I had to ask what's a "Maddux"? Answer: "A Maddux describes a start in which a pitcher tosses a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. Named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, the term was coined by baseball writer Jason Lukehart."
June 13, 2026
"Amazing young man, he really is. Forrest Gump-like, you know what I mean? He’s amazingly real, naive to a lot of things, and it’s beautiful. "
Said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, quoted in "A record 15 K's in a Maddux, one at 104.5 mph: Miz pitches the game of the year" (MLB).
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61 comments:
A Maddux was rare back in Maddux's days, and far more rare today. Quite an accomplishment. But just for the record, Maddux never, ever, threw 100 mph. While he could get into the mid-90s his fastball usually came in between 88 and 93. His secret was changing speeds, spins, and location with exceptional accuracy. He fooled batters rather than over-powered them.
Very rare today. The only way to do it is limit foul balls.
"He fooled batters rather than over-powered them."
With the ability to appeal a "Strike" call, I suspect he'd be fooling fewer batters these days.
Maddux edge pitches better than anyone in history of MLB. The inside pitch that just scratches the edge of the strike zone is finally getting called a strike now. Maddux would still dominate.
"A Maddux describes a start in which a pitcher tosses a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches.“
The theoretical minimum is 81 (three pitches per out, three outs per inning, nine innings per game) so 95 is pretty damn good.
Wouldn't a minimum be 27- every batter hits into an out on the first pitch?
Ah, yes, forgot about that possibility.
“Life is like a batter’s box. You never know what it’s gonna throw atcha.”
- Miz
Were there any exceptional defensive plays?
A lot of no hitters were lost because a defensive player didn't make an above average play at some point in the game.
Others only happened because one of the fielders did something crazy.
MLB umpire Ron Luciano, on calling balls and strikes:
Luciano also confirmed what many fans and broadcasters have long suspected — that pitchers with good control get the benefit of the doubt on close pitches. He cited a pair of star hurlers, Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry, who were always around the plate.
“The umpire becomes so used to calling strikes that it’s difficult to call a ball,” he admitted. “Strike one, strike two, foul ball, it’s close to the plate, strike three.”
A hitter with a good batting eye, such as Rod Carew, would get those breaks, too.
“The great hitters get treated that way because they’ve proven they know the strike zone,” he wrote. “If Ted Williams didn’t swing at a pitch, it was a ball, wherever it was.”
Along with getting strikes called on close pitches, this mindset ("The umpire becomes so used to calling strikes...") allows the pitcher to get swings at pitches out of the strike zone that they ordinarily wouldn't because batters realize they're likely to be called strikes and they might as well swing as opposed to taking a called strike.
"Ah, yes, forgot about that possibility."
Raises the question: Which is a more perfect game- 81 pitches for 27 strikeouts or 27 first pitch ground/fly ball outs?
It is a lot harder to have "star" pitchers and hitters with IR laser umpires.
Just saying.
To watch Maddux pitch at the corner, in person, was a gift from the universe. And he described it as just working hard.
A catcher told a story and I can't remember if it was maddux but it was one of the Braves pitchers during that era.
The Braves were up 8-0 against someone and their best batter was up. I think it was maddux who had been pitching him outside the whole night and the hitter was 0-3.
Maddux told the catcher to post up inside and Maddux threw him a meatball that ended up 380 feet out in left field and the Braves won 8-2. At the time the catcher was pissed and couldn't figure out why he would do that.
In the playoffs in a closer situation Maddux struck him out on 3 pitches outside. He said he knew the hitter would be sitting on that inside pitch.
Maddux never, ever, threw 100 mph.
Yeah, he got a lot of ground-outs. His strike-out counts were not super high. Maddux had a 3 to1 ratio (3 strikeouts for every walk) for much of his career, but the K totals weren't that high.
Greg Maddux did it 13 times.
15 strikeouts in a Maddox is extraordinary—a low pitch count usually means a lot of grounders and flyouts.
Mason G said...Which is a more perfect game- 81 pitches for 27 strikeouts or 27 first pitch ground/fly ball outs?
Strikeouts are fascist. But since you asked, fewer pitches means less wear and tear on the pitcher’s arm. So 27 first pitch ground/fly outs.
Modern pitchers get put on a pitch-count to protect their arms. So for a lot of them, they get 100 pitches and the manager pulls them. Even if they're pitching well. That's why complete games have almost vanished.
Back in 1988, Tommy Lasorda over-used Orel Hershiser in his Cy Young year. Kind of blew out his arm. He was never the same after that. I think he had to have surgery.
So they're very careful with pitch counts now. Getting a complete game shut-out with 100 pitches is pretty amazing.
The kid threw a 1-hitter and we're not even talking about that!
And not just a 1-hitter -- he had no walks. He almost had a perfect game.
We only have had 24 official perfect games in MLB history.
Strikeouts are fascist.
I love Bull Durham
"breathe through your eyelids"
Nuke Laloosh. That's a great nickname because innocent people can get wiped out
With the ability to appeal a "Strike" call, I suspect he'd be fooling fewer batters these days.
