Tim Keown does a great job with a guy that's unquestionably a living legend. A fun read for anyone that truly appreciates pitching and/or enjoys baseball as a storied pastime.
ESPN - ESPN The Magazine
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Greg Maddux article... great read Tim Keown does a great job with a guy that's unquestionably a living legend. A fun read for anyone that truly appreciates pitching and/or enjoys baseball as a storied pastime.
ESPN - ESPN The Magazine
Amazing...
When Brad Penny and Maddux were teammates on the Dodgers, during the last two months of 2006, they had a conversation one day that led Penny to reach a stunning conclusion: This guy knows my stuff better than I do. It was eerie, really, how easily Maddux dissected Penny's repertoire and suggested ways to maximize it. Penny, figuring he'd take advantage of the situation, asked Maddux to call a game for him against the Cubs. And so, on the night of Sept. 13, Penny glanced into the dugout before every delivery and found Maddux, who signaled the next pitch by looking toward different parts of the ballpark. Penny threw seven scoreless innings with no walks and beat the Cubs 6-0. "Maddux probably won't tell you that story," Penny says. He's right.
Yea, for sure. I know his brother Mike was a pitching coach, I think for the Brewers. Not sure if he's still around.Originally Posted by Wolvie
I wonder if Maddux will enter the coaching fraternity. On one hand it is obvious that the guy wants to be around his family(wanted to play on the West Coast to be near his Vegas home) so when he's done with his fantastic career he would probably just retire and spend time with the kids. On the other hand, he definitely has a passion for the game and is obviously still a student of the game.
I think you're right about spending time away from the game. But after, say, two or three years pass by I'm sure FOX or some other channel will come knocking for him as a commentator.
But his pitching genius is so superior (IMO) than any pitcher I've seen in my days (goes back to the late seventies) that he's just BOUND to become a pitching coach, or perhaps working in the front office of a team. Though....those jobs seem so rinky-dink for a pitcher of his legend.
God, how I miss those days when he was with the Braves and he'd pitch eight innings or a complete game with right around 90 pitches and no walks. He's the only pitcher I ever truly relished watching work.
Why can't Penny just shake him off until the catcher calls for the pitch (or at least location) that Maddux wants? And I would assume that the catcher was in on it, too, so maybe there was a better system in place that game.
I guess I don't question it because I don't see why Penny would tell this story for the sake of telling a story about Maddux. It's not like there's anything in it for him (and if anything it doesn't make him look so smart), and it's not like he's best-buds with Maddux or has any reason to hype him up.
I agree, it's hard to believe, but it's not impossible, and it's certainly consistent with what we've seen and heard regarding Maddux.
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