Maddux will let others do talking

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

After Greg Maddux missed winning his 300th game as a major league pitcher Sunday at Wrigley Field, teammate Matt Clement dismissed the idea that Maddux's quest could become a distraction to the Chicago Cubs.

Or Maddux.

"I don't think so," Clement said. "He has his act together, and he knows how to go out there and take care of business."

Reached Thursday as he left the Cubs' hotel in Denver, where they were about to finish a series against the Rockies, Maddux was all business two days before his next attempt at No. 300 in San Francisco.

"I'm done, man," Maddux said, with apologies, about his unwillingness to talk about his march toward a landmark achievement that all but guarantees its fraternity a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In 41 starts against the Giants, Maddux, who was drafted by the Cubs out of Valley High in 1984, is 23-14, with a 2.93 earned-run average. At SBC Park in San Francisco, he is 2-1 with a 1.25 ERA.

Giants left-handed slugger Barry Bonds, a career .286 hitter against Maddux, has the most at-bats (119), most home runs (eight) and most walks (22) against the right-handed, four-time Cy Young Award winner.

Only Tony Gwynn, with 39, has collected more hits off Maddux than Bonds, who has 34.

Thursday, though, Maddux did not want to talk about Bonds or anything else.

Maddux will eventually become the 22nd member of the select 300-victory club. The first 20 are in the Hall, and Roger Clemens, who notched his 300th last summer for the New York Yankees, still throws for the Houston Astros.

Even more impressive, the only National League pitcher to accomplish the feat during the 38-year-old Maddux's lifetime was Steve Carlton, for the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 23, 1983.

In fact, Carlton and the Milwaukee Braves' Warren Spahn (Aug. 11, 1961) are the only NL hurlers to record 300 career victories since Grover Cleveland Alexander did it in 1924.

Maddux, however, has never cared to promote himself, and he will not allow anything, or anyone, to alter his routine, throw off his practice regimen or elevate his stature above his teammates.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn, who tutored Maddux at Triple-A Iowa in 1986, knows why.

"He lives his life in the present," Colborn told the Rocky Mountain News. "Some people call that a child-like trait, but the truth is, philosophers are constantly telling us to be like a child. Being in the present means you don't think about the future or the past.

"He lives each moment. He's in the present. And to me, people (who) are that way are refreshing people. And he's a very refreshing person. There are no hidden agendas with him."

Maddux bristled last week at Wrigley Field upon being greeted by a herd of reporters, awkward and unnatural in that he had just thrown a day or two earlier, at his locker area in the Cubs' narrow clubhouse.

Others have had plenty to say about Maddux, whose place in the Hall will have been carved by the impeccable location and savvy speed changes of his cutter, sinker and changeup.

Arizona's Luis Gonzalez calls Maddux "Picasso." Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who attended Sunday's game and will be in San Francisco on Saturday, said Maddux reminds him of Spahn.

Selig, 70, was in the County Stadium stands when Spahn won his 300th, against the Cubs, in Milwaukee in 1961.

"I've been enchanted by the No. 300 since," Selig told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Maddux is professional, like Warren, and (is) a true pitcher, like Warren. At the end, they were pitching with knowledge and care, and a lot of preparation.

"It's a remarkable achievement. Not many do it. After Maddux is done, that will be it for a long, long time. You never want to say last, but he may be the last for quite a while. It's a wonderful story."

Cubs bench coach Dick Pole served as the team's pitching coach from 1988-91, Maddux's first full seasons in the majors, and he taught Maddux that guile and location were more important than heat during a critical winter-ball season in Venezuela in 1987.

The next season, Maddux went 18-8, which included a 10-inning shutout victory against San Diego.

"I think he had (thrown) 121 pitches in 10 innings," Pole told the Rocky Mountain News. "That's phenomenal; that's 12 pitches an inning. He's always had late movement on his pitches, it was a matter of being able to harness it."

Pole told the Sun-Times that Maddux's boyish looks have helped him over the years.

"He doesn't look like a hit man," Pole said. "I've seen a lot of guys go out to the mound looking like they could kill the batter, but it's the other way around. Greg goes out looking like he's going to get killed, but he's the one doing the slaying."

The card shark of his family, Maddux once frequented Vegas casinos. He also owns a 4 golf handicap, and he's featured in a current Nike golf advertisement with Arizona pitcher Randy Johnson.

Last week, Maddux told the Sun that neither is beneficial, or has been beneficial, to his baseball career.

"They're totally different," he said. "I do those things because it's my time, like hobbies. I know people try to make comparisons, that what they do off the field helps them on the field. But I pitch, man.

"All the other stuff is for kicks."

Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, who won his 300th game in 1986, disagreed with Maddux, saying Maddux pitches like an ace poker player.

"He tries to maximize his pile of chips and minimize his risk," Sutton told the Rocky Mountain News. "He pitches a minimum-risk ballgame, but he doesn't try to win the pot on every hand."

Maddux might get his big payoff Saturday afternoon in San Francisco.