Editing Greg Maddux (section)

===Atlanta Braves (1993–2003)===
Maddux made his debut with the Braves on April 5, 1993, as their opening day starter against the Cubs at [[Wrigley Field]], beating his former teammates 1&ndash;0.<ref>{{cite news |title=BASEBALL; Maddux Returns to Wrigley And Revels in the Howling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/06/sports/baseball-maddux-returns-to-wrigley-and-revels-in-the-howling.html |access-date=September 20, 2019 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 6, 1993 |location=Section B |page=10 |quote=Maddux and his fellow Atlanta Braves pitchers began their bid to become one of baseball's best staffs ever when he threw a five-hit shutout, beating the Cubs, 1-0, yesterday.}}</ref> He finished the regular season with a 20–10 record, led the [[National League (baseball)|NL]] with a 2.36 ERA, and won his second straight Cy Young Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=1993 Major League Baseball Pitching Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1993-pitching-leaders.shtml |website=Baseball-Reference.com |publisher=Baseball Reference |access-date=September 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Maddox, Greg {{!}} Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/maddux-greg |website=BaseballHall.org |publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame |access-date=September 20, 2019|quote=Maddux went 20-10 in 1993, leading the Braves to their third straight NL West title and topping the league with a 2.36 ERA – the first of four ERA crowns he would capture.}}</ref> The Braves took their rotation of Maddux, 22-game winner [[Tom Glavine]], 18-game winner [[Steve Avery (baseball)|Steve Avery]], and 15-game winner [[John Smoltz]] to the postseason. Maddux won against the [[1993 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]] in Game Two of the [[1993 National League Championship Series|NLCS]], but with [[1993 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta]] trailing 3 games to 2, lost the decisive Game Six.

[[File:Greg Maddux pitching.jpg|300px|thumb|Maddux pitching for the Braves in 1994]]

During the [[1994–95 Major League Baseball strike|strike-shortened]] 1994 season, Maddux posted an ERA of 1.56, the second-lowest since [[Bob Gibson]]'s historic 1.12 in 1968, the last year of the elevated mound, and the lowest in the majors since [[Dwight Gooden]]'s 1.53 in 1985. It pleased Maddux that his 1994 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] (.222) was higher than his ERA.<ref name="library">{{cite web |url=https://baseballbiography.com/greg-maddux-1966 |title=Greg Maddux |access-date=December 10, 2008|work=baseballbiography.com  }}</ref> Maddux also led the National League in wins (with 16) and innings pitched (202) in his third Cy Young-winning year. Maddux also finished 5th in National League [[Most Valuable Player]] voting in 1994.

In the 1995 season, Maddux was 19&ndash;2 and he posted the third-lowest ERA since Gibson's: 1.63. Maddux became the first pitcher to post back-to-back ERAs under 1.80 since [[Walter Johnson]] in 1918 (1.27) and 1919 (1.49). Maddux's 1.63 ERA came in a year when the overall [[National League (baseball)|league]] ERA was 4.23. Since the beginning of the [[live-ball era]] in 1920, there have only been five pitchers to have full-season ERAs under 1.65: Gibson and [[Luis Tiant]] in the anomalous 1968 season, Gooden in 1985, and Maddux, twice. Maddux's 19 wins led the National League, for the third time in four seasons.

On May 28, 1995, he beat the Astros, losing a [[no-hitter]] on an eighth-inning home run to [[Jeff Bagwell]]. It was the only nine-inning one-hitter of his career.<ref name="RetroHighs">[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/M/PX_maddg002.htm Top Performances for Greg Maddux] from [[Retrosheet]].  Accessed August 12, 2010.</ref> In June and July, Maddux threw 51 consecutive innings without issuing a [[Base on balls|walk]]. Maddux pitched effectively in all three of the Braves's postseason series, winning a game in each. His Game One victory in the [[1995 World Series]] involved nine innings, two hits, no walks, and no earned runs with [[Orel Hershiser]] pitching for the [[Cleveland Indians]]. Maddux took the loss in Game Five, but the Atlanta Braves won their first [[World Series]] championship two days later. Following the 1995 season, Maddux won his fourth straight Cy Young Award, a major league record, and his second consecutive unanimous award. Maddux also finished third in that year's National League Most Valuable Player voting. The Atlanta Braves also made good on a pre-season promise to their pitching rotation, installing a putting green in the locker room at the newly built [[Turner Field]] following the World Series victory.

