Greg Maddux's 4 Insane Cy Young Seasons

emerging as an Ace and one of the most proficient pitchers in the game Greg Maddox reached the peak of a very long Peak from 1992 to '95 becoming the first pitcher to every wi four consecutive sa Youngs and doing so on multiple teams so let's look at how Maddox got there and the Four Seasons where Maddox was at the top of the helm totally sport ask maor leag Greg Maddox was born in Texas but spent a majority of his childhood in Spain as his father who was in the Air Force was stationed there him and his brother who had ALS o later playing the majors and is currently the pitching coach for the Rangers worked under Ralph meter who was a former Scout who told him the value movement in location over velocity and madx said he didn't know why but he believed it his brother would get drafted in 1982 and two years later Scouts were back for Greg and because of his skinny frame many Scouts were left unimpressed but the Cubs saw P that and pick Greg Maddox in the second round of the 1984 draft and he would elect to sign instead of playing at Arizona and madx would move up pretty quickly after half a year in the rookie league he would pitch in single in 1985 posting a 3.19 ra in 27 starts and in 1986 he would start at able a and go up to AAA before September posting a 2.91 erra and with this he would get called up to the majors to start September and maddox's debut was very odd the first reason it was odd was it came in a continued game that was suspended the previous day the game resumed in the top of the 15th and the reason it had to be suspended is because of Darkness as rly field did not have lights yet which is very hard to believe in the year of Our Lord in 1986 and another thing that's very hard to believe is that Greg mx's first major league appearance came in the 17th not as a pitcher but as a pinch Runner he didn't score but would make his first pitching appearance the next inning where he gave up the go-ahead Home Run and would take the loss in a game started by Nolan Ryan and Jamie Moyer another rookie who would pitch four more seasons than Maddox while also being four years older but four days later he would get to make his first Major League start and it would really be a sign of things to come as in his start in Cincinnati he will pitch a complete Game despite giving up 11 hits or giving up three earned runs and striking out four to win the game but his next three starts weren't as great as his ER set at 6.17 after three straight starts with a loss but his final start of the season was one he's going to remember as opposing him on the mound was his big brother Mike thus marking the first time rookie Brothers pitched against each other and the younger brother would come out on top as both will give up 3 ear runs but Greg lasted 7.2 Innings while Mike lasted just three as Greg would get the win in 1987 Maddox would make four starts in a a where he went 3 and0 with the point 98 ra but in his 30 games in the majors he struggled as his 5.61 ra would be the worst of his career as he also had the worst walks per nine of his career and his worst winning percentage but 1988 would be when he began to flourish he made his first All-Star game after posting a 2.15 ER in the first half and would finished the season with a 3.18 ra lowering his walks per n by 1.4 points as this began the first of 15 Seasons where he would win at least 17 games and in 1989 he would emerge as the Ace of the Cubs as for the first time time in his short career he would finish with an RA under three and for the first time with Garner sa young votes as he finished third and he would make his first ever postseason appearance that year and it didn't go so well as he gave up eight earned runs and four Innings to the Giants in game one and his appearance ended after he gave up a grand slam to Will Clark in the fourth and Maddox claims that during the mountain meeting before the at bat Clark read his lips that said fast ball high and inside and from then on Maddox would always cover his mouth with his glove during meetings on the mound he would pitch again in game four which was a little better not saying much as he earned a no decision in 3.1 Innings before the Cubs were eliminated the next game and he would have similar seasons in 1990 and 91 ping a 3.4 ER in those two seasons as his workload increased throwing exactly 500 Innings over those two seasons and these two seasons showed how madx was most effective as his 3.46 ER in 1990 is low considering he gave it the most hits in the league at 242 madx was always effective in getting out of James and another huge part of that was his ability to field his position his 9091 gave him the first of many gold gloves more than anyone in history at 18 to be exact and those two years will carry him into the next four where madx would go from being one of the best pitchers in the game to the best pitcher in the game for what the season would become Maddox didn't start out ideal as his Ra was at 3.48 after his sixth start which s give up 400 runs over 7.1 but in his next start in which he threw a complete game and gave just one run Z dropped a 3.04 and after his next start in which he gave up one over seven and never dropped below three again at the allstar break his ER was at 2.4 1.4 points lower than it was the year before and as a result he made his second All-Star game where he would come in relief of his future teammate and Tom glavin Who start to not go well as he gave up 5 ear runs in 1.2 Innings well Maddox gave a one ear run in 1.1 Innings with the home run to K Griffey Jr and in the second half Maddox would be even better as in his final 16 starts he post a 1.93 erra with 93 strikeouts and a 10 and3 record which gave him 20 wins which tied him for the most in the league he also led the league in Innings pitched at 268 while also leading an RA plus FIP war and home runs per nine at just point2 and with this he garnered 20 of 24 first place votes to win his first sa young over the person he relieved in the allstar game in Tom glavin and after that historic season he was a free agent and throughout the season negotiations with the Cubs became strenuous with both Larry heims and maddox's agent some unknown guy named Scott Boris saying the other wasn't acting in good faith So eventually