Maddux, Gregory Alan

Maddux, Gregory Alan
▪ 1996

      Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves established himself in 1995 as the best pitcher of his day and one of the greatest in baseball history. Maddux won the National League's Cy Young Award—given annually to the league's top pitcher—for the fourth consecutive year. Only one other pitcher had won four Cy Young Awards, and none had ever won the award more than two years in a row. In leading the Braves to the National League pennant, Maddux won a league-best 19 games while losing only 2. His league-leading earned-run average (ERA) of 1.63, along with a 1994 mark of 1.57, made him the first pitcher since the legendary Walter ("Big Train") Johnson in 1918-19 to post an ERA of less than 1.80 in consecutive seasons. At 1.8 m and 77 kg (6 ft and 170 lb), Maddux was smaller than the average ballplayer. He did not have a blazing fastball or a devastating curve; instead, he was able to dominate hitters by studying their tendencies and then baffling them with the amazing accuracy and varying speeds of his pitches.

      Maddux was born on April 14, 1966, in San Angelo, Texas. From a young age he and his older brother, Mike (who also became a major league pitcher), were drilled in the fundamentals of the game by their father. Greg earned all-state honours in both his junior and senior years as a pitcher for Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nev., and upon his graduation in 1984 he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and assigned to the minor league system.

      Late in the 1986 season, Maddux, just 20 years old, was called up to the big leagues. His performance that season (two wins, four losses, 5.52 ERA) and the next (6-14, 5.61) was anything but masterful. Known as an overly emotional player who often taunted umpires and opposing hitters, Maddux, by his own later admission, was not a thinking pitcher but a "brain-dead heaver." All that began to change, however, when he adjusted the mechanics of his delivery. In 1988 he won 15 of his first 18 decisions and finished 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA. In 1989, as the ace of the Chicago pitching staff when the Cubs won the East Division crown, he went 19-12 with a 2.95 ERA. The next two seasons, pitching for losing teams, he won 30 games and lost 26. In 1992, with a 20-11 record and a 2.18 ERA, Maddux won his first Cy Young Award.

      A contract dispute with the Cubs left him a free agent, and he signed a five-year, $28 million contract with Atlanta. Maddux then went to work to dispel the notion that high salaries ruined players' incentive to perform; during the first three years of his contract, he won the Cy Young Award three times while compiling a 55-18 record. At the age of 29 and with a large part of his career still ahead of him, Maddux was already virtually assured of a spot in baseball's Hall of Fame. (ANTHONY G. CRAINE)

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Maddux,Gregory Alan — Mad·dux (mădʹəks), Gregory Alan. Known as “Greg.” Born 1966. American baseball player. A right handed pitcher with the Chicago Cubs (1986 1992) and the Atlanta Braves (since 1993), he was the first to win four consecutive Cy Young Awards (1992… …   Universalium

  • Gregory Alan Maddux — Greg Maddux Greg Maddux beim Aufwärmen Free Agent Nr. Pitcher Geboren am: 14. April 1966 San An …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gregory Alan Maddux — Greg Maddux Greg Maddux …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Maddux — Greg Maddux Greg Maddux beim Aufwärmen Free Agent Nr. Pitcher Geboren am: 14. April 1966 San An …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alan — alán (ant.) m. *Perro alano. * * * alán. m. desus. perro alano. * * * (as used in expressions) Alanbrooke (de Brookeborough), Alan Francis Brooke, 1 vizconde Arthur, Chester A(lan) Ayckbourn, Sir Alan Bennett, Alan Dershowitz, Alan (Morton) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Gregory — es una luciérnaga parlante es un personaje de ficción de la serie de manga y anime Dragon Ball que vive a cargo de Kaioh Sama para entrenar a sus discípulos, aunque también para hacerle compañía. Los guerreros que consigan llegar al Planeta Kaioh …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Maddux, Greg — in full Gregory Alan Maddux born April 14, 1966, San Angelo, Texas, U.S. U.S. baseball player. Maddux was a star pitcher in high school and was drafted and brought up to the major leagues by the Chicago Cubs (1986–92). He joined the Atlanta… …   Universalium

  • Gregory — /greg euh ree/, n. 1. Lady Augusta (Isabella Augusta Persse), 1852 1932, Irish dramatist. 2. Horace, 1898 1982, U.S. poet and critic. 3. James, 1638 75, Scottish mathematician. 4. a male given name: from a Greek word meaning watchful. * * * (as… …   Universalium

  • Alan — /al euhn/, n. a male given name: from a Celtic word meaning harmony. * * * (as used in expressions) Arthur Chester Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Bennett Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Greenspan Alan Hazeltine Louis Alan Heeger Alan J. Hovhaness Alan Alan… …   Universalium

  • Maddux, Greg — p. ext. Gregory Alan Maddux (n. 14 abr. 1966, San Ángelo, Texas, EE.UU.). Beisbolista estadounidense. Fue lanzador estrella en la secundaria. Poco después fue seleccionado y llevado a las grandes ligas por los Chicago Cubs, equipo en el que jugó… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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