Any careful reader knows that the Atlanta Braves are the official Major League Baseball team of MoneyLaw. Just look at the banner atop this blog.
It's worth a MoneyLaw post, then, to note the impending retirement of Greg Maddux. Some of the key numbers: A lifetime 355-227 record. A 3.16 ERA. Four consecutive Cy Young Awards. Eight All-Star games; 18 Gold Gloves. A key part in the Braves' 1995 World Series championship, the only one they've won in Atlanta. A sure-fire first-round Hall of Famer.
Chicago Cubs fans may argue that Maddux's image in the Hall should wear a Cubs cap or, at least, should wear no logo at all, akin to Catfish Hunter (who divided his career between the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees). No. Maddux was part of a terrific trio. He, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine helped the Braves dominate the National League for more than a decade. If Smoltz and Glavine also decide to retire during this offseason, the trio should enter the Hall of Fame together — all wearing Atlanta Braves caps.Maddux's retirement reminds me of the hundreds of Braves games I've watched, especially during their streak of 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 through 2005. And thinking about Maddux with Smoltz and Glavine reminds me of another terrific trio that looms over my memory of the 1990s: Dan Farber, Phil Frickey, and Suzanna Sherry. Hall of Famers all, if only our sport enshrined its legends as baseball does.