One of the most fundamentally sound athletes in sports history. Mad Dog was simply devastating

If you sat an ice cube on his head in the middle of a Georgia summer, it would never melt.

Amazing athletes don't always look like you'd expect.

@Alboalt

9 ай бұрын

Like watching your social studies teacher take down all opponents. I had a childhood friend who was very chubby but also happened to be the region's champion long distance high school swimmer and number one tennis player. And this was in the late 70s, when tennis was big. He got a college scholarship for tennis and was number one as a freshman. Too bad he was dumber than a post and flunked out sophomore year.

his form is perfect in every way, it left him facing the batter, ready to catch BALLS

Absolutely insane. I knew his defense was good, but I hadn't seen half of these.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

A few quick facts...1st all-time for pitchers in putouts, 11th for assists, 18th GG his last season (still diving around)...and most GG for ANY player at ANY position...so yeah, more than Ozzie Smith. Oh, he was a pretty decent pitcher too. This guy was the last of his breed, proud to say I watched him pitch for and against the Cubs

@donarthiazi2443

Жыл бұрын

Ozzie was a tremendous defensive player, but the best defensive position player ever is unquestionably the _human vacuum cleaner_ Brooks Robinson with 16 gold gloves.

@bmac4

24 күн бұрын

@@donarthiazi2443 For sure they're both great. Maddux only won more because relative to his position nobody put himself in close to as many opportunities to make a play as Maddux, while Ozzie and Brooks had to contend with more good defenders at their position.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Jim Kaat might have been as good as Maddux, or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

@@donarthiazi2443 No baseball player ever demonstrated a defensive clinic as well as Brook Robinson did in the 1970 World series vs the reds. That was the greatest 5 game demonstration of a wizardry at 3rd base. No player ever showed a better defense at their position than Robinson in that series.

That 1st play was an athletic marvel ... from a 2nd baseman... A starting pitcher is unworldly athletic ability. Maddox was a one of a kind.

@free2roam674

4 ай бұрын

Agreed. Also the lightning quick reflexes to make catches. A real joy to watch someone at the top of the athletic abilities pile!!

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

The sheer amount of hits/runs he took away by fielding his position

@CalvinHikes

8 ай бұрын

But if he was a strikeout picture then there wouldn't have been ground balls to deal with. He was an excellent athlete and defensive player but this was also necessitated by the fact that he pitched for ground balls.

@driveral1305

4 ай бұрын

​@@CalvinHikesof course he was a ground ball pitcher. Even earlier in his career he had a low 90s fastball, low to mid 80s curve, and upper 70s change up. He never was a power pitcher, but he still got them out better than most. He painted the corners like no one else. He still had a decent number of strike outs earlier in his career with the low 90s fastball hitting paint, the curve freezing batters, and the change up making them whiff. Consistently low ERA numbers throughout his career except as a rookie and an old man. 17 straight years winning 15+ games. What a great pitcher. No one else ever played like him. Still though, the object is to get them out by any means, not just strike outs. He was one of the best.

Now just imagine how many of his defensive catches contributed to his own wins!

My gosh, he was a pleasure to watch. He and Bob Gibson were the two best pitchers I ever saw play the game.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Koufax and Pedro Morales for a 6 yr stint, were both better than gibson.

18 Gold Gloves by a pitcher is definitely a record that may never be broken… 👍🏾!

A 5th infielder indeed.

@savemey2jnavi

7 ай бұрын

Plus..... a strikezone machine pitcher, and rarely got injured...... Arguably, one of the five best pitchers to ever step in the mound in MLB history.

@ljohnson4185

Ай бұрын

Darn tootin. Dude could play!

@MickeyMo600

Ай бұрын

​@@savemey2jnavi I don't think it's arguable. The man is in the top 5.

Lowkey. Maddux might be the goat pitcher.

@norwegianblue2764

3 ай бұрын

Does that count as low-key? He is, in my estimation, the GOAT. And I assume he makes everyone's Top 5.

Immediately, I notice two things here; 1)Maddux is extremely courageous. Most pitchers are not going to get in front of those are hard-hit balls like that. And 2)He *NEVER* gives up on a play, even when it seems impossible. LOL. Some amazing infielding.

First highlight might be the best one, what a play. Loved watching him back in the day...just the best

The Master 💪🏾 Mad Dog, my favorite.

That first play was incredibly athletic. Never seen that before and I audibly said “wow” watching the video

A lot of younger fans may not remember him but another great one was Jim Kaat, I think he had like 15 gold gloves. Best play I ever saw by a pitcher however was Mark Buehrle of the White Sox. If you search it you will see what I mean.

@norwegianblue2764

3 ай бұрын

Kaat was great. I always marveled at the back of his baseball card, because he played in four different decades. 1959-83.

@CVSoprano

13 күн бұрын

@@norwegianblue2764 A thumbs-up, plus a nod to Nolan Ryan for his longevity (60s through 90s).

This shows that very good pitchers become elite when a two-way player.

