True legends are never forgotten, even years after they retire.
This is the case with former MLB star pitcher Greg Maddux.
He hasn’t thrown an MLB pitch in 15 years, yet those who watched him pitch remember him like it was yesterday.
Today, on his birthday, the baseball universe is uniting in a single voice to wish him the best of days.
“He turns 57 today, and we’re sure @gregmaddux could still throw a shutout in fewer than 100 pitches. Happy birthday Mad Dog!” the National Baseball Hall of Fame tweeted.
He turns 57 today, and we’re sure @gregmaddux could still throw a shutout in fewer than 100 pitches. Happy birthday Mad Dog!
📷 Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos pic.twitter.com/pQEhq3pUa9
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) April 14, 2023
We would have to agree: Maddux’s game was never based on velocity, but instead, on smarts, command, and courage.
To this day, we can say with confidence that no pitcher has shown the kind of impeccable command Maddux had.
Perhaps prime Clayton Kershaw comes very close.
Maddux could really place the ball wherever he wanted it to go.
The winner of the 1995 World Series with the Atlanta Braves, he was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award in four consecutive years (1992–1995).
That feat was later matched by only one other pitcher, Randy Johnson, who was dominant in another way.
Maddux is an eight-time All-Star, an 18-time Gold Glove award winner (!), and has a place in the Braves and the Chicago Cubs’ Hall of Fame.
He retired with 355 wins, a 3.16 ERA, and 3,371 strikeouts.
You can say with confidence that he was baseball’s best pitcher in the first half of the 1990s and one of the very best of that full decade.
He was a special one, and he is turning 57 on Friday.
Time really flies.
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