Greg Maddux's Baseball Hall of Fame Speech - July 27, 2014

let me say first of all how grateful I am to be here I would like to thank the Hall of Fame voters it's obviously the biggest honor you can give to a ball player to put me here in Cooper town with all of my childhood Heroes it's sort of hard to believe I'm standing here today I never gave a thought to the Hall of Fame as I was going through my career my goal as a baseball player was very simple all I wanted to do was try to get better for my next start and to think it all ended up here pretty cool to have the long career I did I really considered it I never really considered it work because it was so much fun the guys I played with and against the coaches managers even the umpires were always great to be around those of us who play this great game and make a living at it are all extremely lucky I would not be standing here today if it weren't for all the positive people I've had in my life when I was six years old my dad Dave was my first coach he taught me to enjoy the game he would hit my brother and I countless ground balls he would hit my brother and I countless ground balls every day after work and we had fun doing it my brother Mike led by example everything I was about to do on and off the field he had already done I was very fortunate to have a brother that I could learn from he even taught me a little bit about science it has to do with a little methane and a and and a lighter and I still get a huge kick out of it today that's funny huh yeah right okay my mother Linda who is here today was a perfect mom she Dro she drove us to practice after every game and made sure we were never late I love her and she is my biggest fan as I entered my sophomore year in high school I was lucky enough to have Ralph meter as my first true pitching coach he taught me my basic pitching fundamentals movement location the ability to change speeds and velocity in that order he said you throw hard enough but as you face better hitters you're going to need more than just velocity to get hitters out movement and location will last longer than hard and straight at first just like any other kid all I wanted to do was throw hard but as I matured I realized how right he was Roger feris my coach at Valley High School in Las Vegas taught me the work habits that I use my whole playing career at age 17 Keith clevin taught me how to take care of my arm legs and core I didn't know then the impact Keith would have on my career until some 5,000 Innings later with no arm problems I thank him very much for keeping my body healthy throughout my entire career and I consider him the best in his field I'd like to thank my Scout Doug mson who took a chance and signed me to my first contract in the minor leagues there were three coaches that helped me along the way first it was Rick cranet who helped me with my change up Jim Wright helped me locate my fast ball to both sides of the plate and Dick Paul who taught me my delivery and started teaching me the basics on Pitch selection after arriving in Chicago I married my high school sweetheart Kathy she took care of everything off the field which allowed me to put all my focus on baseball I'm lucky to be married to her and I love her more today than when I first married her my first day in the big leagues starting pitchers were Nolan Ryan and Jamie Moyer 20 minutes before the game I was sitting on the bench and my first manager Jean Michaels thought I was the bat boy the nickname stuck for a few years but faded over time Billy Connor asked me a question one day he asked do you ever wonder how good you can be of course I said no and uh he said why don't you go out there and try to find out I've been trying to find the answer to that question every day since Don Zimmer made me realize there was a difference between winning and pitching just good enough to lose after many failures in baseball I met Harvey Dorfman he taught me to focus on the things that only I could control those lessons spilled over in my personal life as well I consider him to be one of the best coaches I've ever had with the Cubs I had the opportunity to play with Andre Dawson Rick suck Cliff Ryan Samberg and two fine catchers Damon Barry Hill and Joe [Applause] the city of Chicago and all Cub fans were awesome maybe the best in [Music] [Applause] baseball I was glad to be part of a division championship in ' 89 although we didn't get to the World Series that year playing all the home games at Wrigley fi were really special with the help of Scott Boris I moved on to Atlanta I picked Atlanta because I finally wanted to get a World Series ring and start a family all right sorry Chicago but [Applause] yeah my wife Kathy really stepped her game up then as we started our family our daughter Paige and my son Chase while I was on the road at the park all day my mind was at ease knowing things are okay at home I don't know how she was able to balance the kids going to schools in both Atlanta and Las Vegas but she did an amazing job with that after many year misses we finally got our ring in 95 which was great to share with our coaches teammates in the city of Atlanta Bobby Cox who I'm honored to be with on the Das today led us to the promised land Bobby taught us how to play winning baseball and enjoy our time away from the park thank God Dave Justus hit that big Homer when he did and GL through one more clutch game no one wanted to win more than our pitching coach Leo mazone he stressed that she all right he stressed that you needed to pitch your 200 Innings and everything will take care of itself from there the next seven years we're spent which winning division titles watching the kids grow up watching John smz his hairline [Applause] receipt SMY remains one of my all-time best teammates and I hope he joins and me in Cooper town [Applause] shortly jav Lopez Eddie Perez Charlie O'Brien Paul Baco were my catchers in Atlanta and we used to get a nice choco when they get hit in the face by fou tips I would like to thank my doctor Joe Chandler for making it easier for me to start every 5 days I love Chicago so much the first time I played there that I was very grateful that Gary Hughes and Jim Hendry brought me back over to Chicago that would give me a second chance to win there and maybe retire where it all started but I wouldn't be a cub if I couldn't handle a little heartache and we missed the postseason by one game My First Year back I was thankful I got a chance to play for Dusty Baker and work with Larry Roth child I I enjoyed throwing most of my games to Henry Blanco and Michael Barrett and again it was even funnier when they would get hit in the face at the end I spent time with the Dodgers and the padr and was treated great in both places I love the California weather and being closer to Vegas I enjoyed playing for both Joe Tori and Buddy black two great managers and I learned more about throwing a change up a better way from Darren bowsley that was 4 years after first learning from Rick cranet just goes to show you that no matter how old you are you're still looking to get better people ask me why I have no Hall of Fame plaque no logo or why my hall of fame plaque has no logo I spent 12 years in Chicago 11 in Atlanta and both places are very special to me without experiences in both cities I would not be standing here today on behalf of my family and all those I've mentioned thank you for this incredible honor