Maddux played the pitcher position perfectly. At 2B, 3B, or SS, it's nice to be able to dive for ground balls because it lets you get your eyes nice and low near the ball, but you don't always have time to dive, stand, transfer, and throw to first. But because the pitcher is so much closer to home plate, you almost never need to bother barehanding or backhanding slow grounders to save time. Maddux was one of the only pitchers who really seemed to understand and implement this with any regularity. He always got dirty on ground balls, not because he *had to* but because it yielded more consistent results and because he knew he had time to.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

Kaat and Maddux both had approaches that allowed them to be in perfect balance after their pitching motion. Katt was taller than maddux and no doubtedly could have reached with a wider angle on the field. The balls that get hit back to maddux shows his strengths. How he stabs at balls hit back to him is incredible. His sliders down and in on right handers and down and away on left handers, gave him tons of opportunities to show his fielding abilities wiht more ground ball than most pitchers in history..

When a Pitcher is so Great you can make a compilation of his defensive highlights that can rival the length of his Pitching ones.

@Artificialintelligentle

22 сағат бұрын

From 94 to 98 we have a pitcher who not only walked fewer than 20 to 40 a year, but also had below 2.00 ERA's, was astonishing. One year he pitched over 200 innings and compiled a 1.54 era?? That's mind boggling, Koufax level era, but Maddux also had a gold glove in fielding, Imagine that combination, Whoever traded him to Atlanta made the biggest trade blunder since Nolan Ryan to Angels from the mets. Here's my list of greatest pitchers in modern baseball, for a 6 yr stint. Koufax, Maddux, Ryan, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez. These are the superior kings of the mound in a 6 yr spread.

Yes. I say 2nd’s tied for last in comparison to him. Usually it’s an exaggeration to say a “5th infielder”.. w/ him it was a reality (which is hard to wrap your mind around).

He was that good

As soon as the pitch was out of his hand, he became BOBBY FREAKING GRICH!

What a phenom😎

Never get tired of the announcer "welll theres a reason he wins gold glove every year"... lmao 25x from 25 insane plays... what a mfn baseball legend dude.

Maddux's whole game was ground balls. He was square when you made contact.

Guidry was a great fielder too. It takes great reflexes for you to pitch and field the ball like that

Glavine was no slouch, either. Watching them play on the same team was fun.

Played defense like he was a SS

@SlothRunClubReady_Set_No

9 ай бұрын

According to an interview i just watched, he played ss and cf in high school

ㅈㄴ 침착하네 저런건 어느 분야를 가던 배울 태도인 것 같다. 멋있다

A Bad man. 🎉

18 gold gloves are insane

Legend

And this shows only one side of Maddux. I always liked watching him expand the strike zone during the game. One reason he could field so well was his fielding position after a throw. He finished looking at the batter rather than allowing pitching momentum to carry through.

Con razón gano 18 guantes de Oro

El mejor firdeador de la historia

5:49 no really how can someone do that

@donarthiazi2443

Жыл бұрын

Reflexes, instinct, and lots of experience. Not to mention very athletic. _(yes, he was very athletic)_ A bit of self-preservation mixed in for good measure 😂

Even the best coaching can't coach talent.

With great control, defense and remember he had to bat!!

You don't see ANY pitcher diving for a grounder with the frequency of Maddix.

Did any of u mention Jim kart??

God 😯

Which baseball writers did not vote for him on the first ballot for the HoF?

He didn't want to retire,does he?

He threw harder to first than to the plate

Where's Keith Hernandez's defensive highlights?

@donarthiazi2443

Жыл бұрын

🙄

@kufkzxkxzvkdvkxz

8 ай бұрын

Probably hidden away in Keith's blow stash.

Jim Kaat?

😮

Who was the fat first base umpire at 0:39?

打者．．．😭😄😃😅😂😅🤣😅😂😅🤣。

In other news, "ground ball pitcher develops talent for handling ground balls."

Greatest? That would be Jim Kaat

Don’t forget: He could have been the worst fielding pitcher ever, and he’d STILL be in the Hall.

pitchers ARE NOTTTTTTT athletes. Except Greg Maddux.

Old goofy jaw

Great at defending his position. I disagree with giving gold gloves to pitchers. It helps their era. They play once a week. The cy young is their award.

@GamerBen87

Жыл бұрын

Maybe you shouldn't compare a pitcher's GG to a shortstop's, but you can certainly compare pitcher to pitcher in terms of fielding. Pitchers have to field. Why not give the best fielding a pitcher an award?

@bumblebeemoi

Жыл бұрын

You’re not aware that GGs are given BY POSITION??? Namely, the GGs Greg won were separate from the ones for the other positions. So, Greg’s GGs did not take away from everyday players.

@donarthiazi2443

Жыл бұрын

*@rogertaylor* _FYI_ KZread offers the option of deleting buffoonish comments that may have been posted in the past.

@EdwardNigma48333934

10 ай бұрын

​@@GamerBen87Now now everyone he doesn't feel like they should be a thing even though they've been around since 1957, a pitcher fields as well, it's only a supplemental award and takes nothing away from any other position player. It's just not something he personally believes in so they should just take them out of the game 🤣 It's like when someone doesn't believe in taxes or property ownership 🤣🤣

@CADClicker

9 ай бұрын

How're you doing a year after this idiotic comment?