With baseball villain Roger Clemens digging a deeper and deeper grave for himself, one happy thought has been running through my mind. If Clemens’ is guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs, that makes Greg Maddux the greatest pitcher of the modern era.
I’m sure if you posted such a declaration on the Sons of Sam Horn message board, the cries of, “Pedro rawks facking Maddux’s sawx ahf!” would be deafening. And I will give those nitwits some credit. Pedro is the only other pitcher of the modern era who even comes close to Maddux (sorry, Jayson Stark, but you’re kind of an idiot sometimes). A lot of Pedro’s numbers compare favorably to Maddux’s. But Pedro Martinez is no Greg Maddux.
Before we look at the two of them, let me clarify some things in an effort to preempt some whining.
First, I KNOW THAT WINS AREN’T THE BEST WAY (OR EVEN REALLY A GOOD WAY) TO MEASURE A PITCHER’S WORTH. With the glory of winning 300 games and with the emphasis (even if it’s antiquated) on that statistic, I felt obligated to include it.
Second, I understand that parks can effect a pitcher’s statistics. But let’s take a look at the parks these guys called home. For the most part, Wrigley is a friendlier hitters’ park than Fenway. Turner Field, Maddux’s home for most of his years, is generally hitter-friendly, as well. Pedro, on the other hand, has pitched most recently in pitcher-friendly Shea. Prior to that, he pitched at hitter-friendly Olympic Stadium and Fenway. Both pitchers have spent a limited amount of time in the very pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. For all intents and purposes, the stadiums are a push.
Third, don’t give me that AL versus NL crap. Yes, yes, we all know that AL pitchers have to face one extra “hitter” each time through the lineup. Hitters like Paul Bako, Corey Patterson, Juan Uribe, and Jason Kendall. Some of them are, of course, better hitters than most NL pitchers are. But who would you rather face? Paul Bako or Carlos Zambrano? Now might also be a good time to mention that Pedro has pitched nearly as many National League innings as he has American League innings. Furthermore, Maddux has held his own just fine against the AL. In his career against the AL, Maddux is 19-11 with a 3.84 ERA and 180 Ks against 40 walks. In the interest of fairness to Pedro, though, much of what I point out below is a comparison to the rest of each pitcher’s league, rather than a direct comparison between the two pitchers.
Okay, let’s look at the statistics.
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
1986 20 CHC NL 2 4 6 5 1 0 1 0 31.0 44 20 19 3 11 20 1 2 144 2 0 5.52 4.02 73 1.774
1987 21 CHC NL 6 14 30 27 1 1 2 0 155.7 181 111 97 17 74 101 4 4 701 13 7 5.61 4.25 76 1.638
1988 22 CHC NL 18 8 34 34 9 3 0 0 249.0 230 97 88 13 81 140 9 3 1047 16 6 3.18 3.63 114 1.249 AS
1989 23 CHC NL 19 12 35 35 7 1 0 0 238.3 222 90 78 13 82 135 6 5 1002 13 3 2.95 3.78 128 1.276 CYA-3
1990 24 CHC NL 15 15 35 35 8 2 0 0 237.0 242 116 91 11 71 144 4 3 1011 10 3 3.46 4.10 119 1.321
1991 25 CHC NL 15 11 37 37 7 2 0 0 263.0 232 113 98 18 66 198 6 6 1070 9 3 3.35 3.87 115 1.133
1992 26 CHC NL 20 11 35 35 9 4 0 0 268.0 201 68 65 7 70 199 14 5 1061 7 0 2.18 3.61 166 1.011 MVP-11,CYA-1,AS