the Cubs decided to pursue other free agents obviously something they would go on to regret and eventually Maddox would officially leave Chicago after seven seasons and head to Atlanta to join the saong runnerup and the defending defending national league champions in the Braves who now had the best rotation in baseball and one of the best of all time and funny enough to open the 1993 season he would go against his now former team in Chicago at Wrigley Field and he would best them after throwing 8.1 shutout Innings and a 1- Zer win meaning his Ra was at zero and it would balloon to 52 after his next start where he gave up one over nine innings which resulted in a no decision and just like the previous season he would have an early rough patch by his standards as his ra went up to 3.48 after pitching just four Innings and a loss to the Cardinals on April 25th but two starts later including a 10-inning performance against the Cardinals after the 25th Z was back under three and would never reach that again and his first half actually ended up being worse than it was was in the previous year as Z was 43 higher than it was the previous year despite having more strikeouts and he did not make the allstar team because of this as smos and glavin got to go and have fun but again like the previous year he was even better in the second half only this time he was even better in his 16 starts he posted a 1.79 ra striking out five per game while averaging just over one walk per game his second half would again bring his total wins to 20 which this time couldn't best his teammate and Tom glavin but he could best them and everyone else and E Innings pitched complete games ra plus FIP and whip and this time he garnered 22 first place sa young votes to take home his second straight award beating out his teammates in an underrated year by Jose Rio and when you have two of the top three in sa young voting along with JN Smoltz in an incredible offense it's not surprising when you win 10 104 games in the NL East and they would go up against the Phillies in the NLCS and Maddox was second in the rotation and after the Braves lost game one in extras game two became huge and Maddox would handle the the pressure pitching seven Innings giving up just two earned runs and striking out eight and it's also a lot easier to pitch when your team scores 14 runs and while his game two start was important after the bra lost two or3 in Atlanta the entire season was on the line as madx took them out in game six and it didn't go so well as he gave up six runs over 5.2 Innings which would be all the runs the Philly scored as they won six to3 to win the pennet and beat the Braves something we seen play out a few times recently but the Braves weren't going away and neither was manx as 1994 would be historic for a multitude of reasons just like 1993 manx started things out in dominant fashion as instead of facing a past team he would face a future team in the Padres and he would give up no runs over eight Innings while walking none and striking out seven and after two starts last year his Ra was at 52 in 1994 it was at 53 and the difference between 1994 and the two previous years is there would be no early rough patch as his Ra was at just 1.12 after April and a month where he threw three complete games including an 11 strikeout shut out against the Pirates on the 24th and he would keep on rolling he threw another complete game shut out to n May and his Ra was still below 1.5 at the end of the month and at the All-Star break his ER would set at 1.8 at six of his 19 starts were complete games but two of those being shutouts as of the 582 batters he faced he walked just 28 of them and gave up just three home runs and this time not only did he make the All-Star team he was starting the game for the first time and he would get to pitch three innings giving up one run and though the NL was winning when he exited he got a no decision in a back and forth 87 game won by the NL and after the All-Star break he will pitch back-to-back complete games with at least seven strikeouts and he would do so again to start August and on the 11th of August he will pitch his 10th complete Game and his third complete Game shutout which brought his e to 1.56 and unfortunately I can't tell you what happened after that as that would be his last start of the year not because of injury but because of the player strike that ended the season there's so many wha IFS involv ing the 1994 strike such as if the Expos would have won it all or if Tony Gwyn would have hit 400 or if Mike Tyson would have beat bud celik in a celebrity boxing match but an underrated one is how would Greg Maddox have finished the season as at the time of conclusion he led the league in wins ER Innings pitched complete games and shutouts ra plus FIP whip his perine home runs perine and War and because of where he stood this gave madx the second lowest Ela since Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968 when the mountains T to be lower due to pitching dominance with only Dwight Gooden's 1.53 ER in 1985 being better and despite the season ending early awards were given out and obviously Maddox won the Sai Young this time doing so unanimously as he would finish fifth in MVP voting in a year his batting average was higher than his ER the biggest reason we wonder how things would have ended up from Maddox is because of how 1995 went as Tom glavin was booed by his own fans as a result of involvement with the players union being the bra's representative mats would be their number one and proved to be so the season started late as a result of the strike and maddox's first start came on April 26th where he gave up one in just five innings of work he would start out the season with a small workload partially due to delayed spring training and he had a little rough patch like he did in previous Seasons as his ER went to 3.16 after giving up five ear runs in eight Innings to the Rockies on May 17th but after this Maddox only went in One Direction and that was up at the end of June his ra went from 3.16 to 1.85 in a space where he threw four complete games including his May 28th start which would be his only one hitter of his career as he lost a no hitter and shut out in the eighth off a Jeff Bagwell home run and after two starts to