Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux was one of the most dominant pitchers in recent memory, and his run of Cy Youngs in the 1990's was one of the most amazing runs in baseball history.
Maddux reached the Majors in 1986 with the Cubs, and in his final start of the season had the rare opportunity of pitching against his brother Mike, who was also a rookie pitching for the Phillies. Younger brother Greg won the matchup, earning his second career win.
He posted a losing record in 1987, his first full season, but he would not have another losing record for 18 years. He improved steadily over the next several seasons, culminating in his first Cy Young season in 1992, when he recorded a 2.18 ERA and led the league in wins, starts, and innings pitched.
He was unable to negotiate a new contract with the Cubs after that season, so he signed with the Atlanta Braves, and he was even better than expected when he arrived. He led the league in ERA and complete games that season, and won his second straight Cy Young.
During the strike-shortened 1994 season, he led the league in ERA and shutouts again, along with wins and shutouts, and his ERA of 1.56 was the lowest of any pitcher since 1968. That year he finished #5 in the MVP voting and was the unanimous choice for the Cy Young award, his third in a row.
After three straight great seasons, he somehow had his best season in 1995. He finished with a 19-2 record, an ERA of 1.63, 10 complete games, and 3 shutouts, and a second straight unanimous Cy Young, and 4th in a row overall, something that had never been done before and has only been done once since.
That was also the year that Atlanta finally broke through in the playoffs. Maddux had pitched in the NLCS twice before, but 1995 was his first time in the World Series, where he gave up only 4 earned runs over 16 innings as the Braves beat the Indians to take home the championship.
In 1996 his ERA "ballooned" to 2.72, and he finished 5th in the Cy Young voting, breaking his winning streak at 4. The Braves returned to the World Series, and Maddux had his best postseason up to then, giving up only 7 runs in 37 innings, but the Braves fell to the Yankees in the championship round.
He pitched several more good seasons for Atlanta, even leading the league in ERA again in 1998, but nowhere near the level he was at during his Cy Young peak. He set a league record with 17 straight seasons of at least 15 wins, and is only of only 4 pitcher to record an ERA lower than 1.65 since 1920, and the only one to do it twice.
Maddux is #8 all-time in games won, trailing only Warren Spahn in the live-ball era, and is the only pitcher in history with more than 300 wins, 3000 strikeouts, and fewer than 1000 walks (999 to be exact). His playoff record of 11-14 was somewhat lacking, but he was great in 3 World Series seasons, and reached a level of dominance rarely seen during his Cy Young streak, and there is no doubt he belongs here among the top 50 players of all time.
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