1993 27 ATL NL 20 10 36 36 8 1 0 0 267.0 228 85 70 14 52 197 6 5 1064 7 1 2.36 4.05 171 1.049 MVP-13,CYA-1
1994 28 ATL NL 16 6 25 25 10 3 0 0 202.0 150 44 35 4 31 156 6 3 774 3 1 1.56 4.22 271 0.896 MVP-5,CYA-1,AS
1995 29 ATL NL 19 2 28 28 10 3 0 0 209.7 147 39 38 8 23 181 4 1 785 3 0 1.63 4.27 262 0.811 MVP-3,CYA-1,AS
1996 30 ATL NL 15 11 35 35 5 1 0 0 245.0 225 85 74 11 28 172 3 4 978 11 0 2.72 4.39 162 1.033 CYA-5,AS
1997 31 ATL NL 19 4 33 33 5 2 0 0 232.7 200 58 57 9 20 177 6 0 893 6 0 2.20 4.17 189 0.946 MVP-12,CYA-2,AS
1998 32 ATL NL 18 9 34 34 9 5 0 0 251.0 201 75 62 13 45 204 7 4 987 10 0 2.22 4.15 187 0.980 CYA-4,AS
1999 33 ATL NL 19 9 33 33 4 0 0 0 219.3 258 103 87 16 37 136 4 1 940 8 0 3.57 4.48 125 1.345
2000 34 ATL NL 19 9 35 35 6 3 0 0 249.3 225 91 83 19 42 190 10 1 1012 12 2 3.00 4.59 153 1.071 MVP-12,CYA-3,AS
2001 35 ATL NL 17 11 34 34 3 3 0 0 233.0 220 86 79 20 27 173 7 2 927 10 0 3.05 4.45 146 1.060
2002 36 ATL NL 16 6 34 34 0 0 0 0 199.3 194 67 58 14 45 118 4 1 820 7 0 2.62 4.16 159 1.199
2003 37 ATL NL 16 11 36 36 1 0 0 0 218.3 225 112 96 24 33 124 8 3 901 7 0 3.96 4.29 108 1.182
2004 38 CHC NL 16 11 33 33 2 1 0 0 212.7 218 103 95 35 33 151 9 2 872 4 0 4.02 4.40 109 1.180
2005 39 CHC NL 13 15 35 35 3 0 0 0 225.0 239 112 106 29 36 136 7 8 936 4 0 4.24 4.40 104 1.222
2006 40 TOT NL 15 14 34 34 0 0 0 0 210.0 219 109 98 20 37 117 0 0 862 7 0 4.20 4.58 109 1.219
CHC NL 9 11 22 22 0 0 0 0 136.3 153 78 71 14 23 81 0 0 572 3 0 4.69 4.63 99 1.291
LAD NL 6 3 12 12 0 0 0 0 73.7 66 31 27 6 14 36 0 0 290 4 0 3.30 4.49 136 1.086
2007 41 SDP NL 14 11 34 34 1 0 0 0 198.0 221 92 91 14 25 104 6 5 830 3 0 4.14 4.04 98 1.242
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
22 Yr WL% .619 347 214 711 707 109 35 3 0 4814.3 4522 1876 1665 332 969 3273 131 68 19617 172 26 3.11 4.17 134 1.141
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
162 Game Avg 16 10 34 33 5 1 0 0 230.7 216 89 79 15 46 156 6 3 940 8 1 3.11 4.17 134 1.141
Career High 20 15 37 37 10 5 2 0 268.0 258 116 106 35 82 204 14 8 1070 16 7 1.56 4.59 271 0.811
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
1992 20 LAD NL 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 8.0 6 2 2 0 1 8 0 0 31 0 0 2.25 3.47 154 0.875
1993 21 LAD NL 10 5 65 2 0 0 20 2 107.0 76 34 31 5 57 119 4 3 444 4 1 2.61 3.84 147 1.243 RoY-9
1994 22 MON NL 11 5 24 23 1 1 1 1 144.7 115 58 55 11 45 142 11 6 584 3 0 3.42 4.26 125 1.106
1995 23 MON NL 14 10 30 30 2 2 0 0 194.7 158 79 76 21 66 174 11 5 784 1 2 3.51 4.31 123 1.151
1996 24 MON NL 13 10 33 33 4 1 0 0 216.7 189 100 89 19 70 222 3 6 901 3 0 3.70 4.31 117 1.195 AS
1997 25 MON NL 17 8 31 31 13 4 0 0 241.3 158 65 51 16 67 305 9 3 947 5 1 1.90 4.17 219 0.932 MVP-16,CYA-1,AS
1998 26 BOS AL 19 7 33 33 3 2 0 0 233.7 188 82 75 26 67 251 8 9 951 3 0 2.89 4.70 163 1.091 MVP-21,CYA-2,AS
1999 27 BOS AL 23 4 31 29 5 1 1 0 213.3 160 56 49 9 37 313 9 6 835 1 0 2.07 5.02 243 0.923 MVP-2,CYA-1,AS
2000 28 BOS AL 18 6 29 29 7 4 0 0 217.0 128 44 42 17 32 284 14 1 817 0 0 1.74 5.07 291 0.737 MVP-5,CYA-1,AS
2001 29 BOS AL 7 3 18 18 1 0 0 0 116.7 84 33 31 5 25 163 6 4 456 0 0 2.39 4.53 189 0.934
