The humble hero

Monday, Aug. 9, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Top 15 victory totals among active pitchers in the major leagues:

1. Roger Clemens...322

2. Greg Maddux...300

3. Tom Glavine...259

4. Randy Johnson...241

5. Mike Mussina...208

6. David Wells...206

6. Kevin Brown...206

8. JamieMoyer...191

9. Pedro Martinez...177

10. Curt Schilling...176

11. Kenny Rogers...171

12. Kevin Appier...169

13. John Smoltz...163

14. Andy Pettitte...155

15. Al Leiter...153

SAN FRANCISCO -- Kent Mercker was the first to congratulate Greg Maddux, with ice chilling various parts of their bodies in the Cubs' clubhouse, on joining baseball's elite group of pitchers who have won 300 games.

Thousands of SBC Park fans cheered loudly in apparent appreciation of Maddux's accomplishment, but he was nowhere to be seen as Cub after Cub knocked fists and exchanged high-fives on the field when the game ended.

Typically, the game's 22nd pitcher to notch career victory No. 300 remained out of the spotlight.

Taking a curtain call in the visitors' yard would have been as uncouth as trying to sneak through the seventh inning last Sunday to get that monumental decision before the Wrigley Field fans.

"I figured, we weren't in our park," said Maddux, 38. "It's just kinda not the right thing to do."

Which is also how he viewed the extra attention that had been paid to him, and had been growing, over the previous 10 days. His wife, Kathy, said the hype had become more of an annoyance than a distraction.

His father, Dave, said it was all just a minor inconvenience.

"He knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when," said the elder Maddux. "He just focused on the next game and the next opponent, not 300."

In his typically understated manner, Greg Maddux spoke to a large media contingent about 20 minutes after Saturday's last out. Older brother Mike, Milwaukee's pitching coach, has said that humility is what has served Greg so well.

Dave Maddux was asked where that comes from.

"I don't really know," he said. "It's probably just a family trait. I think being very bashful and timid has had a lot to do with his humbleness."

A surefire Hall of Famer will eventually get to Cooperstown, N.Y., by being bashful and timid? Greg Maddux said luck will have had a lot to do with it.

"Really, there's no pill you can take to prevent injuries," said Maddux, who has been on the disabled list only once in his storied career. "You just have to be fortunate. Hopefully, your aches and pains don't keep you from playing."

He was fortunate Saturday, in that the Cubs supplied him with two runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, capped by a two-run shot by Corey Patterson into McCovey Cove.

Maddux left the game after yielding two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Only one of those ended up scoring, cutting Chicago's lead to 6-4. Then Moises Alou put it away with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.

The Cubs earned the 8-4 victory and Maddux got his 300th victory without qualifying for a quality start.

Luck, he said, especially after only getting dinged for one run in a first inning in which he got tagged for a triple, double, walk and a sacrifice fly.

"That was actually a good inning, to only give up one run," Maddux said. "I didn't have very good location with my fastball (all day), so I was kind of forced to throw more off-speed pitches than I would have liked to."

Also typical of Maddux, he did more than pinpoint a few 77-mph knee bucklers. He twice laid down sacrifices, the first scoring when catcher Paul Bako was on third for Patterson's prodigious blast in the sixth.

And Maddux displayed the instinct and swift left hand that helped him earn 13 Gold Gloves when he zapped J.T. Snow's one-bounce shot up the middle and easily threw Snow out at first in the fifth.

"As a player, it's an honor to be a part of that," said Nomar Garciaparra, who has been a Cub for a week. "Games like (Saturday) you look back on when you're done with your career. You look back and say, 'Gosh, I was a part of history. I was a part of Maddux's milestone, his 300th!' Those are things you talk about."

Especially since many years, or possibly decades, might pass before anyone does it again. Tom Glavine of the Mets is next, with 259 victories, but he's 38. Arizona's Randy Johnson (240 career wins) is 41, San Diego's David Wells (206) is 41 and Mike Mussina (208) of the New York Yankees is 35.

"Yeah, we'll probably never get a chance to see that again," said San Francisco pitcher Jason Schmidt.

Maddux said one of the most important aspects of his success has been his ability to neither look ahead nor look back. Asked Saturday when he started thinking about 300 -- say, at 290 or 291? -- he answered in his matter-of-fact manner.

"When I got to 299," he said. "I never for a second wanted to get ahead of myself. You never know what's going to happen in this game. I'll do what I can to enjoy it and get ready five days from now.

" ... and I've never really looked back. When I'm done playing, I'll look back and, I'm sure, pat myself on the back. Right now, it's about my next start and the rest of the season."

On joining an elite fraternity of 300-game winners, Maddux instead highlighted his 19th season in the majors.

"It's a good gig when you can pitch every fifth day and have four days off in between," he said. "I mean, trust me, it's good. It really is. Just to be able to be in the game for as long as I have is pretty special."