Maddux To Retire

According to the Augusta Chronicle, Greg Maddux will announce his retirement on Monday.

Maddux will finish up with a career record of 355-227. He will surely be a first ballot Hall Of Famer.

I never really cared for Maddux. Was he a terriffic pitcher? Yes. My problem is, I didn't ever believe he had the onions to pitch in tight games. It seemed that whenever he got the lead, he would be out of the game in sixth or seventh, and had only thrown 80-90 pitches.

I also didn't like the way he would have his 'personal' catcher - especially with the Braves. Javier Lopez rarely caught Maddux, but was the starting catcher for Atlanta at the time.

Maddux also was not a dominant pitcher during the post season. Of the 'great' Atlanta pitchers of the 1990's, only John Smoltz was dominant in the post season. Glavne and Maddux were merely adequate.

Yes Maddux will be enshrined in five years, and deservedly so, I just never cared for him. But, with a .610 winning percentage and 18 Gold Gloves, he is a shoe-in.