2002 30 BOS AL 20 4 30 30 2 0 0 0 199.3 144 62 50 13 40 239 15 3 787 1 0 2.26 4.56 202 0.923 MVP-20,CYA-2,AS
2003 31 BOS AL 14 4 29 29 3 0 0 0 186.7 147 52 46 7 47 206 9 5 749 0 0 2.22 4.67 210 1.039 MVP-22,CYA-3
2004 32 BOS AL 16 9 33 33 1 1 0 0 217.0 193 99 94 26 61 227 16 2 903 0 0 3.90 4.87 125 1.171 CYA-4
2005 33 NYM NL 15 8 31 31 4 1 0 0 217.0 159 69 68 19 47 208 4 4 843 3 0 2.82 4.10 145 0.949 AS
2006 34 NYM NL 9 8 23 23 0 0 0 0 132.7 108 72 66 19 39 137 10 2 550 2 1 4.48 4.36 97 1.108 AS
2007 35 NYM NL 3 1 5 5 0 0 0 0 28.0 33 11 8 0 7 32 2 1 128 1 0 2.57 4.26 166 1.429
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
16 Yr WL% .692 209 93 447 380 46 17 23 3 2673.7 2046 918 833 213 708 3030 131 60 10710 27 5 2.80 4.51 161 1.030
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
162 Game Avg 17 7 36 31 3 1 1 0 219.7 168 75 68 17 58 249 10 4 880 2 0 2.80 4.51 161 1.030
Career High 23 10 65 33 13 4 20 2 241.3 193 100 94 26 70 313 16 9 951 5 2 1.74 5.07 291 0.737
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
Let’s look at Maddux’s accomplishments and compare them to Pedro’s. I’m not going to do the “ADVANTAGE: MADDUX/PEDRO” nonsense, because it really makes no sense when people do that.
- Maddux’s career ERA: 3.11; Pedro’s career ERA: 2.80
- Maddux’s career WHIP: 1.141; Pedro’s career WHIP: 1.030
- Maddux has 4 consecutive Cy Young awards (as well as 5 other top-five Cy Young finishes). Pedro has 3 Cy Youngs with 4 other top-five finishes.
- Maddux has 14 consecutive 200-plus-inning seasons, prevented from being twenty consecutive only by a 199.3-inning season in 2002 and last year’s 198-inning season. Pedro has seven TOTAL 200-plus-inning seasons in his career.
- Maddux has 8 All-Star selections (which would likely be ten if in 1989 and 1993 the managers didn’t foolishly leave him off because of his average record (He won the Cy Young in 1993 and didn’t make the All-Star Game? COME ON!). Pedro has 8 selections, as well.
- Maddux has 17 Gold Gloves, including every single one in the 1990s and thirteen straight. Pedro has 0 Gold Gloves, but almost won the Golden Gloves after trying to beat up the 150-year-old Don Zimmer.
- Maddux has 4 first-place finishes for lowest ERA in the National League, including 1994, when he finished with a completely ludicrous 1.56 ERA. Pedro has 5 first-place finishes, with a low in 2000 of 1.74.
- Maddux has 17 straight seasons in which he won 15 or more games, a streak ended by a bad 2005 Cubs team. Pedro has won 15 or more a full decade less than Maddux has, as Pedro has done it only 7 times in his career.
- Maddux is a 3-time NL wins leader (1992 with 20, 1994 with 16 in only 25 starts, and 1995 with 19). Pedro has led the AL once, in 1999, with 23 wins.
- Maddux is a 2-time NL winning percentage leader in 1995 when he won at a .905 clip and 1997 when he won 82.6% of his decisions. Pedro led the AL in 1999 with an .852 pace and 2002 with an .833 pace.
- Maddux is a 4-time NL WHIP leader. In fact, since 1990 Maddux has only been out of the top 10 in NL WHIP leaders only ONCE (1999). Even last year, at age 41, Maddux finished 10th in the NL. Pedro has led the AL 6 times, and is the active career leader in WHIP.
