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Maddux, on the other hand, fooled,
confused and confounded the Giants at every turn. Though he's lost
some velocity on the fastball, he still spots his pitches as well as
anyone ever has. He also seems to get outstanding run support in his
starts.
The thing that sticks out the most to
me, though, is his unbelievable consistency. If he wins 15 games
this year, which barring an injury he will, he will have done so for
something like 17 consecutive years. That's incredible. A comparison
has been floated that if members of the vaunted Oakland A's staff
each won 20 games over the next 10 years, they'll barely have 225
victories.
I marvel at what Maddux has
accomplished and am just glad that Chicago shipped him to Atlanta in
his prime. I also admire Greg's team approach to the game. He is
right... His achievements are secondary to doing his job and getting
his team to the playoffs. That's why I wanted him to stay in
Atlanta… That kind of guy and that kind of presence can be
contagious to a ballclub.
At any rate, the LDN commends Maddux on
this awesome milestone.
Many media mopes are even saying that
he might be the LAST 300-game winner that we will ever see. Those
that are in reach are Tom Glavine, Mike Mussina, Pedro Martinez and
Randy Johnson. Of that group, it appears that Glavine has the best
chance.
One thing the Cardinals needed was
another bat, especially a left-handed bat, to make their team the
new "Murderer's Row." St. Louis GM Walt Jocketty has done it again
by giving up very young, and I might add iffy prospects, for a
golden glove former NL MVP! Even if the deal never worked out, it is
still a magnificent move, which may be Jocketty's middle name. The
Cards, on the other hand, followed up a 5-1 road trip by matching it
with a 5-1 homestand. Don't you just hope they continue to play this
well during the postseason?
Non-sports item of the week: Did you
happen to see the MythBusters this week? They were showing how the
prisoners escaped from Alcatraz and reconstructed from FBI files the
kind of raft they made out of rain parkas. The amazing thing was
that on other shows, the participants never made landfall, and the
announcers would just say that the prisoners no doubt drowned or
were eaten by sharks. No so fast, my friend… The MythBusters made
it! And, I would not be surprised if the prisoners did too. If they
were smart enough to bust out, they very likely were smart enough to
make it across the bay or to a waiting boat even closer to Alcatraz.
Why has that always been so hard for
most people to accept? I have known a lot of prisoners and they were
extremely intelligent. Poor choices and decisions seemed to be their
Achilles heel. Maybe as a society if we did a better job at
instructing youngsters on how to select and make better friends, we
would all be better off. I know for me, I feel like I have just been
extremely blessed, fortunate or lucky… however you want to assess
it. A lot of us were just a couple of wrong friends and a couple of
bad decisions from getting in trouble ourselves. How did we get so
fortunate?
I am also feeling extremely blessed by
God when it comes to this weather. I have asked several senior
saints, and THEY say that this has been the nicest or one of the
nicest summers they can ever remember. I concur. And, what a great
summer for golf, swimming, boating, baseball, softball or whatever,
huh?
[to top of second column in
this article] |
My only minor disappointment of the
week was not getting to go to the International. I have slumped
dramatically in my ticket acquisition prowess over the last five
years. Anyway, I had some feelers out for this great golf tourney in
Colorado, and of all years, I got tickets for Saturday's third
round. The problem was I had way too much work going on here. Plane
tickets were also outrageous… so I finished my work and played in
another outing out at the Elks (I love that place).
Did you catch any of the Football Hall
of Fame coverage? It was quite emotional, as you can imagine. Bob
Brown, Carl Eller, Barry Sanders and John Elway were inducted this
weekend. You got the sense of why Sanders was so great, because he
seems to be such a great person. And whether you like him or not and
whether you like the Denver Broncos or not, you have to appreciate
the love and the zeal those people have for their franchise and for
their players.
I REALLY was glad to see Elway and
former coach Dan Reeves mend their relationship and then see them
together at the festivities. Life's too short to stay separated from
friends. While it is extremely difficult to say those almost
unutterable words, "I'm sorry," (and they are almost impossible for
me) I cannot think of a time that I was not glad I said them. Why
not make this a week to remember (YOUR own Hall of Fame week) and
tell someone that you have been separated from for far too long
those very same words? I'll bet you'll be glad you did. It appears
that Elway and Reeves are.
Speaking of Elway… I would be remiss if
I did not share my John Elway story. Former Lincoln resident Craig
Zastrow and I took one of my LCC basketball teams to play in a
tournament in Colorado. Amazingly, we got tickets for the whole team
to see a Broncos game before we caught our flight home. And it
wasn't just any Broncos game. It was a game against my beloved
Oakland Raiders (I will NEVER fully understand HOW we got tickets
for that game).
The Raiders won the game 20-17 and
secured the win when they blocked a field goal attempt as time
expired. You could hear a pin drop in the stadium except for some
wacko in the third deck at the top of Mile High Stadium… I WAS THAT
wacko!
Craig and I and the team had a
wonderful experience that day. In fact, before the game Craig and I
got to meet Al Davis. I would not say that he was all that thrilled
to meet us, but maybe he just doesn't show that kind of emotion.
After that meeting, we went down to
watch the players warm up for the game. In their old stadium they
had a fence that surrounded the field, but fans could get remarkably
close to the benches and the action -- maybe within 10 to 15 yards
of the actual field. Craig and I wanted to watch Elway throw a few
passes.
We were in for an experience that we
will both never forget. As we stood just a few yards away from him,
he began to zip off some passes to his receivers. They were zipping
and humming so loud we could not believe it. They were getting to
their intended targets so fast we could barely see the flight of the
ball! It was at that point that we realized how good he was and
figured he would someday lead his team to a Super Bowl or two. Maybe
we should have predicted that.
Oh well, thanks for taking the trip
down memory lane with me.
That's it
for me…have a great week, everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield] |
