If you are baseball fan and you follow the Major Leagues as well as the Braves (Atlanta) you certainly heard of Greg Maddux. Being a main pitcher of the 90’s decade he had a career winning that was rivaled only by the legendary pitcher Warren Spahn. Maddox consistently was a Gold Glove winner that was the 1st pitcher who won the Cy Young for four (4) consecutive seasons. He was then, and still is, one of the fan’s favorites of the Braves followers.

Control is what he Mastered
He controlled his game, Maddux was nationally known for this control. He could read the hitters and then anticipate their move making him the only major league pitcher who took 15 or even more wins in one season for over a decade. He had a total of 18 Gold Glove awards to his name and it is not likely to be surpassed by anyone any time in the near future. And what’s more is that during this four year exceptional run as Cy Young recipient, Maddux managed to maintain an ERA of less than 2, taking a record of only 29 losses with an amazing 75 victories.

Consistently Producing
While Maddux was pitching with the Braves he consistently remained their pitching star and was almost in contention for Cy Young Award. While the Braves team was having a stellar year in 1995, the statistics were showing how Maddux helped maintain this with run. Even though the ERA for the league’s season stood over 4, Maddux kep his personal ERA at 1.63. As their starting pitcher, Maddux kept a record of nineteen victories for the season, with just two losses. Braves had stormed into, taken over, and won the World Series in 1995 due to Maddux’ production that year. Maddux went one to one and won the 1st game, losing against the great Hershiser, but then lost Game 5 in that series.

Gregg Maddux, along with John Smoltz and Tom Glavine made the Braves trio of pitchers who took over the mound that decade. With these three taking charge and leading the team, they helped the Braves own the division title each year Maddux was in the program. And for many Braves fans who observe the games, the one thing they found more remarkable other than the Brave’s trio production was the fact they somehow just never managed in winning more than one of the World Series titles!

Through his long run career, Maddux started to watch his own fastball slowly lose it’s once great speed. Although he never seemed to let that bother him; and for a very good reason. His success that he found on the mount was neither his speed or his power but his principal components. It was that of a game made of composure and control. A sinking fastball saved him mostly, allowing him to consistently force the hitters into a ground ball, then relying on his own defense team to make the play in the field behind him. His fastball pitch and his ability to get into the hitter’s head helped him to be a feared starting pitcher throughout the major leagues, making this the main reason he was considered to be the greatest of all pitchers in time.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his Texas Rangers Watch or his Boston Red Sox Watch or his St. Louis Cardinals Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: Atlanta Braves