Maddux announces retirement after 23-year career

[CrimsonWhite]

I hate to see him go and as a Braves fan I would hate to see it, but I think Smoltz and Glavine should go with him.

LAS VEGAS -- Greg Maddux grew up with the same weekend ritual as so many other American kids.

Tagging along with his big brother, he would run down to the park to play ball against the older guys from the neighborhood in regular Sunday scrimmages.

He met a pitching coach who preached movement over velocity, and pretty soon Maddux was striking out those stronger teens. Nearly three decades later, he walked away from baseball Monday as one of the greatest pitchers to put on a uniform.

After 355 wins and 23 major league seasons, Maddux held a 30-minute news conference to announce his retirement on the opening day of the winter meetings -- only minutes from his Las Vegas home.

"I really just came out here today to say thank you," he said in a ballroom at the swanky Bellagio hotel. "I appreciate everything this game has given me. It's going to be hard to walk away obviously, but it's time. I have a family now that I need to spend some more time with. I still think I can play the game, but not as well as I would like to, so it's time to say goodbye."

Next stop, the Hall of Fame.

ESPN - After 355 wins in 23 seasons, Greg Maddux retires

 

[tigerbob]

I hate to see him go and as a Braves fan I would hate to see it, but I think Smoltz and Glavine should go with him.

Tip of the cap.

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Tip of the cap.

He has had a helluva career.

 

[Paulie]

Yes, Smoltz and Glavine definitely need to be joining him.

 

[Andrew2382]

Great pitcher...nothing but props to him. He had a hell of a career...

Even though it does bring me much joy to remember the victories of 1996 and 1999 for my pinstripes

who have now signed tha fuck sabathia to 7 years 160 mill....whata joke..to many years and too much money

 

[Paulie]

Great pitcher...nothing but props to him. He had a hell of a career...

Even though it does bring me much joy to remember the victories of 1996 and 1999 for my pinstripes

who have now signed tha fuck sabathia to 7 years 160 mill....whata joke..to many years and too much money

LOL what a ridiculous contract. I'm just glad he's back out of the NL again.

 

[Andrew2382]

yeah it's stupid...the guy has had 2 good years, 2001 and 2007 the rest wqere mediocre.

Last year he went 6-8 with the indians and had close to a 4 era and then went to the brewers and pitched well.
A- it was a contract season everyone tries a bit harder
B- It was the fucking NL Central...I can pitch well in that shit bag division.

I wanted CC but not at that price....Cashman should have told him to go fuck himself he wasnt getting anything closer to what the yanks originally offered.

I mean how the fuck don't you sign Santana if you are going to dish this money for CC???

Yanks are suppose to sign Derek lowe today or tomm also. Sabathia, Wang, Joba, Lowe, maybe Pettite

Prettyy solid rotation there

 

[Paulie]

yeah it's stupid...the guy has had 2 good years, 2001 and 2007 the rest wqere mediocre.

Last year he went 6-8 with the indians and had close to a 4 era and then went to the brewers and pitched well.
A- it was a contract season everyone tries a bit harder
B- It was the fucking NL Central...I can pitch well in that shit bag division.

I wanted CC but not at that price....Cashman should have told him to go fuck himself he wasnt getting anything closer to what the yanks originally offered.

I mean how the fuck don't you sign Santana if you are going to dish this money for CC???

Yanks are suppose to sign Derek lowe today or tomm also. Sabathia, Wang, Joba, Lowe, maybe Pettite

Prettyy solid rotation there

I agree with the distinction between Santana and Sabathia. I'd take Santana ANYDAY over Sabathia. I don't agree about the NL Central though. That's a tough enough division in and of itself. The Cards and Cubs aren't exactly slouches, especially the Cubs. I mean, they were the most prolific offensive team in the Majors.

It's the NL in general. The thinking is that you take a whole point off your ERA if you move to the NL from the AL. It doesn't always work that way, as Zito was a prime example of. But the NL is a lot easier to pitch against. Sabathia's NL stats are skewed. I'm not sure how you can weigh them against the AL, especially when considering a contract of that magnitude.

I guess agents are really just THAT GOOD at what they do. I'll be surprised if he gets 15 wins next season.

