At times, Greg Maddux’s mastery of the strike zone seemed effortless.
Fastball down-and-away – on the black – for strike one. Fastball in on the hands for strike two. Change-up away for strike three.
Pitch after pitch, strike after strike for the average-looking right-hander who elevated “control” to a new definition in the 1990s.
Gregory Alan Maddux was born April 14, 1966 in San Angelo, Texas. He spent some of his childhood in Madrid, Spain – following his father on his Air Force assignment – before graduating from high school in Las Vegas. Maddux’s father, Dave, taught Greg and his older brother Mike the fundamentals of the game – and Mike was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1982 MLB Draft.
Two years later, Greg – who had not yet reached his full size of 6-foot, 170 pounds – was taken in the second round by the Cubs.
After winning a combined 27 minor league games during the 1985-86 seasons while demonstrating a pitching intelligence beyond his years, Maddux struggled as a 21-year-old in 1987 with the Cubs – going 6-14 with a 5.61 earned-run average. It would be more than two decades later before Maddux posted another losing record.
In 1988, Maddux improved to 18-8 – the first of his 17 straight seasons with at least 15 victories, the longest streak by any pitcher in big league history. Maddux also earned the first of his eight All-Star Game selections that year.
In 1989, Maddux went 19-12 with a 2.95 ERA, leading the Cubs to the National League East title while finishing third in the NL Cy Young Award vote. He won 15 games in 1990 along with the first of his record 18 Gold Glove Awards, and led the NL in innings pitched in 1991 with 263 – the first of five straight seasons in which he led the league in that category.
Then in 1992, Maddux went 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA, earning the first of four straight Cy Young Awards – a record that went unchallenged until Randy Johnson tied it from 1999-2002.
After the season, Maddux became a free agent and eventually agreed with the Braves on a 5-year, $28 million contract. It would become one of the best bargains in big league history.
Maddux went 20-10 in 1993, leading the Braves to their third straight NL West title and topping the league with a 2.36 ERA – the first of four ERA crowns he would capture. During the next two strike-shortened seasons, Maddux was practically untouchable – going 16-6 with a 1.56 ERA in 1994 and then following that with a 19-2 mark in 1995 that included a 1.63 ERA.
In 1995, Maddux and the Braves won the World Series – topping Cleveland in six games. Maddux was 3-1 in the postseason.
During his four-year stretch of Cy Young Award dominance, Maddux was 75-29 with a 1.98 ERA. And his control improved almost every year. In 889.1 innings from 1994-1997, Maddux walked just 102 batters – including 23 intentional passes.
Maddux used every edge he had and continued to dominate the batters as the Braves continued to amass NL West titles. From 1993-2003 – his 11 years in a Braves uniform – Atlanta won the division crown in each completed season, advancing to the World Series three times and winning the 1995 Fall Classic. In that time, Maddux went 198-88 with a 2.63 ERA.
Maddux returned to the Cubs via free agency in 2004, winning his 300th game in 2004 and leading the NL in starts in 2005 with 35 at the age of 39.
In 23 big league seasons, Maddux spent only 15 days on the disabled list – a two-week stint in 2002 with an inflamed nerve in his lower back.
He retired following the 2008 season with 355 wins and only 227 losses – a .610 winning percentage. His victory total is the eighth-best of all-time, and his innings pitched total of 5,008.1 ranks 13th.
Maddux was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014.
