7/27/2005 09:54:00 AM by Rob

Congrats to the MadDog


My guy Greg just ain't an attractive man. I got news, Greggie: it took more than the Long Ball for you to attract chicks.

Baseball teams bring up 6 foot 4 guys all the time for a cup of coffee. 6'4 guys "look like pitchers". Most of the time, they can't find their ass with both hands, let alone the strike zone, but clubs keep bringing these guys up, usually three or more per year, in hopes that they'll find the next Carlos Zambrano or Nolan Ryan. (Guys like Wood, Prior, Clemens, Ben Sheets, etc. are first-round picks, and notoriety precedes them).

So, when a club brings up a shrimpy dude like Maddux, it always catches my interest for a second. When he keeps getting jocked, like in 1986, and they keep running him out there, it demands you pay attention. Were the Cubs desperate in '86? Sure, it was the year after the whole rotation caved in like a wet taco, but no more than any number of years we all can name offhand. Teams just DON'T bring guys like this up, and keep him up to lose 14 games, unless someone sees something special in him. Keep in mind, these were the Dallas Green days, the reign of perhaps the greatest talent evaulator in Cub history.

I can't remember that I saw anything special about him, other than his poise. A few years later, of course, we ALL knew he was special...all but Larry Himes, unfortunately. It isn't really healthy to sit here and wonder what the Cubs would have done with him in the nineties. He certainly benefitted from Leo Mazzone, as well as the security of having Tom Glavine and John Smoltz with him for about 10 years. But we definitely avoid the crippling losing streaks we suffered in '94 and '97, we probably make the wild card in '95 and '01, and we don't get swept in '98.

Certainly you've read elsewhere that the only two guys ever to strike out 3,000 men while walking fewer than 1,000 both wore #31 for the Cubs. What does this mean to us? Simple...we've watched the Cubs squander a couple of decades of pitching brilliance...just like last night. 2 runs against the Giants? Paging Todd Walker...paging 0-for-5 Todd Walker....

We need more offense, Jimbo. Pretty please?

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