 

[Andrew2382]

Only NL pitcher I like is Peavy...all the big bats are in the AL. Majority of the big pitchers are in the AL as well.
Best pitcher in the NL is Peavy probably.

Zito contract was a disaster, he is not even close to being worth what he gets paid. His biggest accomplishment is banging alyssa milano.

 

[Paulie]

Zito is a surfer who happens to play baseball. Baseball will probably never be more important than surfing to him. He stayed in the bay area for that reason.

He has incredible stuff, but his heart just isn't in the game. He pitched well enough to receive enough money to live like a king for the rest of his life. Now he can surf forever and be completely happy. He probably couldn't care less how his baseball career turns out at this point. Surfing is a state of mind, baseball is just a job.

I don't agree about Peavy being the best, either. He's not better than Santana. I'm partial here, but I don't think he's better than Hamels either.

 

[Andrew2382]

ahh come on man

Ok, Santana is better...I still think of him as an AL pitcher sorry. Behidn him though Peavy is clearly the top though

Cole Hamels?

Early to tell, definately a stud. He has only had 3 years....granted each year he has pitched better, his best year being a 3.09 ERA..Came close last year to breaking 200k's peaked at 196. He also has a solid defense and team around him.

Peavy

He has played on a pretty bad Padres team...After hist first full rookie season he posted a 2 era every year except one.

The past 2 years he postred a 2.54 era and a 2.85 era averaging over 200k's per season. Last season he did 166 but only played in 27 games, he consistently plays over 30. Combined with an extremely low WHIP, and is pretty much arguably the best pitcher in the league. I think Santana is better though and would rather have him pitch game 1

Peavy is a stud though

 

[Agnapostate]

Awww...I was hoping to see Maddox being discussed.

 

[Andrew2382]

Yankees offer Burnett 5 years 60 million

They are also going to make an offer to lowe...must be nice to have an endless amount of money

 

[Xenophon]

Maddox was probaly the toughest pitcher I saw during the last 40 years of me being a fan.

 

[tigerbob]

Maddox was probaly the toughest pitcher I saw during the last 40 years of me being a fan.

Being based in an AL town, I only saw him once, but his control was awe inspiring.

Toughest pitcher I ever saw regularly was Randy Johnson back in the mid 90s. That slider was pretty much unhittable. I was also at Tiger Stadium the night Clemens fanned 20, which was quite a thrill (Tigers fans didn't get thrilled often back then).

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Yankees offer Burnett 5 years 60 million

They are also going to make an offer to lowe...must be nice to have an endless amount of money

They are also the only club that operates in the red.

 

[tigerbob]

They are also the only club that operates in the red.

God, I hate the Yankees.

 

[Paulie]

They are also the only club that operates in the red.

They follow the example of most governments these days.

 

[Andrew2382]

They are also the only club that operates in the red.

You are 100% wrong dude.

The yankees do not operate in the red...quite the opposite.

I guess you are refering to the Forbes article which said the Yankees lost about 25 million dollars.

However, Forbes did not take many things into account when calculating their numbers...

The main thing being the Yes Network which the Yankees have a 44% ownership stake in and made over a quarter of a billion dollars last year and has a 60% profit margin.

Also, the Yankees goal is not so much to make profits but to build up the value of the team which they have going up from 900 million to 1.3 billion. This includes just the team alone...not their new stadium, Yes Network etc...

Nowthey have a brand new state of the art stadium...which is incredibly expensive...

My ex girlfriends father had season tickets at the stadium where he payed close to 40 grand, 5th row behind the dugout...He had to cancel his season tickets because they went from

Orginally he paid around 200 bucks a ticket and had 2 seats...he has had them for over 15 years.

The prices went to 1700 a ticket!...thats 3400 a game and 81 games...do the math...They wanted over $275,000. Now he didn't get them but someone else did.

They make a profit, not a huge one because of their payroll, and revenue sharing and what not, however their main goal is to raise the value of the team at the moment.

Let's not forget that the Interlocking NY of the Yanks is also the most recognizable sports emblem in the world

 

[Paulie]

Hey you can defend an enormous payroll meant to purchase trophies if you want. It's gotta suck though, that no amount of money seems to be able to buy any lately.

You oughta cut your entire veteran payroll and develop your talent. Paying everyone 100 million dollars is starting to look stupid.