Atlanta Braves: Power Ranking the Retired Numbers

Jul 27, 2014; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Fame inductee Greg Maddux makes his acceptance speech during the class of 2014 national baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Greg Maddux is the greatest pitcher I saw growing up in the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta.  No pitcher had as impeccable control of the baseball than Greg Maddux didn’t.  He’s the reason I turn my car stereo’s volume to 31.  Mad Dog’s 11 seasons with the Atlanta Braves were nothing short of magical.

Maddux came to Atlanta as a prized free agent acquisition from the Chicago Cubs.  Greg was coming off his first of four straight Cy Young Awards in 1992.  He and his agent Scott Boras decided that the best place for Maddux to win a World Series Championship was to join the already deep rotation of the Atlanta Braves.

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In Atlanta, Greg won 194 of his 355 career victories, struck out 1,828 of his 3,371 batters, and won three of his four Cy Young Awards (1993-95) while with the Atlanta Braves.  Greg made 6 All-Star Games (1994-98, 2000) and won the National’s Gold Glove for a pitcher every year with Atlanta from 1993 to 2002, only to lose out to teammate Mike Hampton in his final year with the Braves.

Greg won at least 15 games every season he pitched for the Atlanta Braves and pitched 61 of his extremely efficient 109 complete games.  Though he didn’t have overpowering stuff, his two-seam fastball that broke back over the plate is the most devastating pitch I’ve seen from a pitcher in the last 25 years.

What hurts Greg on this list is two distinct things: his continued success elsewhere and his lack thereof in the postseason pitching for the Atlanta Braves.  Maddux also has his number 31 retired by the Chicago Cubs after a combined 10 strong years on the North Side.  He went into the Hall of Fame in 2014 not wearing the emblem of either the Braves or the Cubs to the chagrin of most in Braves Country.

During the Big Three Era in the Atlanta Braves rotation, Greg Maddux was by far the least lethal of the trio.  Greg had a sub-.500 career postseason record (11-14) in 23 combined series between Chicago, Atlanta, and with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Mad Dog was the best pitcher of my childhood, but splitting time between four clubs hurts him considerably on this list.  I’m just thankful that he got to pitch his best baseball for us in the 1990’s en route to a World Series Championship.

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