Posts tagged GregMaddux at FanHouse

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Philadelphia Phillies (77-64) at New York Mets (79-62) 2:15 PM ET and 8:05 PM ET

Look, I know. No really, I know. Today is the first NFL Sunday since Ellis Hobbs was burned by Plaxico Burress, and you're excited. Hey, I too will keep one eye on the exploits of one Brett Favre.

But if you like sports ... all sports ... and you're not excited about two bitter rivals within two games of each other in the NL East playing a day-night doubleheader with both teams' aces going in the nightcap then you ... sports fan ... have no soul.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Say what you want about GM Ned Colletti, and we've said it all here at FanHouse, but he's done just about everything possible to put the Dodgers in a position to win the NL West this year. When one Hall of Famer -- Manny Ramirez -- wasn't enough, he went out and got another one -- Greg Maddux.

Yet here the Dodgers sit, losers of six straight and eight of their last nine on the eve of a stretch where they will play the Diamondbacks in six of their next nine games

It'd be an understatement to say Los Angeles is at a crossroads.

Just as it was before the Ramirez trade, the offense is at the heart of the Dodgers' problems. Manager Joe Torre insists the now daily struggle to put runs on the board is a result of his team pressing, particularly with runners in scoring position.

"Right now, the only thing we're not doing enough of is breathing," says Torre. "We're putting ourselves in a position to succeed and we just can't get over this hump."

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

New York Yankees (68-60) at Baltimore Orioles (61-66) 7:05 PM ET

I remember it being early April, 2007. I was just starting out at FanHouse, and I was blogging my ever-loving heart out while wearing some new pajamas that I had bought to celebrate my arrival here. It was then when all of a sudden, a loud "whoosh" rattled my windows and knocked me off of my seat. I thought it was some sort of freakish weather pattern, or an airplane flying a bit too low while landing at LaGuardia.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about. It was just Carl Pavano falling off the face of the earth.

Derek Lowe threw a gem last night in the Dodgers 3-1 victory over Colorado, but he couldn't take any credit for it. You see, Greg Maddux has magical powers.

While the Dodgers were hitting, the 42-year-old Maddux offered him his opinion on what the opposing hitters were trying to do and what he might want to do to offset that.

"It actually worked, believe it or not," Lowe said, smiling.

Usually I think clubhouse chemistry is somewhat overrated. Teams generally (again, generally ... this doesn't mean there aren't examples to the contrary) get along when they are winning and have problems if they are severely underachieving. In this case, however, what Greg Maddux brings to the Dodgers is much more than just his averageish six innings of work every five days.

You'll see several more stories like this as the NL West race roars towards the finish line, because Maddux is just that dynamic a baseball mind. When he retires, someone must publish a book which includes all the "Greg Maddux is a baseball genius" stories from his illustrious career. We've all heard a bunch ... someone just needs to compile them.

Who wouldn't buy that? I'd be the first in line.

When I was a kid, I had a poster stapled to my bedroom wall. Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Steve Avery, all stone-faced and holding baseballs.

In retrospect, Avery sort of served as abstract representation of the obligatory placeholder. First it was him, then it was Denny Neagle, then Kevin Millwood. They were not individuals; they were the nameless rabble of exploding drummers from Spinal Tap.

If Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz end up retiring this year, and hit the Hall of Fame ballot simultaneously, what becomes of Avery? Bizarre gardening accident?

This evening's Dugout is after the jump.

It appears that the Dodgers are awfully serious about contending for the NL West title this year. They've been locked in a tie with the Diamondbacks for several days now and by all indications, the race is going down to the wire this year. In anticipation of that, the Dodgers have gone out and added their second future Hall-of-Famer in as many weeks by acquiring Greg Maddux from the Padres tonight.

It's the second time the Dodgers have picked up Maddux late in the season in three years. For all intents and purposes, the Mad Dog is just an average pitcher here in the twilight of his career. Most of his stats look decent this year (3.99 ERA, 1.22 WHIP), but he's pitching in the best pitcher's park in either league in Petco. Still, league average isn't bad and Maddux is still durable, which makes about as good of a replacement as they'll find on the market for Brad Penny, who the Dodgers put on the DL this week.

There's no word who the Dodgers are giving up for Maddux, but it's probably going to be some kind of fringe prospect. Still, Ned Colletti's burning through his reserve of minor league talent pretty quickly this summer in the interest of getting a mediorce team into the playoffs in a year when the National League is pretty top heavy. Given the price the Dodgers have already paid in minor league talent, is a division title and a loss to the Cubs in the NLDS even a success at this point?

Jamie Moyer and Greg Maddux know each other very well. The Cubs drafted them both in 1984, 31st and 135th respectively. They were rookies together, played together in Chicago, and have been pitching with or against or amongst each other, win or lose, for the last 24 years.

Last night, the Phillies beat the Padres 1-0. Maddux and Moyer were as they'd been in their primes again, shutting down batters one after another, with only Pat Burrell's late game homerun to spoil the fun. It was a lot like the movie "Space Cowboys," where you realize that the best cowboys are the oldest and Greg Maddux ends up sitting mournfully on the moon.

We've been doing The Dugout since the early 80s so we know these men. We know what they can accomplish. We know the fire that burned in their hearts then and still flickers aflame today. We even know how they managed to have AOL Instant Messenger™ in 1986.

Today's Dugout, about the prices we pay in our youth for the cost of tomorrow's twilight, is after the jump.

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.


- The Jason Bay market appears to be heating up. Both the Rays and Cardinals have had serious discussions with Pittsburgh about acquiring the left fielder. Tampa Bay would seem to have the upper hand since it has the better farm system and does not play in the same division as the Pirates. GM Neal Huntington is believed to have asked for shortstop prospect Reid Brignac and pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson, with Hellickson believed to be the sticking point. There is also late word that the Red Sox could jump into the Bay talks as part of a three-way deal that would send Ramirez to Florida, prospects to Pittsburgh and Bay to Boston.

Losing sucks. Not getting what you want sucks. But true joy can be found in an activity that, even if you're horrible at it -- let's say dancing -- you still enjoy doing anyway.

OK, so I just made that up. But it sounds sort of true, right? Anyway, (via Shysterball) Greg Maddux agrees. Given that he hasn't won a game in 15 starts and is clearly hitting the old-age wall he's been able to deftly dodge for four or five years, that's sort of refreshing:

"I like the game. I like the grind," Maddux said. "It sucks losing, but it's still fun playing. I'd rather play and lose than not play." His manager understands. "Greg's joy now," Bud Black said, "is pitching."

Good for him. At some point, someone will stop paying Maddux to throw the baseball, and he'll no longer be able to derive that joy professionally -- but one has no doubt that he'll still be chucking it around in his backyard, goofing around, hitting tiny places from 90 feet at an inhuman rate. He'll be like Brett Farve, except not a gigantic tool.