Maddux Takes Mound for Padres
San Diego Padres Hope Greg Maddux Can Keep Ball Rolling
Four-time Cy-Young Award Winner Greg Maddux looks to give Padres first 3-0 start since 1984.
Not often in his illustrious career has 17-time Golden-Glove and 4-time Cy-Young Award Winner Greg Maddux not been "the man" on his team. He played several years with the team of the 90's, the Atlanta Braves, alongside fellow future hall-of-fame pitchers John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, but Maddux's star always seemed to shine a little brighter. Now at 41 and entering the twilight of his career, Maddux has taken a backseat to youthful up-and-coming pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young, who have both become stars in their own right. Peavy won the National League Cy-Young Award as the league's best pitcher in 2007 and Young made his first All-Star Game.
But tonight, Maddux will need to pitch like the Cy-Young Award Winner of old to keep the ball rolling and give the Padres their first 3-0 start since the 1984 season. The new-look Astros lineup must be licking their chops for a chance to avenge their anemic performances in the first two games of the series against a living legend. The Houston Astros had high hopes coming into this season. Following their 2005 expedition in which they won the National League Title, the Astros have fallen off the map, absent from the post-season the past two years.
Due to this signifiant fall in productivity, the Astros brought in some proven veterans to give the team a spark including short-stop Miguel Tejada, but to this point, the Houston Astros have managed a miniscule total of one run in two games against the Padres. We can only assume that the Astro bats will eventually come around, but it certainly won't come easy against a certain first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in Greg Maddux. In the opposing dug-out, the Padres record has improved each of the past three seasons, but despite this, they were M.I.A. in the playoffs in 2007after a disputable loss to the Colorado Rockies.
In addition, San Diego had the strongest pitching staff in the majors last year and even look to have an improved rotation, but still need more offensive production, particularly from Brian Giles. Giles, a career .300 hitter has failed to get a hit in eight at bats thus far this season. But the season is awfully early, thus Giles and the Padres certainly have time to work out their kinks. The Astros should be able to get it together soon enough, although it would be enjoyable to see Greg Maddux have a good outing tonight, after an up-and-down 2007 campaign.