From 1996 to 1998, Maddux finished fifth, second, and fourth in the Cy Young voting. In August 1997, Maddux signed a $57.5-million, five-year contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in baseball.<ref name="chronology">{{cite web |url=https://baseballbiography.com/greg-maddux-1966 |title=Greg Maddux |access-date=December 10, 2008|work=baseballbiography.com}}</ref> In February 2003, he avoided arbitration by signing a one-year $14.75-million deal.<ref name="chronology"/> Maddux's production remained consistent: a 19&ndash;4 record in 1997, 18&ndash;9 in 1998, 19&ndash;9 in both 1999 and 2000, 17&ndash;11 in 2001, 16&ndash;6 in 2002, and 16&ndash;11 in 2003, his last season as a Brave. From 1993 to 1998, Maddux led the National League in ERA four times, and was second the other two seasons.

On July 22, 1997, Maddux threw a complete game with just 78 pitches (36 strikes, 20 [[batted ball]]s, 13 balls, 5 hits, and 4 fouls) against the [[1997 Chicago Cubs season|Cubs]]. Three weeks earlier, he had shut out the defending champion [[1997 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] on 84 pitches, and five days before that he had beaten the Phillies with a 90-pitch complete game. Maddux allowed just 20 bases on balls in 1997, including six [[intentional walk]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199707221.shtml|title=Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs Box Score, July 22, 1997}}</ref>

Maddux [[Strikeout|struck out]] 200+ batters for the only time in his career in 1998. He outdueled the Cubs' [[Kerry Wood]] to clinch the [[1998 National League Division Series|NLDS]], but the [[1998 Atlanta Braves season|Braves]] were eliminated in the next round. The Braves returned to the [[1999 World Series|World Series]] in 1999. Maddux was the Game One starter, and took a 1&ndash;0 lead into the eighth inning before a Yankee rally cost him the game and eventually the series as the Braves were swept.

On June 14, 2000, Maddux made his 387th putout to break [[Jack Morris]]'s career record.<ref name="library"/> In September 2000, he had a streak of 40{{fraction|1|3}} scoreless innings.<ref name="RetroHighs" /> He pitched poorly in his one playoff start of 2000. In May 2001, Maddux became the first Braves pitcher since 1916 to throw two 1&ndash;0 shutouts in the same month. The first included a career-best 14 strikeouts.<ref name="RetroHighs" /> In July and August of that year, Maddux pitched 72{{fraction|1|3}} consecutive innings without giving up a walk; that streak ended when he intentionally threw four balls to Steve Finley.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-13-sp-33710-story.html|title=Maddux Loses Streak as Braves Fail Badly|date=August 13, 2001|via=LA Times}}</ref> In 2002, he won his 13th straight [[Gold Glove Award]], a NL record. Maddux tied [[Jim Kaat]]'s career record of 16 Gold Gloves after the 2006 season.

Throughout most of his years with the Braves, in the tradition of other pitching greats such as [[Steve Carlton]], Maddux often had his own personal catcher. At various times Maddux used [[Charlie O'Brien]], [[Eddie Pérez (baseball)|Eddie Pérez]], [[Paul Bako]], and [[Henry Blanco]], for the majority of his starts, though regular starter [[Javy López]] did sometimes catch Maddux in the postseason.

Maddux was the crown jewel in the much-vaunted Braves trio of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, who pitched together for over a decade as the core of one of the best pitching staffs in the history of the game. The three were the linchpin of a team that won its division (the National League West in 1993 and the East from then on) every year that Maddux was on the team (1994 had no division champions). The three pitchers were frequently augmented by other strong starters such as [[Steve Avery (baseball)|Steve Avery]], [[Kevin Millwood]], [[Denny Neagle]], and [[Russ Ortiz]]. In 1995, they pitched the Braves to a World Series title. In 29 postseason games with Atlanta, Maddux had a 2.81 ERA and a 1.19 [[Walks plus hits per inning pitched|WHIP]], but just an 11&ndash;13 record.

[[File:Cubs Maddux 2.jpg|200px|thumb|Maddux pitching for the Cubs in 2006]]