MLB: As a term for complete games, the ‘Maddux’ is mis-labeled

Contrary to what the term implies, the record shows that MLB great Maddux rarely actually pitched a complete game in fewer than 90 pitches.

Last Friday, following Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks’ ultra-efficient 81-pitch complete game shutout of the St. Louis Cardinals, some wit with the power to do so decided to coin a term for the accomplishment. Such an MLB game became known as a “Maddux” in deference to former Braves and Cubs Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, who was legendary for, among other things, his pitching efficiency.

In the parlance, to throw a “Maddux” is now popularly defined as pitching a complete game in fewer than 90 pitches.

But as is often the case with catchy new terms, that one raises a question: Is the eponymity merited? Simply put, how often did Greg Maddux himself throw a “Maddux”?

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He certainly had opportunities. During his 23-season career, Maddux is credited with 109 complete games, reaching a high of 10 each in both 1994 and 1995. Those were two of his four Cy Young Award seasons. But a handful of those 105 came in games shortened to fewer than nine innings by rain or by his team’s defeat, and in a couple of the early complete games pitch count data simply does not exist.

Subtracting those, though, still leaves 95 Maddux nine-inning complete games for which data is available, and on those 95 a judgment can be rendered. This is the judgment: Greg Maddux rarely actually pitched a “Maddux.”

The average number of pitches Maddux required to finish one of his complete games turns out to be 108.4, which sounds high only because in 2019 pitchers are so rarely given the chance to extend themselves beyond 100 pitches.

But here’s the grabber: It actually was high for Maddux, who across the span of his career averaged about 3.2 pitches per opponent faced. In his nine-inning complete games, he faced an average of 33.3 opponents, giving him an expected pitch count in those CGs of 106.6.

That’s almost two pitches lower than his actual average in those CGs. In short, on a pitches-per-batter basis, Maddux was marginally less efficient in his complete games than he was as a rule.
Beyond that, in only six of his 95 complete nine-inning games did Maddux get the job done in fewer than 90 pitches. More than three-quarters of the time he needed in excess of 100 pitches, including 10 CGs of 125 pitches or more.

In fact, only once his entire career did Maddux throw a complete game in fewer than the 81 pitches Hendricks required to dismiss the Cardinals last Friday. That exception, an extraordinary one, occurred on July 22, 1997 when Maddux delivered a 77-pitch complete game masterpiece for the Braves against his former team, the Cubs. Ironically, the performance isn’t among Maddux’s 35 career shutouts because the Cubs actually scored a run, losing 4-1.

That was the fewest pitches thrown in a nine-inning complete-game in MLB since 1987, when Pirate pitcher Rick Reuschel dispatched the Houston Astros Sept. 17 in just 76 pitches. Only 15 of Maddux’s pitches were balls. In that respect, too, the Maddux and Hendricks performances were similar; Hendricks recorded only 18 balls against the Cardinals last Friday.
Maddux’s only five other “Maddux” games were:

Oct. 2, 1991, 1-0 victory over Philadelphia, 89 pitches.
Aug. 20, 1995, 1-0 victory over St. Louis, 88 pitches.
June 15, 1995, 2-0 victory over Montreal, 88 pitches
Sept. 7, 2000, 4-0 victory over Arizona.
Sept. 13, 2000, 4-0 victory over Florida, 89 pitches.

The hardest Maddux ever worked to record a nine-inning complete game victory came in the very first complete game of his for which pitch count data exists. On April 6, 1988, Maddux and the Cubs shut out Atlanta 3-0 on 143 pitches.

Maddux allowed just three hits that day, but he walked six while striking out three. Because I know you’re wondering, the manager – who was not arrested for abuse – was Don Zimmer. Also because you’re wondering, no, the MLB game did not ruin Maddux’s season. He went on to produce an 18-8 record and a 3.18 ERA. One of those eight losses was a 3-0 11 inning defeat at the hands of the Cardinals May 17 in which Maddux delivered 167 pitches before being relieved in the 11th.