Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Maddux’s record run could last eternity

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That 0.64 ERA has shaved his season ERA to 3.09. Oswalt, 26, has lost only one of his past 12 starts, a major reason why Houston has remained atop the NL Central.

Rock bottom proved to be July 8, when an 0-for-3 day -- in Detroit, of all places -- slipped him to .183. He had climbed to .256, two weeks ago, before his recent slump.

Overall, the Twins have won 16 of 19 games. Even worse for their division rivals, they play their last four games in Detroit. Season over, White Sox and Royals.

Kid Nichols, Walter Johnson and Cy Young all endure as the holders of assorted pitching records that have lasted for decades.

Young, however, lost a degree of his immortality Sunday when Greg Maddux (15-11) passed him to establish a new standard for success.

For 15 years, from 1891-1905, Young had at least 15 victories each season. Maddux broke that record Sunday, when his won a 15th game for the 16th season in a row.

Perhaps Maddux's benchmark will last 98 years, like Young's did, and baseball fans will revel when they pop his highlight DVD -- or whatever they're using those days --into the video player in 2101.

Monday morning, of most importance to the 1984 Valley High graduate was heading to Turner Field for treatment of a sore right ankle.

"It's just a little bruised," said Maddux, who was hit by a line drive in the third inning. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox summoned Jason Marquis to warm up in the bullpen.

After a trainer affixed a compression wrap around his ankle, though, Maddux threw for two more innings. He allowed one hit over five innings, walking none. He had a 2-0 lead after his last pitch, then the Braves made it 6-0 before Ray King relieved him in the sixth.

X-rays of his ankle showed no serious damage, and he'll now try to zone in on helping the Braves win a second World Series championship in his tenure with them.

Don Logan, president and general manager of the Triple-A 51s, has learned plenty about Maddux's competitiveness since moving to Las Vegas in 1984.

"I know not to play golf with him," Logan said. "If he has a 10-foot putt to beat you, he'll make it more than he doesn't. That competitiveness sets him apart. He's a gamer at everything he does."

That a one-day Hall of Famer will call Las Vegas the only home he's ever known is very special, Logan said.

"I would say it's not often that a Hall of Fame player comes from a community that was the size of Vegas when he came from it," Logan said. " ... to have a Hall of Fame player who was born, raised and taught the game in your community, that's very good for the community."

When Maddux is either written or talked about in the national press, his hometown is usually prominently mentioned.

"That's good for the community, too," Logan said. "But, again, he's such a pro, so consistent and competitive. They've messed with the strike zone, and he's unflappable. Winning 15 at the big-league level, I don't care who you are, it's tough in today's game.

"With specialization, it's out of your hands a lot of times because the bullpen is so involved in every game. So, to do that is unbelievable."

Depending upon what happens during off-season contract negotiations, the next month could be Maddux's last in an Atlanta uniform. He is having a home built in the San Diego area, but he insists that is for vacation and/or retirement purposes.

Besides, all that is about the future, and Maddux dislikes talking about that as much as the past. What happened Sunday -- and over the past 16 years -- might not last an eternity.

Then again, it just might.

Maddux's wife, Kathy, and two children, Amanda Paige and Chase, attended the big game, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution constructed a 21-photograph, on-line montage tribute to Maddux's career.

Nichols won at least 30 games in a season a record seven times, for Boston between 1891 and '98, and Johnson threw more shutouts (110) than anyone, for Washington, from 1907-27. Young still holds assorted records.

Each is in the Hall of Fame.

Braves reliever John Smoltz believes Maddux's record string of success will never be broken, and Chipper Jones said it solidifies Maddux's status as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Maddux wants to pitch for a few more years, but he will not ponder about his career, or where he fits among the game's all-time best pitchers, until he is finished. Expect him to realize his place in history only long after he has tossed his last pitch in the majors.

In his typically understated manner, he said his ankle comes first. He isn't concerned that the effects of the injury will linger, but he wasn't certain that he would start another game before the playoffs begin next week.

That could refresh him after a grueling -- he lost his first three starts -- season. In addition, Maddux said he doesn't know how Cox will want to align his pitching rotation for the playoffs, which would affect when he starts this week or weekend.

If he doesn't throw in the final week of the season, Maddux is guaranteed of not having an ERA in the 4s for the duration of his fantastic 16-season run.

He was last hit hard for an entire season in 1987, when he went 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA, for the Chicago Cubs.

Except for a 3 2/3-inning stint, in which he allowed 12 hits and seven earned runs, against Philadelphia on Sept. 11, Maddux has been outstanding over his past seven starts, with a 1.39 ERA.

That has sliced his season ERA to 3.97.

Even though the Braves have absolutely nothing left to play for in the regular season, don't expect Maddux to sit on the sideline just to make sure his ERA ends up below a certain level.

Try telling Greg Maddux that a trip to the hill means absolutely nothing.

To him, every one of those jaunts has meant something, and Las Vegas should be proud of how he's left an indelible image in baseball, carved a spot in the record books and paved a surefire path to the Hall.

Gagne, 27, entered the season with two years and 119 days of big-league service, falling 18 days shy of qualifying for arbitration. He made $550,000 this season and will be eligible for arbitration, having hit three full seasons on his odometer, in the offseason.

As per Major League rules, Gagne is scheduled to have arbitration hearings after the 2004 and 2005 seasons, too.

An insider familiar with the tactics of Gagne agent Scott Boras and the financial strategies of the Dodgers said it is unlikely that the team will offer the pitcher a lucrative, long-term deal to essentially "buy out" those arbitration options.

Boras doesn't want to pigeonhole his player's salary ceiling, the double-edged theory goes, and the Dodgers want to know that Gagne can produce superhuman results again and again.

Gagne, with 54 saves, is bearing down on Bobby Thigpen's major league mark of 57, set in 1990 with the Chicago White Sox. Gagne has converted a record 61 consecutive save chances, dating back to last season.

It is that remarkable run that has industry insiders believing that Gagne will set a standard for first-year closers in eligibility, which Mariano Rivera of the Yankees established when he was awarded $4.25 million in 1999.

"I'm not going to be mad, I want to enjoy life," he said during spring training of his 2003 bargain salary. "A lot of people forget that. I'm not concerned about the money.

"My mom's a waitress, she's been doing that for 35 years. I guarantee you, if I gave her $20 million, she wouldn't quit. She loves interacting with people."

The best ducats, dubbed "Field Championship" and "Loge Championship," are selling for $2,441. That's for the total package, face value, which could be 11 postseason games.

However, that does not include an additional "convenience" fee that Ticketmaster might charge. Oh, and that's per ticket.

No word yet on how soon the Bombers will release information on the 2004 postseason, but pinstriped fans should pay attention to the team's official website this winter.

To us, Kingman's act grew stale, like watching the over-the-top antics of Robin Williams for, oh, three hours. Kingman had a woeful 23-45 career, from 1979-83, so he spent five times as much energy trying not to be forgotten as he did in fashioning a truly forgettable career.

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