- Maddux is an 8-time NL BB/9IP leader, 2nd overall among active players behind only (you guessed it) Jon Lieber. At one point during the 2007 season, Maddux went nine straight games (53.2 innings) without giving up a walk. He was 5-2 with a 3.19 ERA in those games. Pedro has never led in this category.
- Maddux was the NL league leader in innings for 5 straight seasons, and top-10 finisher in 12 other seasons. Pedro has never led the league, and has been in the top-ten 6 times.
- Maddux is 3rd on the active strikeouts leader list with 3273. He is 11th in overall career strikeouts (ahead of Fergie Jenkins). Pedro whiffs a lot of guys, having led the AL three times in his career and compiling 3030 so far in his career (good for 15th all-time).
- Maddux is a 7-time NL games started leader. He is the active leader in career games started, and 6th overall in career games started OF ALL TIME. Pedro has only been in the top 10 in games started three times in his career, and is only 13th on the active players career starts list
- Maddux is a 3-time NL complete games leader (1993-1995 when he racked up 28 total). He is second on the active list for complete games (behind only the Kermit-disqualified Clemens). Pedro has only led once, as he compiled an impressive 13 CG in 1997. Pedro hasn’t thrown a complete game since he was 33 years old. Maddux tossed one last year…at the age of 41.
- Maddux is a 5-time NL shutouts leader, and third on the active career list behind the “active” Clemens and Randy Johnson. Pedro has led the AL once, and has fewer than half as many shutouts as Maddux has in his career.
- Maddux has 347 career wins, 2nd on the active list and 9th overall. Pedro has 209 wins, 10th on the active list and 92nd overall
Oh, and Maddux carries a career .173 batting average with 5 HR and 81 RBIs. Not bad for a pitcher. He’s also a fantastic bunter. Pedro? Well, he’s a .094 hitter with 0 HR and 13 RBIs.
Here’s the way I see things. Pedro is ahead of Maddux in several of the “sexy” stats. But he lacks one important quality which puts Maddux head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.
Longevity.
IF Pedro had been able to stay healthy throughout the course of his career, this argument would be a hell of a lot closer (most likely with Pedro in the lead). But he hasn’t. Instead, Maddux has quietly compiled more than two thousand more innings than Pedro has, with only six more seasons under his belt.
If we were to attempt to rectify the discrepancy in longevity by taking away Maddux’s last six seasons and looking only at Maddux’s statistics up until the age of 35 (Pedro’s current age), Maddux would compare even more favorably to Pedro. Maddux’s ERA would benefit from having 5 seasons of an ERA around or over 4.00 erased from his record (his ERA would drop to about 2.84, compared to Pedro’s career 2.80 ERA). Maddux’s WHIP would improve, as well (1.117 to Pedro’s 1.030). Suddenly Pedro’s edge in the “sexy” stats is significantly reduced.
Furthermore, Maddux has gone 90-68 in the last 6 seasons. If you take away those last six seasons, Maddux was at 257-146 after the 2001 season, almost fifty wins ahead of Pedro at the same point in his career. His career winning percentage would have jumped from .619 to .638 compared to Pedro’s admittedly outstanding .692 winning percentage.
Why has Maddux been a stud for so long? Pedro has always been more of a strikeout pitcher than Maddux. Maddux has certainly racked up his fair share of strikeouts, but Maddux purposely pitches to contact, tricking batters to beat “his” pitches into the ground. Pedro is out there to strike you out, which is probably exactly the reason Maddux has finished more games and has shown more durability throughout his career. Pedro might strike out the side in 12 pitches in the same inning that Maddux induces three groundouts in 5 pitches. Remember that first start after the Cubs traded Maddux to the Dodgers? You know the one. Where he threw six no-hit innings and gave up no runs, throwing only 72 pitches in the start. I would bet my life that Pedro is not going to have that sort of moxie five years from now.
Pedro Martinez is an incredible pitcher. He is one of the best pitchers of this generation. He was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the American League when he was with the Boston Red Sox. He is almost definitely a Hall of Famer.
But he isn’t Greg Maddux.
The greatest pitcher of the modern age isn’t a 6’4″, 235-pound (yeah, right) behemoth. He’s 6’0. He’s 170 pounds. And he’s going to beat you like he’s been doing this for twenty-two years. Congratulations, Greg.
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