World Is Finally Maddux’s Atlanta Ace Earns First Shot At Series After Several Tries

Greg Maddux, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, has never taken the mound this late in October.

There have been three straight Cy Young awards, three appearances in the National League championship series, 12 major-league seasons and a roll call of superlative stats unmatched by any current pitcher.

But until Saturday night, Maddux will not have faced a single batter from an American League team in the postseason. The World Series was his goal when he came to the Braves in the winter of 1992, and Maddux has finally made it.

Is he excited? Jittery? Relieved? Anxious? Maddux isn’t letting on, saying “I’m going to pitch my game, same as always.”

Any advantage to facing a Cleveland lineup filled with players who have never faced him?

“There could be, but there also could be for the hitters,” he said. “I like to face someone a few times to know his tendencies and learn something. But now, I could make mistakes because I haven’t learned anything.”

Maddux had two previous chances to get into the World Series. In 1989, while with the Chicago Cubs, his team lost 4-1 to San Francisco in the N.L. playoffs. Maddux was 0-1 in two starts with a 13.50 ERA.

In 1993, the Braves lost 4-2 to Philadelphia as Maddux went 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA.

This year, he finally had a dominant start in the championship series. In Game 3 against the Reds last Friday night, Maddux allowed only one run on seven hits in a 5-2 victory that left the Braves one game shy of their eventual four-game sweep.

That game quieted some the talk about Maddux being just an average postseason pitcher. There’s no argument about his regular-season dominance.

He’s the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1918-19 to have an ERA of less than 1.80 in two straight seasons (1.56 in 1994, 1.63 in ‘95), and he’s led the N.L. in ERA for three straight years. He walked only 23 hitters, won 18 in a row on the road, led the majors with 10 complete games, became the first pitcher to have a winning percentage above 90 percent (.905) with 20 or more decisions and allowed only one run all season in the second, third and fourth innings.

Bring on the Series.