounds, was unobtrusive as always. No gold chains. No entourage.
A few hundred guests walked right past him.
The chance for a Maddux autograph in public is rare. Yet Maddux stood there invisible, as if Michael Jordan was in the buffet line and everyone in the house was occupied with that.
How can Maddux, the only pitcher in the history of the game to win the Cy Young Award in four consecutive seasons, stand around anywhere in public, much less a baseball party, and get away with it? It's as baffling as the pitches he throws big-league hitters.
Maddux shrugs like it's routine to avoid attention. He stays away from the obvious, like a huge strut, jewelry that would make Madonna envious, silk suits and loud shirts, all the things that scream ''I'm a $10 million-a-year pitcher.'' The only thing gaudy about him is his offseason residence, Las Vegas, which is his hometown.
''Piece of cake (to hide my identity),'' Maddux says. ''I'm thankful for that sometimes. It's not by accident, either. The way I dress and carry myself in public has something to do with it. I'm very casual. Some guys carry themselves like athletes, I don't. I walk like I walk. I don't walk like some big-time athlete. I wear a hat a lot, but that's more because I'd rather throw on a hat than spend the extra five minutes combing my hair.
''I don't do a lot of the TV stuff. Other guys would rather do it, which is fine by me. I don't think it hurts my privacy. The other thing is we don't go a lot of places. I go to the golf course; maybe we'll go to a movie, but we don't get out of the house much.''
There you have it. Win more big-league games in the '90s than Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson or Kevin Brown, and you can hide right under people's noses — if you're sly enough.
It sounds like the pitches he throws past disbelieving hitters. They think they can hit it into the next county, and when they don't, they're not sure why. Most hitters agree why Clemens and Johnson get them out. They overpower you. But Maddux? They scratch their heads and wonder.
So how does he do it? Well, he gets a lot of ground balls. He keeps the ball out of the center of the strike zone. He doesn't give up many walks or home runs. He knows the tendencies — thus the weaknesses — of hitters. His ever-moving fastball breaks late and darts in on right-handed hitters and zips away from lefties. His changeup is well disguised.
But Maddux is more than command of pitches and knowledge of hitters. There are things that put him in the top drawer.
Pete Van Wieren, a Braves radio and TV announcer, said the team was in Yankee Stadium in 1997 when shortstop Jeff Blauser passed off this Maddux story.
''Blauser tells me that Maddux comes up to him and Mark Lemke and tells them, 'Don't play all the way back on the dirt, the infield is cut deeper here,' '' Van Wieren said. ''Lemke said Maddux warned them that if they stood back with their heels near the outfield grass, they would be 2 feet deeper and the ball might take another bounce or there might be an extra short hop.
''I looked at the field, and he was right. Maddux is the consummate student of the game. I haven't met anyone like him in baseball.
''(Hall of Fame pitcher) Don Sutton has told me that if there is one guy he would have wanted to play with before he retired it would be Maddux.''
Another time, Van Wieren said he was in the Braves' clubhouse discussing trades with Maddux and several players and coaches. Maddux, of course, pops off the best trade in the discussion. Sammy Sosa for George Bell. How long has George Bell been out of baseball? Look at what Sosa is doing.
John Smoltz, another Braves Cy Young Award winner, still is astounded by Maddux's grasp of the game, even after playing on the same team for six seasons.
''I'm sitting on the bench with him one game, and he says to me 'If it's an inside pitch, look out because he'll foul it in the dugout,' '' Smoltz said. ''Next thing you know the ball comes flying into the JU dugout. It was an inside pitch. He's always saying stuff like 'If he throws this pitch, this is going to happen,' and he's always right on.
''Not many people have the ability to retain information like he does. It's uncanny. He recognizes things, and he remembers tendencies better than anyone I know.''
Eddie Perez, who catches most of Maddux's games, insists the Braves pitcher could be a hitting coach after he retires.
''He'd be a great hitting coach,'' Perez said. ''People don't know this about him, but he understands hitters, he knows when a guy makes an adjustment.
''He's thinking one pitch ahead. He knows big guys hold the bat way up, so he'll adjust to that.
''Watch him during the game. He's always sitting next to the hitting coach, and he'll say, 'Look at the hitter's leg, he's trying to do this or do that.' ''
Maddux is not only tuned into the game, he is tuned into his teammates as well as support personnel on the Braves. He plays cards daily in the clubhouse, and his generosity and sense of humor are in abundant supply.
''Doggie is famous for calling people by their wrong name,'' former Braves pitcher Denny Neagle said. ''He calls Chipper (Jones) 'Larry,' his real name, just because he knows Chipper really hates it. He called (Steve) Avery 'Chomper' because of those big teeth.''
Maddux is called ''generous'' by the team's batboys. He's a millionaire who looks out for the people on the bottom end of the franchise totem pole.
''I needed to go visit my family in St. Louis one year and my car was a mess,'' said Chris Van Zant, one of the Braves' batboys. ''It was so old, there's no way it would have made the trip. I think Greg overheard me talking about it with one of the other batboys in the clubhouse. He comes up to me and flips me the key to his BMW. He says, 'Here, take my car, just don't wreck it.' ''
Maddux said he never would have had the success in his career if he hadn't been able to stop worrying about winning and losing when he was with the Cubs early in his career. He started to focus mostly on making good pitches.
''I was worrying so much about winning and losing, or getting an out, or giving up a hit, that it was affecting the way I was pitching,'' Maddux said.
''It was interfering with my ability to make good pitches. I think (Cubs pitching coach) Dick Pole mentioned it to me the third or fourth year in the big leagues. I even talked to a shrink, and he kind of said the same thing, maybe a different way.
''I believed them; it made a lot of sense to me, so I tried to do it. It's easier said than done because you play this game to win. But at the same time you have to forget about that and concentrate on what it takes to win. For me, it's making good pitches.''
It's not surprising then that Maddux tries to talk around his statistics. He knows what they are, but he doesn't dwell on them.
''I never think about 300 wins,'' he said. ''I'm aware of what my stats are. I look at my stats, more so because I'm curious. I don't pitch for them, but I like to look at them. I don't even have 200 (wins) yet, so why think about 300?''
Maddux considers it important not to get caught up in stats, and he feels it's vital that young pitchers don't get caught up in developing a menu full of pitches.
''The advice I'd give to a young pitcher is to work on the fastball,'' Maddux said. ''Do whatever you need to do to work on the fastball and make it better, whether you're going to college or you want to get drafted out of high school. If you think throwing curveballs, sliders, and knuckleballs hurts your fastball by the time you're 17 or 18, don't throw 'em. Do whatever you think you need to do to have the best fastball because that's the one pitch they really can't teach you. They can teach you all the other stuff, but they really can't teach you a good fastball.''
It's just like Maddux. He likes to keep things simple — just like his appearance.
By Ray Glier
Glier is a free-lance writer in Atlanta.