Yep. Maddux would paint the outside corner and get a strike. Then he'd move a little further out and get a strike. And then he'd keep moving off the plate until the batter's damn near leaning into the dugout and get called a ball.
Next pitch? Paint the outside corner for a strike.
"Strikeouts are fascist."
So I've been told.
"But since you asked, fewer pitches means less wear and tear on the pitcher’s arm. So 27 first pitch ground/fly outs."
After thinking about it while I mowed my lawn, that's the conclusion I came to.
Greg Maddux had two nicknames
Mad Dog
and
The Professor
Here's the list of the 24 perfect games.
Did you know they used to pitch underhanded in the 19th century? And there was no strike zone.
Some pretty good pitchers on that list: Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson. Also a lot of no-names. And two guys pitching under-handed!
Jim at said...Maddux would paint the outside corner and get a strike. Then he'd move a little further out and get a strike.
The Umpire Strikes Back. I thought it was Goose Gossage. Am I misremembering the anecdote?
Bull Durham is my favorite baseball movie, possibly my favorite sports movie. It had a lot to say about life, and was an entertaining story well told to boot.
"The Umpire Strikes Back. I thought it was Goose Gossage. Am I misremembering the anecdote?"
I believe Luciano retired before Maddux's time. Gossage would be more likely to have been mentioned by him in one of his books.
Quick internet search...
Ron Luciano: 1969–1979 (umpire)
Goose Gossage: 1972–1994 (player)
Greg Maddux: 1986–2008 (player)
According to AI, there have been 1,012 1-hitters in MLB history.
Nolan Ryan and Bob Fellers are tied with 12 each.
Maddux is an unofficial stat, so it's not really tracked. But they seem to be rare
Most strikeouts in a Maddux...
Miz 15 (2026)
Tarik Skubal 13 (2025)
Clayton Kershaw 13 (2017)
Carlos Carrasco 12 (2014)
Cliff Lee 12 (2011)
His one hitter who got on base was taken out in a double play. So Miz only faced 27 batters. And he got them all out. (With a little help from his friends).
Bull Durham is my favorite baseball movie, possibly my favorite sports movie. It had a lot to say about life, and was an entertaining story well told to boot.
Goes to show how tastes differ. I barely made it through just once.
The stats phenomenon happened when I was growing up, with the great Bill James. MLB is tracking the Maddux now. So I guess it's no longer unofficial? They can only track it from 1988, because that's when Bill James started collecting all that data.
I used to play Bill James fantasy baseball when I was a kid. So much fun. I actually owned Greg Maddux. Oof, he had great numbers.
,I>Bull Durham (1988) What I like about this film is how grubby it is. It’s about people in the minor leagues, and their dream of making it to the show. And what is the show? The majors is the show. The Natural is the show. These baseball movies seem like opposites. Bull Durham is low class. The Natural is mythical, larger than life. “He knocked the cover off the ball.” Robert Redford is a star, playing a star. You look at Redford and you see a winner. He’s a bit over the hill, but he’s a winner. He’s a guy with all these gifts. And yet what has he done with them? “My life hasn’t turned out the way I wanted.” What a beautiful line. It applies to Roy Hobbs, to Robert Redford, to me, to you. And it applies to Crash Davis down in the minors. Kevin Costner is a star, too, of course. And he’s not grubby. He’s classy. He dresses well. He doesn’t have crap on his shower shoes. The vibe you get from Costner is that he doesn’t belong here, in this grubby reality. He belongs in the show. We look at Costner and we see a winner. Hey, he set the minor league record for home runs. But it’s not enough. “Maybe I’ll get to the show as a manager.” The dream is always out of reach.
Bull Durham, like The Natural, is about failure, and hope. And both films are about women and how they affect men. I love Susan Sarandan’s character, how she wants to inspire the boys. She wants to be like Glenn Close. She wants to be the Lady in White and inspire home runs. (“We should all get to wear white.”) But she’s in all these grubby relationships with 19-year-old rookies who don’t read books. She’s trapped in single A. And what’s so hilarious is that this particular season, she doesn’t inspire greatness in the players. She gets in their head and ruins their concentration. She’s like that Lady in Black who ruined Roy Hobbs. “Celibacy,” says Crash, looking for purity. And trying to get Nuke out of her bed. You got to be pure, if you want to go to the show.
Oh, they have sex in The Natural. But it’s mythic, romantic sex. It’s off-screen sex. Bull Durham is on-screen sex. It’s raunchy sex, fun sex, oops-I-said-the-wrong-name sex. This movie is a single A remake of The Natural, with the same themes, brought down to reality. Are they in love? Will they get married and have babies? We don’t know. That’s off-screen stuff. But when Crash announces his retirement, she retires from her game, too. I love it.
Most of his teammates just call him Doggie. My favorite picture of Maddux shows him on an exercise bike while smoking. Always at least three pitches ahead of the guy he was facing. I still miss watching him pitch so much it hurts.
"The theoretical minimum is 81 (three pitches per out, three outs per inning, nine innings per game) so 95 is pretty damn good."
