Greg Maddux days

It's Greg Maddux days until Opening Day.

Greg Maddux is the name that inevitably comes up when someone asks the question if any player might be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the near future by a unanimous vote.

His 1994 and 1995 seasons together are one of the greatest stretches of pitching ever: 53 starts, 20 complete games, 6 shutouts, 411.2 innings, 337 strikeouts, 12 home runs, 54 walks (if you like ratios, that's a 1.60 ERA, 0.853 WHIP, 0.3 HR/9, 1.2 BB/9). Games in which he gave up more than one home run: zero.

And for those of you who care about this sort of thing, he was 35-8 during that time and won two Cy Youngs. He also won two more in 1992 and 1993, both 20-win seasons.

During his 23-year career, he faced 20,421 batters. Only 5,943 reached base (.291 OBP against). It helps that he threw 66% of his pitches for strikes (and topped 70% for the season three times).

He and former teammate David Justice were born on the same day.