Mid Nineties Mets Relief Pitcher- Turned Successful Pitching Coach: Mike Maddux (1993-1994)

Michael Ausley Maddux was born August 27, 1961 in Dayton, Ohio. Mike Maddux is the younger brother of future Hall of Fame pitcher, Greg Maddux. The six foot two right handed pitcher attended the University of El Paso Texas. He was then drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round of the 1982 draft. He pitched five seasons in the minors before getting a 1986 call up to the Phillies. Overall he would spend parts of a dozen seasons in the minors going 57-68.

He made his MLB debut on June 3rd pitching into the second inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed him with five runs on five hits. He took his first loss that day & started out at 0-5 before getting a win on August 15th. In his first year he was 3-7 with a 5.42 ERA. After that season he became a career journey man middle reliever for 15 seasons. He pitched with the Phillies for four years going 10-13 over all from 1986-1989. He then went to the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990) & San Diego Padres (1991-1992).

It was there Maddux had his best year, as he went 7-2 with five saves & a 2.46 ERA in 1991. In December of 1992 he was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Roger Mason.

Maddux debuted in Colorado in the second game of the Mets season, pitching one inning of relief of Bret Saberhagen in a 6-1 Met win. In mid April he started out with two Mets saves before struggling. Things went downhill as he lost five straight decisions and blew two saves going to the end of June. He would made 58 appearances (second on the staff to Jeff Innis) in 1993, going 3-8 with five saves, three holds & a 3.60 ERA. That year the Mets finished seventh going 59-103 under Jeff Torborg & Dallas Green.

The next season he went 2-1 with two saves posting a 5.11 ERA, allowing seven HRs in 44 innings over 27 games. The baseball strike happened & the season came to a halt. Maddux was granted free agency at the end of the year & would go on to play for six more teams.

He went to Pittsburgh (1995) Boston (1995-1996) Seattle (1996) Montreal (1998-1999) back to L.A. (1999) & the Houston (2000). Maddox pitched for a total of ten teams in his 14 year career in 472 games. He was 39-37 with 20 saves, 564 strike outs, 284 walks & a 4.09 ERA in 861 innings pitched.

Retirement: Maddux is an avid fisherman, a hunter & golfer during the off season. Since his playing days he became a very successful pitching coach. He spent 2003-2008 as pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, leading them to a wild card berth in 2008. That year his staff was ranked the second best staff in the league.

In 2009 he moved over as pitching coach for the Texas Rangers under manger Ron Washington. The Rangers organization began to use their pitchers longer, in the old belief that it strengthens the arm making them more effective. The new teams C.E.O Nolan Ryan has certainly proved his point. The Texas Rangers went to their first World Series in 2010 & a made a repeat visit in 2011.

In 2010 Maddux staff was fourth in the league in wins (90) third in ERA (3.93) second in innings pitched (1455) & saves (45) & fourth in strike outs (1181). In 2011 they were first in shut outs (7) second in wins (96) fourth in complete games (10) & strike outs (1179) They were fifth in ERA (3.79) & eleventh in innings (1441).