| Kyle Trompeter. 14th September, 2005 - 3:51 am
 ?Thou shall not win 15 games in 18 consecutive seasons!?
That must have been one of the five Commandments that Mel Brooks dropped in History of the World Part Two.
Standing pat with a 12-12 record, Greg Maddux has only three starts left in this 2005 regular season, and he needs to win every one of them to get his customary 15 wins. Two of those starts will be at Wrigley Field, with a pair of those games against the Houston Astros and the other against the St. Louis Cardinals.
A tall task for the future Hall of Famer?
Is the atomic weight of Cobalt 58.9?
Probably one of the greatest streaks in all of sports, 15 wins in 17 consecutive seasons is not something that goes unnoticed. Nor should it be something that comes to an end. It is a crime against baseball if Maddux is denied his 15 victories.
A year without Maddux winning 15 games is a year without a summer. It would be as if he were cursed in a way where his team is incapable of consistently giving him run support on days he starts.
Well, he?s not cursed, he just plays for the Cubs.
Sustained success is a foreign matter on the North Side of Chicago. Take Derrek Lee, for instance. Here?s a guy who at the All Star break was hitting about .900 and had an on base percentage of a million and leading the world in every offensive catagory. In the second half, however, he?s only hitting .281 with 14 home runs and 27 RBI?s.
There goes the Triple Crown.
Then on Monday night, Maddux toed the rubber at the Friendly Confines to pitch seven strong innings and give up two runs, only to drive away that night with a loss.
That is so Cubs.
Let?s play the ?What if? game, shall we?
What if Maddux pitched for the Red Sox? Maybe he still pitches seven innings and gives up two runs, but the offense puts a 10 spot on the board and he picks up the win.
A great pitcher with no help from the bats.
Then there?s former Cubs starter Matt Clement. Last season with the Cubs, he compiled a 9-13 record with a 3.68 ERA. Now with the Red Sox, Clement is 13-5 with a 4.33 ERA.
How does a pitcher gain over a half run on the ERA and increase his win total by four games?
Run support, plain and simple.
For years, Maddux has been aided by a potent Atlanta Braves offense, not that he really needed much help as his ERA was usually in the low 2?s. Now he plays for the Cubs, again. His win total hurt by an offense that is ranked first in the national league in batting average.
Wait a second. Hurt by the best team batting average?
No, that?s not it. It?s the fact that the Cubs are 11th in the National League in on base percentage and last in walks. The only way they get on base is via the hit, which is not good. They are not a patient offense and the Cubs consistently hack themselves out of good scoring opportunities.
In a perfect world, Maddux and the Cubs would win in his last three starts so he gets to his number 15. Unfortunately for Maddux, this season may be the end of his illustrious streak. It?s a streak that should be celebrated as one of the greatest achievements in baseball history. |
