Yesterday at the Winter Meetings, Greg Maddux officially announced his retirement from the sport of baseball. In his storied, incredible career, Maddux put up numbers that would make most people think he’s the greatest pitcher ever. Whether or not you believe so I’ll leave as an open-ended debate question, but one thing is for sure, I never got more enjoyment out of watching the Braves than when Greg Maddux had the ball. Here’s some numbers that illustrate how great his career was.
2: Number of unanimous Cy Young awards Maddux won.
4: Number of NL ERA titles Maddux won. Since the dead-ball era, only Sandy Koufax has won more NL
ERA titles with 5. This is also the number of consecutive Cy Young awards he won from 1992-1995, something nobody else has done and probably will ever do.
11: Seasons with the Braves as the staff ace. The Braves won their division every one of these years. (except 1994, strike year). He also won a division title with the Cubs in 1989 and with the Dodgers in 2008.
17: Number of consecutive seasons he won at LEAST 15 games. Unparalleled by any other pitcher.
23: Number of years Maddux’s career spanned.
78: Number of pitches it took Greg Maddux to complete a game on July 22, 1997.
6: Number of complete games Greg Maddux pitched using fewer than 90 pitches. Probably why he was regarded as the best teammate of all time. His unselfishness didn’t regard strikeouts as something he coveted. He’d rather use his defense, work quickly, and help his team win the game than glorify his personal stats.
355: Number of career wins. 2nd highest total since the dead-ball era. Another Braves’ pitcher, Warren Spahn, holds the highest total since the dead ball era at only 8 more, 363.
999: Number of walks he issued in his career, that’s an average of 43 a season or 1.8/9 innings. This is probably why he’s regarded as the best control pitcher of all time.
3371: Number of batters Maddux struck out in his career. This ranks 10th all time. Funny thing, he was never regarded as a strike-out pitcher.
153,845,000: Amount of money Maddux has earned in his career. Highest total for a player that didn’t play for the Yankees, Red Sox, or whose name doesn’t rhyme with “Arry Bonds”. However much he made, it doesn’t seem like enough for 355 career wins.
100: Percent of the Hall of Fame vote he should get in 2014.
Seeing Greg Maddux go is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in the Baseball world. I don’t care if he’s old, I still got extremely excited when I saw Maddux pitch in the post-season this past year. Maddux should break Tom Seaver’s record of highest voting percentage for the Hall of Fame and he should go in there with a Braves’ jersey. Here’s to you, Professor. For providing unlimited entertainment and joy to this Braves’ fan. Cheers, may you enjoy retirement more than MLB hitters will enjoy not having to face you.
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