There Will Never Be Another Greg Maddux

there will never be another player like Greg Maddox and I know this because he threw a scoreless complete game in 78 pitches won four consecutive sa young and did absolutely astounding things that have never been done again since his tenure in the league but Greg Maddox is actually even better than you think and it's precisely why there will never be another player like him there are certain aspects to his career that often get overlooked and we're going to dive into all of it in this video like many big Leaguers Greg was born in Texas he stands alongside Nolan Ryan and Clayton Kershaw as one of the best Lone Star State hurlers but he is one of the few MLB stars to grow up in Madrid yeah Spain his father served in the Air Force and was stationed there the family moved to Las Vegas when Greg was 10 and the youngster was noticed along with his brother Mike who also ended up as an MLB pitcher the two were coached by Ralph Meer a former Big League Scout who became their Mentor the philosophy he taught the two was to put control ahead of velocity which served Greg really well in his career already in high school Maddox was known for outsmarting batters by giving them the pitch they least expected it was a combination of his natural cunning and the approach he was taught by meter one piece of advice he gave was that when you were in a jam pitch softer and not harder Greg remembers I believed it I don't know why I just did Maddox always got results that way he led Valley High School in Las Vegas to the state championship in 1983 three and he played American Legion Baseball the following year and was named The Graduate of the year in 1984 pitching soft Works who knew Greg planned to go to the University of Arizona after school but the Cubs they had other ideas Greg's Call to Adventure came in the second round of the MLB draft when the Cubs chose to sign the small but talented Greg Maddox to their squad Greg saw his big break in front of him and he opted for the MLB instead of attending America's most prominent party school big mistake Greg Greg would have gone higher in the draft but many Scouts they were concerned that he was on the small side at 6 feet and 170 lb If Only They had seen Moneyball they would have known the error of their ways but the Cubs they saw it their Scout Doug mapson said I believe this boy would be the number one player in the country if only he looked a bit more physical but Greg was phenomenal his first year in the Myers overpowering batters at every minor league level and going through the entire cub syst him in only 2 years Chicago called him up in 1986 but there were still doubts about his abilities One internal Scouting Report concluded Greg was not strong enough to be a starter yeah good call Buddy his first game as a big leager was bizarre back then the Cubs didn't have lights in their stadium so you couldn't play at night he was slotted into appear as a reliever in the second game of a double header but it was postponed because the first game ran long two years later they finally got lights welcome to the 20th century Wrigley Maddox appeared in the next game but first as a pinch Runner against the Astros in his 17th inning in the 18th he pitched in a lot of Home Run blowing the game for Chicago not a great start to your big league career this was incredibly discouraging to the young athlete imagine coming all that way just to get thrown into the game in the 18th inning and then also to lose it for your new team I mean that's just awful and the struggles continued in Greg's first season actually to be honest that is putting it lightly Greg stunk the numbers speak forsel he was 6 and 14 with a sad 5.61 ra and 101 strikeouts and that was particularly tough on the young pitcher because he was known for being extra competitive his brother Mike remembers if Greg couldn't win he didn't want to play plain and simple so he took it incredibly hard and there were Whispers that the scouts who had thought Greg was too small and lacked the power to be a starter were correct but right when Greg was at his lowest everything changed The Following season in 1988 hinted at the legendary Hall of Famer that Maddox would become he finished 18 and8 with a 3.18 ra indeed that was the first of an incredible 17 seasons of winning more than 15 wins that is the longest streak in history and a record that will likely never be broken wao whoo who hold on a second we can't jump ahead that quickly in the story we need to say right here in 1989 still where things were just getting started for Maddox 1988 as we said was a strong year but it was the following year in 1989 that Maddox crossed the threshold and became a True Ace by this point he had developed arguably the best control any pitcher had ever developed Greg also subed Ed his place as the best defensive pitcher of his generation that year he had a 19 and 12 year with a 2.95 ER helping the Cubs to a division title he was also third in the NL Sai Young Award vote and just overall played incredible baseball in the seasons following 1989 Greg's abilities were on absolute show he won four sa young Awards appeared in eight All-Star games earned 18 Gold Glove Awards and struck out more than 3,000 batters these are incredible stats for any pitcher but let's not forget that he did all of this without a devastating fastball and in perhaps the most Juiced up era for hitters in history the 1990s these were the days when it seemed everyone was on steroids and Mark Maguire Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were hitting home runs in quantities that previously seemed impossible in 1992 Greg leaped from justtin Ace to an all-time great Greg went 20 11 with a 2.18 ra and won the sa Young award that year he also pitched nine complete games people forget that despite his slight build Maddox was incredibly durable the fact that he used his two seam fastball sparingly certainly helped with that it began an unbelievable stretch that it continued after signing for the Atlanta Braves as a free agent in 1993 in 1993 and 1994 he posted two of the lowest ra numbers of the post-war era with 1.56 and 1.63 there is certainly a case to be made that his pitching stretch from 1990 to 1994 was any pitcher's best four-year stretch in history especially when you consider the fact that the rest of the league during this time had a significantly higher average ra but unfortunately Maddox could not maintain his phenomenal 1990 to 1994 form forever he was still an ace in 1996 97 and '98 but all good things must come to an end by the end of the decade and start of the 2000s maddox's stuff was not able to compete anymore after returning to the Cubs in 2004 he continued hitting milestones and Performing aely but as a 38-year-old the body can only do so much the ace reached his 300th win with the Cubs but by now time had caught up with him and he just wasn't wasn't as effective from then on aside from one season his ra would remain over 4.0 something that had never happened with the Braves or anytime earlier in his career spending his last few years with the Dodgers and Padres Maddox had lost his fast ball and was running on the fumes of his cunning and experience when he threw his last pitch the fans wiped away a tear knowing they had seen the last of a unicorn but after this whole story what truly makes Greg one of a kind and why will there never be another Greg Maddox well first off Greg is arguably the best pitcher who ever lived yeah I said it there was a strong case between the Fielding the dominant pitching and the Juiced up ARA Herald in that combines into a peak of spectacular play that we've never seen before especially in his stretch from 1990 to 1994 where he absolutely dominated one thing people also sometimes forget is that Greg was probably the best Fielding pitcher who ever lived his 18 Golden Gloves are more than any player ever won ever he holds the record for the most put outs for a pitcher at 546 also then put that together with his four sa young Awards and the most seasons with over 15 wins ever I mean that is an unbeatable career and aside from his undoubted quality Maddox was also one of a kind of other ways constantly doubted for his unimposing technique and lack of devastating fastball he lived by cunning and control I mean he was nicknamed the professor for his nerdy looks and his smart pitching style but it kind of fits because he beat you by outthinking you not overpowering you and he never got injured as a result this is a lesson modern pitchers would be wise to learn from because not everything needs to be 105 mph fastball to win that gets predictable and will get you Tommy on surgery sooner or later and for all of these reasons there really will never ever be another Greg Maddox but what does the future hold for him Greg does some coaching alongside his beloved brother Mike but he also has tried to help pitchers avoid injuries as he did for the MLB Maddox authored a report on assisting young hurlers to avoid the operating table and everyone should learn a thing or two from this goat for helping the league in the this way but while maddox's legendary story is one for the ages and he truly is one of a kind there is a pitcher currently in the league who might just be more unique I forget his name sometimes it kind of slips by me what is it oh yeah it's sh Otani check out our previous video to find out why there will never be another Sho Otani and why he might just be the greatest baseball player to ever play the game