Note: This article originally appeared in the baiduhai on July 26, 2005
A lingering storm delayed Greg Maddux’s quest for his 3,000th strikeout for nearly three hours Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, but the inevitability of the milestone made thousands of fans wait patiently for a chance to witness a little history.
After the rain subsided, Maddux took the mound against San Francisco at 9:48 p.m. in the latest start time since night games were introduced to Wrigley in 1988. But the fans’ patience was rewarded.
Maddux got Omar Vizquel to look at a called third strike to end the third inning as he became the 13th member of the 3,000 strikeout club and the ninth pitcher in history with both 3,000 strikeouts and 300 victories. He received a loud standing ovation and hugs from his teammates as he walked off the mound, and catcher Michael Barrett calmly handed him the ball.
Maddux then ventured out of the Cubs dugout for a curtain call before getting back to business. In the long run, the game was more important to Maddux than any milestone.
Barrett got him off the hook for a loss when he homered on LaTroy Hawkins’ first pitch in the eighth inning to tie the game 2-2.
But at the end of a long, long night, the Cubs lost 3-2 to the Giants in the 11th inning on Jason Ellison’s two-out RBI single, putting a damper on Maddux’s big accomplishment.
In a pitcher’s duel between Maddux and Giants left-hander Noah Lowry, San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on Lowry’s successful one-out squeeze, the second time in five games an opposing team has pulled it off against the Cubs. Matt Murton’s infield hit in the sixth tied the game 1-1 when Edgardo Alfonzo’s throw escaped first baseman Lance Niekro’s glove, allowing Barrett to score from second.
J.T. Snow’s pinch-hit, RBI single off Maddux in the seventh put San Francisco back on top.
Maddux entered the evening only two strikeouts shy of the 3,000 mark, leaving everyone pumped about his entrance into the exclusive club.
Well, almost everyone.
Asked if games like Tuesday’s made him more excited coming out to the park, manager Dusty Baker nearly was forced to stifle a yawn.
“Not really, because he doesn’t get excited about it,” Baker said. “I’ve seen some milestones in my day–Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds. . . . I can’t even name all the milestones I’ve seen really. I’m excited for him, excited for the people, excited for the organization . . . and we need to win.”
Maddux’s climb to 3,000 has been a slow and steady journey, but the results are just the same. He isn’t regarded as a strikeout pitcher because he doesn’t have an overpowering fastball like a Roger Clemens or a Nolan Ryan, and has had only one season with more than 200 strikeouts (204 in 1998), while Kerry Wood already has four seasons of 200 or more on his resume.
“All he has to do is pitch and he’ll get strikeouts,” Baker said of Maddux. “Most people are probably surprised, including myself, because you don’t really think of him as a strikeout pitcher. But he has struck out a lot of people.”
In entering the 3,000-strikeout club, Maddux joined Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, who accomplished the feat on May 25, 1982, during his second stint with the Cubs. The franchise is the first with two members in the club and both, coincidentally, wore No. 31. The ultra-exclusive 3,000-strikeout/300-victory club that Maddux joined also includes Ryan, Clemens, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Walter Johnson and Phil Niekro.
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Despite contrasting styles, Maddux shares one main trait with those eight other pitchers–a dogged determination.
“I would say he’s very humble externally and very confident internally,” Baker said. “He’s very prepared. He knows himself. He knows the opposition, knows the umpires, everything that goes into the equation of getting people out in an inning. This guy studies.”