Greg Maddux’s Hall of Fame plaque will not have an Atlanta Braves logo on it because the pitching great did not want to disrespect the time he spent with the Chicago Cubs.
The Baseball Hall of Fame announced on Thursday what team’s logo would go on the cap that appears on the plaque of each member of the 2014 class, and it was revealed that Maddux has chosen not to have a logo. Here’s the statement he provided to explain his decision.
“My wife Kathy and I grew up in baseball in Chicago, and then we had just an amazing experience in Atlanta with the Braves. It’s impossible for me to choose one of those teams for my Hall of Fame plaque, as the fans of both clubs in each of those cities were so wonderful. I can’t think of having my Hall of Fame induction without support of both of those fan bases, so, for that reason, the cap on my Hall of Fame plaque will not feature a logo.”
Look, that’s a nice statement and all, and I can appreciate Maddux’s ties to Chicago, but this dude needs to go in as a Brave. I don’t think anyone out there thinks of Maddux as a Cub, but everyone knows him for what he did in the prime of his career from 1993-2003 teaming with John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery (and Denny Neagle or Kevin Millwood and others at times) to form one of the best and most memorable rotations in baseball history.
The 1990s Braves were one of the most memorable groups in baseball history. Maddux was the face of those teams. 194 of his 355 wins and 363 of his 740 starts came with the Braves. He won three of his four Cy Young Awards while with Atlanta. He won almost 50 percent more games with the Braves than the Cubs (he had 133 wins and 298 starts with Chicago over two separate stints).
Maddux is an Atlanta Brave through and through, and he shouldn’t view choosing the Braves to represent him as a slight to Chicago. It’s just a reflection of where he had his most notable accomplishments as a player.
The one thing I wonder is if there’s some bad blood between Maddux and Atlanta. Did something happen in 2004 when he choose to sign with the Cubs in free agency instead of remaining with Atlanta? That could explain things.
