Greg Maddux won’t be a unanimous Hall of Famer for an incredibly stupid reason

Sports Illustrated ^ | January 7, 2014 | Cliff Corcoran

[EveningStar]

No player has ever been elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame and four-time Cy Young winner Greg Maddux, the most obvious of the many deserving candidates on this year’s ballot, won’t be the first. We now know that for sure thanks to MLB.com’s commendable tradition of posting its writers’ ballots the day before the results are announced. There are 17 MLB.com writers who have been members of the Baseball Writers Association of America for 10 or more years and thus are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame. Sixteen of them voted for Maddux. Dodgers beat reporter Ken Gurnick did not.

Why not? Gurnick wrote that he won’t vote for any player who “played during the period of PED use.” Not one. So who was on his ballot? Just Jack Morris.

[lurk]

So Maddux is sacrificed in order to make a point?

That’s worth one lifted eyebrow and a bemused facial expression.

[dead]

Yes, I agree about Maddox. I was just pointing out a fact about the era - the hitters weren’t the only ones juicing. Many power pitchers were involved too.

[Bullish]

The credibility of baseball stats was destroyed by interleague play before that.

What really destroyed MLB stats even before IL play was the DH rule.... Which I hate.

[discostu]

I wouldn’t say he’s sacrificed, he’s still going to the HOF, just not unanimously, which never happens anyway.

[Stevenc131]

Maddox was kidded about looking like the Pillsbury doughboy during his career, so PEDs are highly doubtful. I remember a rare triple he hit, he was huffing and puffing coming around second base and his teammates in the dugout were dying laughing at him because he looked like he wasn’t going to make it to third.

[Baseballguy]

baseball whats baseball I left watching or caring before 2003

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Gurnick’s assertion is farther off the mark than your’s.

[God luvs America]

its sports illustrated so take it with a grain of salt until the real story comes out...they lie to push stories and make up their agenda- witness the story on the oklahoma state football program this fall which was suppose to be devastating except for the fact the source giving them the info was not even attending the school when the so-called infractions occurred...

[montag813]

If Sandy Koufax wasn’t unanimous, then no pitcher should be.

[Vermont Lt]

Sports reporters tend to be frustrated jocks who have a chip on their shoulder.

Think of the guy at the bar who was never in the service talking like he has been to the ‘Nam. That is a sports writer.

[Deo volente]

Eleven sportswriters declined to vote for Babe Ruth when his name first came up. That's just absurd.

[CommerceComet]

If anything, facing a bunch of 'roided up batters makes Maddux's stats all the more impressive.

I'm not accusing Maddux of using but many, many pitchers have (and still do). Steroids have a legitimate use as an anti-inflammatory. Pitchers who use steroids recover much more quickly from the stress of throwing hard in an unnatural motion.

Nothing against Greg Maddux but I don't want anybody voted into HOF unanimously. If the true legends of the game like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb can't get voted in unanimously, then I don't want some lesser light to get that honor. I hate it when awards get cheapened. Maddux is a great but 80 years from now, he'll be remembered by only hardcore baseball fans while Babe Ruth will probably still be remembered by the typical person 160 years after his playing days.

Maddux is a great one but he's not the best pitcher of this generation, Mariano Rivera is. It is debatable if Maddux is even the best starting pitcher of this generation when Clemens and Johnson get tossed into the discussion. However, Greg Maddux is absolutely worthy of a first-ballot HOF induction without question. (BTW, first-ballot induction is another distinction which has been cheapened over the past few decades - used to be quite an honor - reserved for only the greatest of the greats.)

[chajin]

If Sandy Koufax Steve Carlton wasn’t unanimous, then no pitcher should be.

Fixed it :-)

[dmz]

Cal Ripken jr wasn’t unanimous for the same reason.

Let’s face it, Greg, like Cal, will be a first ballot selection, and a few years down the road it’s only idiots like us talking about the balloting.

[chajin]

baseball whats baseball I left watching or caring before 2003

You're missing some of the best baseball ever played. And I'm not talking about the overpaid Yankees, Dodgers, and such, but the scrappy teams built around teams of players who are young, strong, and love the game--exemplified by the Tampa Bay Rays, but also by the Jays, Orioles, Rangers, Pirates, and A's. When the rest of MLB catches on...

[dmz]

baseball whats baseball I left watching or caring before 2003

<><><>

And yet, here you are in 2014 commenting on a baseball story. I won’t think less of you for still caring.

[usconservative]

.....and a few years down the road it’s only idiots like us talking about the balloting.

Not me, I'm just not that big of a baseball geek. I'm lucky enough to remember who Greg Maddux is only because he used to play for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs were FOOLS to let him go to Atlanta where he had a great career.

Hat's off to Maddux on his upcoming induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Well deserved IMO.

[EveningStar]

its sports illustrated so take it with a grain of salt until the real story comes out...they lie to push stories and make up their agenda- witness the story on the oklahoma state football program this fall which was suppose to be devastating except for the fact the source giving them the info was not even attending the school when the so-called infractions occurred...

---

1. Other media sources are commenting on this.
2. I included a link to MLB.com votes in the comment section of my initial post.

[Ticonderoga34]

If anything, the PED era makes Maddux’s accomplishments more impressive. It made it tougher to pitch against guys who were roided up.

I don’t think Maddux used PED’s and he deserves to be elected to the HOF. Regarding the unanimous part, I don’t believe any player has been elected unanimously, so I don’t think its that big of deal as long as Maddox is voted into HOF. Just my two cents worth.

[Pan_Yan]

Maddux’s old pitching coach is on the radio in Atlanta and he talks about all the great Braves pitchers frequently. Maddux would give up a hit on a specific pitch in June to set the batter up for the playoffs in October. He was a savant with an 82 MPH fastball. Even Barry Bonds joked about swinging at pitches two feet outside and in the dirt because Maddux would baffle you.