Not sure if it was worthy of it's own thread, but I made it anyway. He'll announce it Monday at the winter meetings per ESPN.

Definitely deserving.

One of my favorite non-Phillies ever, and that's saying something considering he and the Braves basically killed us for about a dozen years there.

The one guy I wish would do a farewell tour. If the voters are to be trusted, he should get at least 98% of the vote on the first ballot.

His 4 year span from 92-95 was one of the best ever. Look at his stats a 271 and 262 ERA+, a WHIP of .811 and .896. And won the Cy Young in all 4 of those years, one unanimously.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml

Hard to see how he is not a unanimous selection. Great pitcher and great competitor, even if he was a smug bastard. Baseball will miss him!

kruker wrote:The one guy I wish would do a farewell tour. If the voters are to be trusted, he should get at least 98% of the vote on the first ballot.

I've long thought he could be the first guy to go in unanimously. Nobody doubts his greatness, and he hasn't pissed off reporters to my knowledge. (And nobody make a "pissed on" joke...)

The only reason not to vote for Maddux would be out of some dumbassed notion that "nobody should go in unanimously since Babe Ruth (or whoever) didn't. It's true that at least a few BBWAA members are probably obnoxious and arrogant enough to make a decision on that basis, but they should be--and will be--mocked mercilessly for doing so.

Well, he'll be the first of the "Big Three" to go in. Glavine I presume will retire next, then Smoltz? Smoltz I think wants to stick around forever.

CFP wrote:Well, he'll be the first of the "Big Three" to go in. Glavine I presume will retire next, then Smoltz? Smoltz I think wants to stick around forever.

There's an outside chance they're all done NOW. It'd be kinda awesome (again, Braves = yuck! but still) if they all went to Cooperstown together.

dajafi wrote:

kruker wrote:The one guy I wish would do a farewell tour. If the voters are to be trusted, he should get at least 98% of the vote on the first ballot.

I've long thought he could be the first guy to go in unanimously. Nobody doubts his greatness, and he hasn't pissed off reporters to my knowledge. (And nobody make a "pissed on" joke...)

The only reason not to vote for Maddux would be out of some dumbassed notion that "nobody should go in unanimously since Babe Ruth (or whoever) didn't. It's true that at least a few BBWAA members are probably obnoxious and arrogant enough to make a decision on that basis, but they should be--and will be--mocked mercilessly for doing so.

I actually think whoever doesn't vote for him should never be allowed to vote again.

I've always liked him a lot but always wished he'd suck a little more than he did. That guy was one of the best at what he did in any sport of this generation.

What a career. Sad to see him go.

To have had those seasons during the chemball years is UH-MAY-ZING.

I remember 1987 being my first big year collecting cards. All the hype back then was Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Mike Greenwell, Ruben Sierra, Bo Jackson, Wally Joyner, Will Clark, Bobby Bonilla, Todd Worrell, Danny Tartabull, and Barry Larkin.

2 rookie cards that didn't get me all hot and bothered when i opened packs of cards in the summer of '87:





Shows how much I knew...

Did you put them in your bicycle spokes?

maybe the best pitcher of all time?

anyway, I remember discussing Maddux's ridiculous peak in the Santana thread last year

viewtopi ... c&start=60.html

Ok, fun contest for the day. Find the top 10 five year stretches for ERA+. So, five consecutive years, add up the ERA+ for the pitcher, divide by 5, and you get your total. The only caveat, none of the seasons included can be below 150 IP. That eliminates one run of Pedro's stretch, because he only threw 116 innings in 2001. Here is Pedro's best

1996-2000: 117, 219, 163, 243, 291 = 207 average

Just did Maddux

1994-1998: 271, 262, 162, 189, 187 = 214

phdave wrote:Did you put them in your bicycle spokes?

No sir- I was part of the Beckett Baseball Card Magazine generation. We thought we were paving the way toward our college tuitions based on how many 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy reverse negatives, and high numbered 1988 Donruss Gregg Jefferies we collected and put into plastic sheets.

Anyone snag a pix of him with the glasses on. HEY PERFESSOR OH NOES YOU STRUCK ME DOWN

Like some others, one of the few guys I just respected his game regardless of what team he played for. Gold Glover, smart guy... great pitcher. Would have won 20 in 94 if the season wasn't shortened and got close 8 more times... good ERA in post-season though he never won more than 1 game in any post-season ... no brainer, he's got a spot on my All-Time Starting 5!

I liked when he pitched what might have been his last game in Philadelphia (and it would have been had he not been traded to LA), the fans gave him a nice ovation when he was taken out of the game. Oh wait, it was Philly, better fix this story for the national media. Maddux was hit with five batteries, dressed up as Santa, and then booed when he left the field.

philliesphhan wrote:I liked when he pitched what might have been his last game in Philadelphia (and it would have been had he not been traded to LA), the fans gave him a nice ovation when he was taken out of the game. Oh wait, it was Philly, better fix this story for the national media. Maddux was hit with five batteries, dressed up as Santa, and then booed when he left the field.

you forgot that his wife was molested in the cheese steak line

Greg Maddux did pr0n?