If there’s anyone who could empathize with San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, it would be Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux.
Each is fearsome at what he does, but neither has been so scary in the postseason.
During the regular season, Bonds is a fearsome career .303 hitter with record-breaking home run power. In the postseason, however, he makes nary a ripple, hitting .196 with a single homer coming into this division series, where he has fallen right into past form, going 2-for-8.
Maddux, Saturday’s starter in Game 3 at San Francisco’s Pacific Bell Park with the best of five-game series knotted at one, is a four-time Cy Young Award winner with at least 15 regular-season victories in each of the last 15 seasons. But he has a 10-13 career record in the postseason, not the kind of numbers one would expect from a future Hall of Famer.
“It’s harder because you’re facing the best teams, and you’re also facing the best pitchers,” Maddux said. “It’s a lot harder to win in the postseason. The first or second guys you go up against are pitchers who had great years. Wins are harder to come by.”
But whereas Bonds has failed to perform in October, Maddux often has been unlucky. Nine trips to the postseason have shown Maddux often pitches well, and he has a 3.24 ERA in 27 postseason starts to prove it. Poor run support and errors have made this summer winner a fall loser.
Last postseason was a perfect example.
In the 2001 division series against Houston, Maddux, a 17-game winner, allowed two runs in six innings but left with the game tied and did not get the eventual victory.
The next week, in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, Maddux threw another gem, allowing two runs in seven innings. But Arizona’s Randy Johnson shut out the Braves’ anemic offense and handed Maddux a loss. Then Maddux came back on three days’ rest only to give up five runs–two of which scored on his throwing error in the third inning.
“It’s a funny game,” Maddux said. “Sometimes your team gets four runs, and they say you pitched great. When the guys get you two runs, you don’t.”
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No, the postseason has not been kind to Maddux, despite his best efforts.
In one span–from Game 1 of the 1997 division series through Game 1 of the 1999 World Series–Maddux made nine consecutive postseason starts allowing two runs or fewer. Yet in that span, a total of 62 innings, he won only three games, despite a 2.03 ERA.
His luck is getting worse.
In recent years he has even dropped his ERA, and still he loses. In his last five trips to the postseason, Maddux has a 2.96 ERA. Yet he has a 3-8 record in those 13 starts.
Before that dismal stretch began in 1997, Maddux actually had a higher ERA (3.50) in his first 15 postseason starts, which included his first two as a Cub in 1989. But in that span, he had a winning record, 7-5.
“I took a pretty good beating my first [postseason] in Chicago,” Maddux said. “Other than that, I’m pretty happy with how I’ve pitched.”
Saturday he hopes luck will finally turn his way.
While the Braves’ spirits were buoyed by tying the series Thursday night, the Giants said they accomplished what they set out to do in Atlanta. They are coming home feeling positive.
“We definitely like coming home with a split,” said manager Dusty Baker, whose Giants had a league-leading 3.03 home ERA this season and a 154-89 record in three seasons at Pac-Bell, the second-best home mark in the majors.