Great Maddux Article in NY Times

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Link

 

I heard this article mentioned by Len on the broadcast and looked it up.

 

Great read!

 

A few nice quotes:

 

"He does terrible interviews for a reason," John Smoltz, his former teammate with the Atlanta Braves, said with an admiring chuckle. "Believe me, he knows a lot more about what he does than he lets on. He never wants anyone to know where he's coming from."

 

"High velocity is one of the most overrated things in pitching," he said. "I can be going 70-80 miles an hour down the highway for two hours, and I feel like I'm not moving, like I'm going 20. And then you hit that off-ramp and all of a sudden you're slamming on the brakes, because you've been going faster than you thought. Your eyes adjusted to the speed.

 

"I think major league hitting is no different. If a guy's throwing 95, by the third at-bat, the hitter's seen 10 to 15 pitches. It's not fast anymore."

[TB_11]

In high school we all had to read Ted Williams' The Science of Hitting. If anyone ever were to write a pitching companion to that book, it would definitely be Maddux.

[KW34]

Link

 

I heard this article mentioned by Len on the broadcast and looked it up.

 

Great read!

 

A few nice quotes:

 

"He does terrible interviews for a reason," John Smoltz, his former teammate with the Atlanta Braves, said with an admiring chuckle. "Believe me, he knows a lot more about what he does than he lets on. He never wants anyone to know where he's coming from."

 

"High velocity is one of the most overrated things in pitching," he said. "I can be going 70-80 miles an hour down the highway for two hours, and I feel like I'm not moving, like I'm going 20. And then you hit that off-ramp and all of a sudden you're slamming on the brakes, because you've been going faster than you thought. Your eyes adjusted to the speed.

 

"I think major league hitting is no different. If a guy's throwing 95, by the third at-bat, the hitter's seen 10 to 15 pitches. It's not fast anymore."

 

Maddux has obviously read Sun Tzu. 8)

 

Great link. Thanks.

[Wilson A2000]

He was clearly suggesting that for all the talk of a reborn Greg Maddux, of his new off-season training regimen leaving him in better shape, fans should expect a full season more like those from recent years, when he has been more of a .500 pitcher with a 4.00 E.R.A.

 

"If we're playing poker," he said, "and a flush is supposed to come like one out of 100 hands, and I get a flush in five hands, does that mean it's now one in five? No.

[Laura]

That was my fave quote, Wilson. Thanks for the link, Vance!

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/laserena06/baseball/Maddux/Maddux8.jpg