Braves salute a legend

ATLANTA --- For a guy who always -- ALWAYS -- felt comfortable and at home on the mound, this was a little unusual.

They dragged a stage out to the infield between the mound and home plate. Dignitaries and Braves luminaries filed into there seats around the podium. Braves players formed an arch behind the mound.

Greg Maddux sat there next to his wife and two kids squirming like a schoolboy in the principal's office.

"Only two times in my life have I ever seen Greg Maddux fidget," said Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton. "Earlier today and right now."

Earlier on Friday at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center, the Braves inducted Maddux into the club's hall of fame while person after person stepped up and retold the legend of "Mad Dog." Then before the sellout crowd of 50,704 fans at Turner Field, they retired his No. 31 jersey into the exclusive company of Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn.

"I looked up to those guys for 11 years sitting over in that dugout and to be up there with them is an honor," Maddux said.

Maddux bristles at all the gushing praise for a man who is arguably the greatest pitching tactician of all time.

"If I had known I was that good, I'd probably still be playing," said the 43-year-old, insisting everyone was required to say nice things about him.

It's not hard to find nice things to say about Maddux. For a pitcher who never possessed any of the dominant "stuff" that comprise the attributes of most Hall of Fame pitchers, nobody ever commanded a game like he could. Maddux flat-out owned the stage from the batters to the umpires to the field around his office, pitching with a masterful efficiency that we may never witness again.

"I don't think he had such a great fastball; I don't think he had such a great change-up; I don't think he had such a great slider," said Eddie Perez, who caught more games by Maddux than anyone else. "But he was the smartest and greatest pitcher I ever caught or ever saw. I don't think you'll ever see one of him again, with that kind of stuff and that kind of mind."

The numbers were impressive enough: 355 career wins ... 3,371 strikeouts ... only 999 walks ... at least 15 wins a record 17 consecutive seasons ... 18 Gold Gloves in 19 seasons ... four consecutive Cy Youngs. In 1995 when the Braves won their only world championship, Maddux was 19-2 with an absurd 1.63 ERA.

Since Maddux retired in December -- thus starting the countdown to his slam-dunk first-ballot Cooperstown enshrinement -- we've entered the stage when he transforms from being merely great to being a legend. These were the kind of stories about his "genius" being relayed on Friday, stories which Maddux with his trademark humility claims are being grossly embellished.

Leo Mazzone, who for 11 seasons had the easiest job in the world being Maddux's pitching coach, likes to tell the story about the time Maddux pitched at Yankee Stadium and unfamiliar American League umpire John Hirschbeck barked some words over to Maddux as he walked off the mound.

Ready to stand up for his pitcher if necessary, Mazzone asked Maddux what the umpire said to him.

"He said I was as good as advertised," Maddux said. "Isn't that something? Now I have to live up to the expectations of the umpires, too."

There's the one where Maddux had been complaining about being lonely on the mound and requested a visit in the sixth inning. When the pitching coach didn't come as instructed with Maddux in the middle of a gem, Mad Dog started looking for him, and Bobby Cox sent Mazzone out.

"How do I look, coach?" Maddux said.

"Great," Mazzone countered. "You've got a three-hit shutout."

"OK," Maddux said. "Well, it was nice talking to you."

Perez had plenty of great memories to choose from, including the 1-hour, 47-minute carving of the Cubs to the three-hit shutout masterpiece of the Yankees in a revenge meeting in 1997.

But Perez brought up a game against Houston when Maddux insisted on throwing an inside pitch to Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell that the catcher argued against.

Bagwell ripped it out of the park for two runs and Perez went to the mound to voice his displeasure.

"What the ... ?" Perez started before Maddux interrupted.

"We're setting him up for the playoffs," he said.

Sure enough, two months later in the Divisional Series there was Bagwell in the same situation looking for that inside pitch that never came. He popped out.

Maddux simply left everyone in the ballpark mesmerized by his performance and wearing out spots around the edges of the plate. Umpires got pulled into calling the strikes his way; opposing pitchers got sucked into trying to pitch just as quick and efficiently; hitters got sent to the dugout trying to figure out why they kept just missing those "ordinary" pitches he was tossing their way.

Cox unequivocally called Maddux the greatest, smartest and most competitive pitcher he'd ever seen -- and that's on a staff that included fellow sure-fire Hall of Fame mates Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

Maddux conceded that praise from Cox "meant a lot."

For one last time Friday night, Braves fans got to see something they almost took for granted for 11 unfathomable seasons -- Maddux throwing out a pitch. This time he was along side his 12-year-old son, Chase. The younger one threw the heater to Chipper Jones. Maddux soft-tossed his toward former battery mate Perez. It looked a little wide, but it more than likely hit his spot.

"I'm at a loss for words," Maddux told the crowd. "Thank you ... and let's beat the Mets."

Actually, Greg, thank you.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.