Yes, Maddux and Glavine were dominant on the mound, but no one could stop them at the plate.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and Frank Thomas were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. They were on the ballot for the first time and reached the seventy-five percent threshold with ease. While both Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux are remembered for their pitching prowess, being among the most dominant pitchers of their era, and they will now be among the most talented in baseball history as well.
However, while they were known for their dominance on the mound, their ability to hit has often been forgotten, especially the ability to hit home runs. Good thing in the late 1990’s, Nike remembered what power Maddux and Glavine could bring to the plate. In their Chicks Dig the Long Ball commercial, which showed the two Hall of Famers training to become home run hitters, was in response to the attention that Mark McGwire received from the ladies. In the end, McGwire still got the attention though as you can see in the commercial:
In truth, neither Greg Maddux nor Tom Glavine are remembered for their talents at the plate. Glavine would only hit one home run in the course of his twenty-two year career, while posting a career batting average of .186. Greg Maddux would hit a grand total of five home runs and finish with a career batting average of .171, a career that would last twenty-three years.
At the end of the day, their feats on the mound were much more impressive, if not awe-inspiring at times. Whether it be Maddux’s ability to control pitches or Glavine’s change up striking out batters, both were just out right impressive, more so than any home run could have been.
This commercial brings back memories of the era in which they pitched, but now we know the answer to the billboard in the commercial. No, it was never the shoes.
In the end, this commercial had a good amount of hilarity, and nowadays with both in the Hall of Fame, let us not forget the hitting talents of both pitchers. In all seriousness, both had amazing careers and rightfully deserve their place among some of the best in the game.