No, it's 27. 9x3X1 pitch.
Forrest Gump was about his hgh morality not his IQ.
Chicks dig the long ball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLECMCargd8
Mason G quoting MLB umpire Ron Luciano:
"He cited a pair of star hurlers, Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry, who were always around the plate."
The best thing in the world was to be a twelve-year-old Yankees fan in the late 70s when the Yanks counted Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry on the pitching staff and had Thurman Munson behind the plate catching them.
“ "The theoretical minimum is 81 (three pitches per out, three outs per inning, nine innings per game) so 95 is pretty damn good."
No, it's 27. 9x3X1 pitch.”
If you want to go really crazy nowadays, the minimum complete game is 9.pitches. Waive 2 runners on with an intentional walk (no pitch required), and let the 3rd batter hit into a triple play. Nine innings in a row.
Actually, if you’re on the road and don’t mind taking a loss, you could finish the game in 8 pitches. Just have to intentional walk in a winning run somewhere along the way to lose 1-0.
Oh wait, even better: Intentional walk, followed by a pickoff at first, 27 times. 0 pitch complete game shutout.
"Oh wait, even better: Intentional walk, followed by a pickoff at first, 27 times. 0 pitch complete game shutout."
I like it.
0.17 era in his last 8 games.
Baseball Star Kris Bryant Gets Pranked by Hall of Famer Greg Maddux,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axkik-8oFTs
Jim at said...Goes to show how tastes differ. I barely made it through just once.
My wife agrees with you. She hated Costner. Thought he was phoning it in.
Has this kid had the Tommy John surgery yet?
I lived in the piedmont of North Carolina a few years when I was a kid. There were so many men that looked and sounded like the radio announcer for the Durham Bulls. The actor’s name was Garland Bunting. I know because I was just in that part of NC and met a guy that looked and sounded exactly like him so I looked it up. He died in 1995 so not same…but he lives on…
It's a great pastime. It is interesting to think how Mad Dog would fare in the robo strike zone era. He'd likely figure out how to game that system constraint. Gump is also about IQ: no overthink-ging letting instincts prevail. Stupid is as Stupid does.
Friday, Astros Yordan Alvarez hit a homer then a grand slam both in the 1st inning.
Maddux also got probably 3” of each side of the plate. Same thing for Glavine.
Speaking of baseball, I took a 81 MPH fastball to my left fore arm today, so that was nice.
Also, how bout them Dawgs!
"Maddux also got probably 3” of each side of the plate. Same thing for Glavine."
I recall watching a World Series game many moons ago where Maddux (or Glavine, I don't remember) wasn't getting that 3" and he seemed quite unhappy about it.
Bang The Drum Slowly is phenomenal. Everybody and every thing is corny as heck and you might get a lump in your throat, when Deniro lost that foul ball. Love it.
I’m around a lot of college and minor league umpires, they’re all robots and blow me away with their accuracy. It’s a different game now. Hunter Wendlestadt is the lowest ranked ABS in baseball and Marvin Hudson is right next to him. Dexter Kelley who worked with about ten years has the third highest rate. By the way, I can’t believe Dexter made, he is extremely lazy and the guys I talked to can’t believe it. They’re also blown away that it looks like he’s in.
If umpires have robot eyes I'm curious how good they would be facing pitching at bat themselves?
Do they play for fun?
"Bull Durham is my favorite baseball movie"
Mine's The Natural. Because of one scene. Redford is taking batting practice for the Knights for the first time. The crack of the bat hitting the ball, and the sound of the ball hitting the wooden seats.
Someone above mentioned that pitch counts are used to "protect" pitchers arms these days so there are fewer complete games. I question the efficacy of that "protection" when we see him many Tommy John surgeries are performed on pitchers who are trying to throw at 100mph. The WVU college team has an All-American starter, Maxx Yehl, who already has had it. It is fun to speculate on how Maddux would do in this era. One suspects he would have been just as effective as so many hitters would be dialed in on the fastballs in the high 90s and above.
Steve Wilson:
It's not uncommon for college pitchers to have had the TJ procedure. And Maddux would be great, but not because what hitters are dialed in on.
what tina trent said about watching Maddux and what tim maguire said about the weakness of pitching for strikeouts. Two thumbs up.
I remember a retired ump telling a story on air about a former Yankees catcher, then playing for the Red Sox (I forget his name) who was always jawboning the umps about balls and strikes. The catcher is up late in the game and the pitch is about 3 inches inside. Ump calls it a strike. The catcher batter says "C'mon, there's no way that's a strike!" The ump responds "That's what I've been telling you all day."
The coach says, this guy is a real dumbshit but he can play the game.
"I remember a retired ump telling a story..."
In one of Luciano's books, he relates an anecdote about a hitter who was constantly complaining that pitches just off the plate were being called strikes. After listening to the complaints for a while, he was told "You'd better swing at the next one, because it's going to be a strike." The hitter then swung at the next borderline pitch and got a hit. The response? "See? It makes him a better hitter."
Nobody would be officiating if they could hit .300. Well, .260 nowadays.
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