When I first started watching baseball, I immediately fell in love with Greg Maddux. Are you kidding me, check out the picture below- how could you not? No, really. How could you? Maddux looked completely out of sorts while pitching, with that tongue and all. But I loved him. I loved him because it is Maddux that made me realize how fascinating the game of baseball is. It wasn't until I watched Maddux take a hitter all the way up in the count that I saw the true essence of the struggle. So, when people would say to me, "Oh, baseball games, I don't watch those on television. They are so slow and boring." I always knew they either hadn't seen Maddux pitch or they were hopeless fools that were never going to get it anyways.
It always seemed like each pitch for Maddux was intentional. It was the best pitch he had in him. And it felt like he was fucking with the hitter a little bit. Rocking them back and forth on the plate, a ball, a strike, a change-up, you just couldn't count on knowing exactly what was coming out of that arm. I can remember back around the late 1990s watching Maddux pitch for the Braves and recognizing that each pitch meant something. This was the game.
"And it is with bittersweet emotions" that I bid you farewell and happy retirement, Maddux.
And here is a quote from an article on ESPN.com
"There's really not a lot you can do to improve it," Maddux said. "The game of baseball is almost perfect the way it is."
Hey, he should know.
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