start July where he pitched 17 Innings giving up one ear run and striking out 17 he had a first half with a 1.64 ra striking out 68 walking just eight of the 384 batters he faced manx did make the allstar team and was scheduled to start the game but a slight injury forced him to rest as mentioned in a previous video Ado Nomo would start the game with MX saying more wanted to see him anyway which true and was needed in a time where fans were leaving the game and in the second half madx would have a little hiccup at the start of August where he gave up three runs over eight in the first game then five in the next to bring his ER to 1.96 in a game where he had five walks which was 22% of the walks he had for the entire season but he would rebound after this throwing a complete game shut out on the 20th and in September he gave up one run in 31 Innings and that one run came in a game where he pitched just one inning and had to exit early and this brought us finally array to 1.63 three making the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1918 and 1919 to post an RA under 1.8 in back-to-back Seasons as this was just the fifth time since 1920 a pitcher had an erra under 1.65 with Bob Gibson and Lou tion in 1968 doc Gooden in 85 and Maddox in 94 and 95 he obviously led the league in ra and L in wins with the league best 19 and2 record along with leading incomplete games and shutouts ra plus FIP whip home runs per nine walks for n and War basically the categories he led in for four straight years and for the second straight year he won the siong unanimously with at least one of his teammates looking on and in MVP voting he finished third to Barry Lin and what many consider to be a robbery just from the stats you may think Dante bashet deserve more even if he played at Coors Field but the main argument is madx was easily the best pitcher in the league on the best team in baseball in a season where he walked 23 batters in 209 Innings with a second straight season whereas Ra was under 1.65 and he went 9 and two in a time where pitching record had much more emphasis and you can argue Lin wasn't even the best player on his team as Reggie Sanders had a higher war and beats him in every Power category along with stealing 36 bases but this was a terrible year for voting as Albert Bell was also robbed in the AL MVP voting but madx had a chance to Showcase how valuable he was once again as the Braves were at the top going into the postseason and something that came out of the 1994 strike was playoff expansion and now the Braves are playing in the first ever nlds and Greg Maddox had the challenge of facing the Rockies he's in courts field in game one and he go seven Innings giving up three earned runs and three earned is actually very low considering he struck out zero and gave up nine hits which ended in a no decision as the Braes would win 5 to four and the Braes would win game two but not game three putting Maddox back on the mound with a chance to win the series and despite getting a pitch in Atlanta he pitched just a little worse as he gave up four over seven with 10 hits and seven strikeouts but the Braves scored 10 for plenty of support as they won the series so madx and the Braves bested one player who received more MVP BOS the madx and now they were going to get their chance to best the other as they were going up against Barry Lin in the Reds and the NLCS the Braves won the first two in cincinnatian extras putting a lot less pressure on Maddox in game three and he wasn't phas either way as he would throw eight Innings giving up just one while allowing seven hits and striking out four and the next night the Braves would win 6 to Zer to win their third penet of the decade and now Greg Maddox would finally get his chance to pitch in the world series and he would go up against the Cleveland Indians who featured the player just mentioned who was Rob of a MVP and Albert Bell The Sweep gave extra rest and allowed Maddox to start in game one and on the biggest stage he delivered he gave up an unearned run in the first and in the ninth and that was it as he threw a complete game with no earned runs giving up just two hits as he bested oral Herer to give the Braves a one lead the Braves would take two of the next three meaning they had a chance to win the World Series with madx on the mound in game five Maddox gave up a two-run home run in the first Albert Bell but Cru after that as s were tied going into the sixth but in the sixth he gave gave up two RBI singles to Jim Tomy and Manny Ramirez which would be the difference in the game as Cleveland ended up winning 5 to four as Maddox took the loss but they still had a 3-2 lead and madx was fully prepared to pitch in game seven but that wasn't necessary as Tom glavin would throw eight shutout innings in game six as the Braves will win 1 to zero to win their first World Series in Atlanta a perfect culmination for the best team in the NL in the 90s and a great finish for the four-year peak of Greg Maddox we can call it the four-year Peak because of the sa Youngs but over the next three Seasons he would finish fifth second and fourth in sa young boting with 1997 seeing him walk just 20 of the 893 batters he faced but Pedro dominated Montreal which gave him the sa young and believe it or not Maddox isn't the only pitcher to win four consecutive sa Youngs as just four years after 95 the 95 Al saong winner Randy Johnson would win four sa young of his own consecutively in Arizona I also did a video about his four years and comparing their Four saong Seasons you can clearly tell the different type of pitches these two are just from the strikeout totals and you can also see in the walk totals both insanely effective in different ways and an era dominated by hitters and something you may take away from Maddox is that two of these four seasons were in complete seasons but 94 and 95 were right there with the greatest twoe stretch of players ever had in those two years combined he had a 1.6 ER surrendering less than 300 hits and of the 1559 batters he faced he walked just 54 of them and only 12 of those 1559 hitters with would hit a home run off him just an absolutely absurd toye finish to a four-year stretch with sa Youngs and topped off with the World Series and many glorious hot tub experiences throughout