All Hail The Bulldog

I got one of those SASE's I talked about in my previous thread.  I ripped into it, still tired and bleary eyed as I had just awakened and grabbed my mail.  I probably should have slept a little more than the four hours I did but that's a whole other issue.  I peered inside this little white envelope and cautiously pulled out my potential prize.  I was stunned at what came out.

I know I shouldn't have been given the amount of successes I have seen and the fact that I got one back not long ago.  However, pulling a Greg Maddux autographed card is a pleasure no matter how many times its done.  Looking at this Maddux, a 2008 Upper Deck, I couldn't help but think it looked a little weird.  Then it hit me.  Maddux in a Padres uniform is still something I can't get used to.  A Cubs uniform, sure.  A Braves uniform, absolutely.  A Dodgers uniform or Padres uniform, well they take some getting used to.  

I carefully placed my new Maddux next to the previous one I had received.  The previous one shows Maddux in his 1995 prime (the card is a 1996 Stadium Club).  It only seems like yesterday that Maddux was baseball's best.  I'm not taking anything away from The Bulldog these days but there was something amazing about him back in the 1990's.  He never threw 100 MPH.  He relied on his brain to get hitters out.  He struck out 200+ hitters only once in his career but there was no other pitcher, except for Randy Johnson, that you feared more.  

Greg Maddux made his MLB debut 23 years ago, in 1986.  1986!!!  You don't see pitchers do that anymore.  Twenty-three years of excellence.  Twenty years in a row, not including 2008 obviously, that Maddux has won at least 10 games.  In fact, he never won fewer than 13 in any given year during that stretch.  He further cemented his first ballot entry into Baseball's Hall of Fame by  winning his 350th game this season.

Another thing struck me while peering over his stats.  The amount of innings his arm has seen. In today's game we have pitchers on strict pitch counts and innings limits.  It is maddening sometimes, as evidenced by the Joba Rules employed by the Yankees.  I understand protecting investments and all but my God!  It makes me wonder how pitchers stayed healthy in the older days.  Then I saw Maddux.  The Ol' Bulldog has pitched over 4,900 innings and will most likely hit 5,000 at some point this year.  5,000 innings in 23 years.   That is an average of about 217 per year.  His arm never fell off.  

It makes me sad to think Greg Maddux, one of the greatest ever to take the mound, will be retiring soon.  I don't think there will ever be another pitcher like Maddux in my lifetime.  Hopefully, He'll be around for a few years more for fans to appreciate.  Given the way he is pitching, I don't think he has lost much.  I'd like to see him get a shot with a team that is sure to make the postseason just to see Maddux get one more try at a World Series.  How about Maddux back to the Cubs where he wins Game 7 of the World Series to give the Cubs their first title in, well I think Lincoln was still alive for a Cubs World Series.  Hey, sometimes its the part that allows us to dream, to remember, and to think of what can be that makes baseball the greatest sport of them all.