Greg Maddux is fifth all-time in wins with 355. Think about it, that is only eight less than Warren Spahn, and eighteen less than Christy Mathewson and Pete Alexander; pitchers that played in an era where you went the entire game.

Maddux did spend a large chunk of his career with the division winning Braves, but did win 66 games after leaving Atlanta in 2004. He was 66-64 throughout the last 4 years of his career playing for good, not great, teams in LA and San Diego. Even with diminished stuff he always seemed to find a way to win 12-15 games.

How did Maddux do it? He had impeccable control, command of his pitches, changed speeds, and knew how to locate it all.

NYBD contributor Chuck Johnson was kind enough to share his experience spending time with Maddux in the bullpen before a spring training start in 2007. I think you can get a glimpse into how much preparation and thought went into one of his starts:

I was invited down to the bullpen to watch Greg Maddux warm-up before a spring training start. Got down early enough, while the other pitchers were running and shagging BP, so it was just the four of us; Maddux, catcher Nick Hundley, and the pitching coach, Darren Balsley

This was spring training 2007, Maddux’ first year in SD. Hundley was still a minor leaguer and probably hadn’t caught Maddux in a game situation before.

There were a number of conversations between them, more so than normal, and also quite a bit of hand gestures from Maddux, apparently telling Hundley where to set up.

The two things I remember the most are Hundley covering the plate with dirt, except the front, inside corner (for a lefty) and Maddux trying to bounce his breaking balls on the spot. He did that not to hit the spot per se, but to see how they bounced; it was like he was checking to see if it was spinning correctly. I would guess he was testing Hundley, too, if he wasn’t confident in his ability to block the pitch in the pen how could he during a game with runners on base?

The other was Hundley not moving his glove at all, no matter what the pitch.

We were told we couldn’t talk to Maddux, so when we left I asked Hundley why he did that, Maddux turned and said, “because the glove isn’t the target.”

After a couple of days I finally figured out what he meant…most pitchers use the glove as the ending point for the pitch, Maddux used it as the starting point. That’s also why he didn’t like his catchers to move once the pitch was given.

I found a scouting report on Maddux, which I thought you would find interesting to read.

Double-Click to Enlarge

Double-Click to Enlarge

Amazing how the Cubs scout says he thinks Maddux would be taken #1 in the country if he looked “a bit more physical.” It always appeared teams were being “mowed down” by a librarian out there.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Greg Maddux, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres