Retired MLB pitcher Greg Maddux was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on January 8. Maddux, along with former teammate Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas formerly of the Chicago White Sox will be inducted into Cooperstown in July. With a voting percentage of 97.2, it is clear that almost everyone sees that Maddux deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.
Drafted by the Cubs in ’84, Maddux has had an All-Star career and is arguably one of the best pitchers to play in the game of baseball in the modern era. His 97.2 percent of votes topped the list of players on this year’s ballot. Maddux also has the 8th highest voting percentage of players elected into the Hall of Fame trailing names like Nolan Ryan, Ty Cobb, and Hank Aaron.
Maddux’s 22-year professional career began with the Cubs in ’86. He spent four years with Chicago and garnered his first of eight All-Star selections in ’88. Following his stint with the Cubs, Maddux went to pitch for the Atlanta Braves for the next ten years. In his time with Atlanta, Maddux became the head of a rotation that boasted the talents of Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.
Maddux won four straight National League Cy Young Awards with the Braves from ’92-’95, and became a World Series champion with Atlanta in ’95. He completed two stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers after returning to play for the Cubs and spending a year with the San Diego Padres.
Maddux has received a variety of accolades throughout his career in addition to All-Star selections and Cy Young Awards. Maddux was an 18-time Gold Glove Award winner earned through ’90-’08. He finished first in the National League four times in ERA and three times in wins.
He finished his career in ’08 with 3,371 strikeouts, a 3.16 ERA, and a win-loss record of 355-227. The “Mad Dog” has had his number 31 retired by both the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs.
Maddux has not let his retirement from playing stop him from improving pitchers on other teams. He returned as an assistant with the Cubs in ’10 and spent the 2012 season with the Texas Rangers where his brother, Mike, is the pitching coach.
Maddux has had a long and storied career in baseball. He attained numbers that most pitchers will never be able to surpass. He has made famous his own pitching style and has been lauded as being one of the smartest pitchers in the game. Maddux has fans in numerous cities across the country, and has been hailed a great teammate by former and current players.
“I get asked all the time was he the best pitcher I ever saw. Was he the smartest pitcher I ever saw? The most competitive I ever saw? The best teammate I ever saw? The answer is yes to all of those,” Bobby Cox (Braves HOF induction banquet, July 17, 2009).
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