Saluting the Mad Dog

Tonight in San Diego, the 42-year-old Greg Maddux notched victory number 350 in a 3-2 win over the Rockies, and with each succeeding blowup moment for Roger Clemens, further cements his status as the best starting pitcher of the past 50 years.

Better yet, he didn't stagger into the mark; his 3.60 ERA and 1.16 WHIP is more than acceptable, though not as good as you might think, given that he's plying his trade in the best pitching environment in the bigs.

Health permitting, Maddux might get to 5,000 innings this year, and you'd have to think that he could get to 400 if he simply wants to. It's not like his game is based on velocity, or that the world is pushing a guy that takes the ball for 200 reasonable innings a year out of the door.

Even his post-season stats, which are supposed to be where he falls down a bit, aren't bad: 11-14 with a 3.38 ERA. The key, as always, has been control: he strikes out well over 3 guys for every walk even now, when he strikes out less than 5 guys for every 9 innings. So if you're going to beat him, you're not going to do it with a long inning. He's got a career OBA of .291, and even in his recent, relatively mortal years, you're still not going to string a lot of baserunners against him.

There is one part of the Maddux resume where I'm calling shenanigans, though -- and that's the 17 straight Gold Gloves. Honestly, there is no better fielding pitcher in all of the NL than a 42-year-old guy? You'd have to think there'd be someone with more range by now...