Greg Maddux to retire

[UMass922]

Maddux will be announcing his retirement on Monday, according to the AP. No need for a HOF poll this time, that's for sure. The question, though, is: will Glavine and Smoltz retire this offseason along with him so that the Big Three go into the Hall together? The last I heard about Smoltz is that he's going to try to come back next season; I don't know about Glavine.

[Cleets]

Maddux will be announcing his retirement on Monday, according to the AP. No need for a HOF poll this time, that's for sure. The question, though, is: will Glavine and Smoltz retire this offseason along with him so that the Big Three go into the Hall together? The last I heard about Smoltz is that he's going to try to come back next season; I don't know about Glavine.

Glavine should retire as well... That would be awesome: Those two walking in together

[UMass922]

I'd either like to see all three of them go in together, or each of them go in one at a time. Braves fans, what do you think?

[Ivytalk]

Greg Maddux is a class act. I hope he stays in baseball in some capacity. He'd make a great pitching coach or manager.

[blueballs]

It sure doesn't look like the "Big Three" will stand on the same stage at Cooperstown.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/12/06/braves_john_smoltz.html

Maddux was, in the words of the late Skip Carray, simply the best. He had the best assortment of pitches, the best control, was competitive as hell, durable, and was without a doubt the smartest player I've ever seen.

What was the most underrated thing about Maddux was his wit. If you ever have the chance to talk with some of his ex-temmates the stories are priceless.

The one that comes to mind first is when Marcus Giles collided with Mark Prior on the basepaths in the playoffs in Chicago (everybody remembers this, right?) and was knocked out.

When Giles was in the lockerroom, concussed, on a trainers table being attended to, he finally regained some of his wits. There was Maddux, who had come in from the dugout and convinced Giles he had sh-t himself on national television when he ran into Prior and was KO'ed. It wasn't until about an hour later that Giles saw the tape and was able to call BS on Maddux, who until that point had him convinced. Just classic...xlolx

[mistersykes]

I grew up a big fan of the big three. Maddux was something else. For selfish reasons, I don't want Shmoltz and Glavine to retire quite yet. They still may have a little something in the tank.

[UMass922]

The one that comes to mind first is when Marcus Giles collided with Mark Prior on the basepaths in the playoffs in Chicago (everybody remembers this, right?) and was knocked out.

When Giles was in the lockerroom, concussed, on a trainers table being attended to, he finally regained some of his wits. There was Maddux, who had come in from the dugout and convinced Giles he had sh-t himself on national television when he ran into Prior and was KO'ed. It wasn't until about an hour later that Giles saw the tape and was able to call BS on Maddux, who until that point had him convinced. Just classic...xlolx

That's an awesome story.

The one time I saw Maddux in person was at a Braves-Expos game at Olympic Stadium in July of 2002. He pitched pretty well that game, but what I remember best is what he did on offense in the 5th inning, with the Braves trailing 1-0. The first two guys up that inning each made an out on one or two pitches. Then Maddux came up, fought off a bunch of pitches, and finally managed to hit a single. Then I turned to my friend and said, half-jokingly, "watch him steal second here." Sure enough, Maddux takes off and steals the base! Then Rafael Furcal got a hit and Maddux scored the game-tying run. Unfortunately he had to come out of the game the next inning with an injury that he apparently sustained running the bases, and I think he ended up missing one or two subsequent starts because of it.

In any case, I'll always remember Maddux getting that two-out hit, stealing second, and helping his team manufacture that run. The guy was a ballplayer.

[I Bleed Purple]

Backup two seamer is incredibly common now because of Maddux. So many strikeout highlights with the batter bailing out and the pitch is almost down the middle.

[blur2005]

Greg Maddux had a fabulous career. As a Braves fan, I fondly remember the big three doing their thing and I'm sad that it looks like they won't go into the Hall together because that would be fantastic.

[MorgantonAPPAlum]

I'm glad Maddux was able to pass Clemens in wins before he retired. I wonder if he pitched this year in order to do so. He is the second winningest pitcher of the live ball era, after Warren Spahn.

[appfan2008]

As a native of suburban atlanta who grew up watching those big 3 i would prefer and love to see them go in together... neither smoltz or glavine have anything left to prove... three classy guys right there...