Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Q+A: Greg Maddux

Las Vegas native Greg Maddux did not want to admit it, but he pitches better in September games that matter. He has more concentration, and preparation and rest become higher priorities.

Maddux, whom the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the July 31 trading deadline, briefly hesitated before confirming that he's better in a playoff hunt.

Tonight in Los Angeles, he'll try to keep the Dodgers atop the National League West Division when he starts against the San Diego Padres.

"You'd like to say it's not," the Valley High product said of having a higher concentration level when the stakes are high, "that you're as prepared to pitch on a bad team as you are on a good team."

Playing for a spot in the playoffs, though, makes preparation easier. For example, had he still been a member of the last-place Cubs on Wednesday, he would have hit the links in suburban Chicago.

As a veteran of the Dodgers' pitching staff who was obtained to help the team get to the postseason, Maddux remained in his Chicago hotel room. After playing 10 road games in 11 days, the Dodgers caught a flight home Thursday.

"I know that (Thursday) will be a tough day to get sleep," Maddux said late Wednesday morning. "So I didn't go golfing because I needed sleep today. I know I won't get sleep (Thursday); so I'd better get some today because I'm pitching Friday in L.A.

"It was easy to say no to playing golf today."

Los Angeles won the first four games in which Maddux wore Dodger blue on the hill, but the team has lost three of his last four starts. The sure-fire Hall of Famer is 330-202, with a lifetime earned-run average of 3.07.

We kept him on his cell phone to inquire about pitching in Dodger Stadium, not wearing his trademark No. 31, how his 9-year-old son, Chase, is faring in Little League and if turning 40 was a big deal.

Q: What was it like to return to Chicago for this week's series?

It's been fun. I just left here a month and a half ago, and it was nice to come back and see everyone. I have a lot of friends here, so it was good to see them.

How odd or unique would it have been to start against the Cubs at Wrigley Field?

It would have been like any other game, really. Once a game starts, everything is the same. It's only different before and after.

Having played most of 10 seasons with the Cubs, have you ever caught yourself rooting for them while you were with Atlanta or the Dodgers?

You just root for people, some more than others. You root against some of the ones you didn't like when you were over there. It's just kind of more rooting for individuals than teams.

Do you know early in a game, say in your first few pitches or against the first few batters, how a game will go for you?

Nope. Absolutely not. It could make things a lot easier, but absolutely not. That's the beauty of the game, really. You never really do know. That's what makes it special.

Do the sour starts stay with you for a few hours, or days?

You turn the page and move on. Sometimes it's easier said than done. Sometimes. But, you know, that's how it is.

How did you learn that?

Closers are really good at it, and I might have learned it early from Goose Gossage. He was really good at having a bad game on a Monday, then saving a game on Tuesday. He was really good at turning the page and letting things go, and moving on. He used to say, don't get too high and don't get too low. Talk is cheap. But I watched him and he did it. That kind of meant a lot to me.

How different is pitching for a last-place team in September and playing for a team that's first in its division?

You care more. It's easy to let yourself down - it's harder to let your teammates and fans down. It's really easy to ask yourself for forgiveness. It's hard to ask teammates, a city and its fans can't really do that.

How about allowing no hits over your six innings (Maddux didn't return after a rain delay) at Cincinnati on Aug. 3?

I was never really flirting with (a no-hitter). In the sixth, you might start to just think about it. Then I was out of the game. I was happy I went six innings and didn't give up a run, to be honest with you. It was cool, good to have a good first start with the Dodgers. But that was a month and a half ago. What matters is Friday night.

Was too much made, when you won your first five starts this season for the Cubs, about your more strenuous offseason workout regimen?

Yeah, absolutely. It's how you pitch, not how you work out. It's not how you eat, you know. It's how you pitch.

You've always worn No. 31, but you wear No. 36 for the Dodgers because pitcher Brad Penny hasn't yielded No. 31. Was that a big deal?

Not to me. Some have tried to make it a big deal, but it's how you play, man. It's not about what number is on your back. The player makes a number. A number doesn't make the player.

What's it been like throwing in Dodger Stadium, famous as a pitcher's yard?

At night, it is. In the daytime, it plays a little short. You can get caught up in the Hollywood this and that, who's in the crowd and all that. But under all that, there are a lot of very good fans there.

How is Chase's career progressing? Is he going to be a cagey hurler like his old man?

We'll see. We'll let him play and have fun, and enjoy it. It's a game. Play and have fun. Let him hang with his friends, make friends and enjoy the game.

Last weekend, during a road swing against the Mets, you played Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., where the U.S. Open was held in June. How'd that go?

Shot an 87. The course was too hard for me, but I was thrilled to be out there, to see it and enjoy it. You don't have to play well to enjoy it. It was a privilege to walk up and down those fairways, looking for the ball in the rough every hole for five minutes. It was great to watch that tournament and then play there so soon afterward.

How do you like being 40 (which he turned April 14)?

No different than 39.

You never talk about an upcoming season until the winter. But you've said you want to travel when you do retire. What is the first destination on your list?

Wherever my wife (Kathy) wants to go. I don't know what it's like to have a summer off. I know what it's like to have winter off, not summer. I don't like the cold, so I want no part of skiing or anything like that.

What about the Dodgers over the next few weeks?

That's the beauty of the game; you never know. That's why it's fun. Why it's baseball. Why you see something at the park you've never seen before. Chicago made six errors (Tuesday night) and still won. (L.A. lost, 9-8, after leading 7-0.) That's not something you see every day. You just don't know.

But the thing is, this team is excited to play. They have pride in what they do out there, and they're playing to win. That's why it's exciting to play here - everyone comes to play.

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