355 wins, 3, 371 strikeouts, 3.16 era, 1.14 whip, 109 complete games. These are the career numbers of Greg Maddux. After 22 years of playing in the Major Leagues with 4 different clubs, Greg Maddux may be calling it a career. Maddux started his career in Chicago where the Cubs drafted him in the second round of the 1984 draft. His first full season in the bigs came in 1987 where he went 6-14 with a 5.61 era. However, since that dreadful first year, Maddux ran off a string of 17 seasons in a row where he won at least 15 games spanning from 1988-2004. Within those 17 consecutive seasons, he won four Cy Young Awards. Amazingly, those four came in four straight years which he was the first ever to do.
In 1992, his season totals were 20-11 with a 2.18 era for the Chicago Cubs. He pitched an enormous 268 innings with nine complete games and four shutouts. That offseason, he signed with the Atlanta Braves where he would spend the next 11 years of his career. The first three however were magical individually for him. From 1993-1995, he compiled a record of 55 wins and 18 losses. His earned run averaged during that time was 1.85, while pitching at least 200 innings in each season. Oh, and he also won the Cy Young each year.
Greg Maddux if he were to retire this offseason would rank eighth on the career wins list ahead of legends such as Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, and Gaylord Perry. He was never known as a strikeout or power pitcher, but somehow managed to reach the 3, 000 strikeout plateau where only 16 men in history have ever done so. He has more strikeouts than Phil Niekro and Bob Gibson. Maddux holds the record for most 15 win seasons with 18. The man was a genius on the mound and with the baseball. After 22 years, he may finally be calling it quits and he is without a doubt one of the best pitchers that has ever lived.
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