Even Andy Fox Will Enjoy This G. Will Column (baseball and poker)

[Rick Nebiolo]

Good column by George Will on Garry Maddux (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7528521/site/newsweek/)in the current Newsweek.

Will mentions that Maddux is at decent poker player and wonder if anyone here has played with him.

~ Rick

Greg Maddux.

Garry Maddox.

[Phat Mack]

Jim Geary mentioned (somewhere, can't find it on Google) playing with him in Az. during spring training. I think Geary had a good opinion of him. Apparently Maddux's dad was a player or game-runner.

Did Maddux grow up in Vegas?

[Rockatansky]

Maddux is from Vegas.

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
Greg Maddux.

Garry Maddox.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry - I need to stop multi-tasking and be more careful /images/graemlins/smile.gif

~ Rick

[Lazymeatball]

On a side note: could someone briefly explain the difference between the "dead-ball" era and the "lively-ball" (as Will puts it) era?

[Randy_Refeld]

[ QUOTE ]
On a side note: could someone briefly explain the difference between the "dead-ball" era and the "lively-ball" (as Will puts it) era?


[/ QUOTE ]

Well prior to about 1920 home runs were rare. The main thing that changed is they phased out the spitball (pitchers whose livelyhood relied on a spitball were allowed to continue to throw it) and started keeping clean balls in play. This was started with a batter beign killed by a pitch (I am thinking Carl Mays threw it, but I didn't research).

[shadow29]

I love Greg Maddux.

Favorite player ever.

Too bad he left the Bravos, he really fit in here.

[Lazymeatball]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
On a side note: could someone briefly explain the difference between the "dead-ball" era and the "lively-ball" (as Will puts it) era?


[/ QUOTE ]

Well prior to about 1920 home runs were rare. The main thing that changed is they phased out the spitball (pitchers whose livelyhood relied on a spitball were allowed to continue to throw it) and started keeping clean balls in play. This was started with a batter beign killed by a pitch (I am thinking Carl Mays threw it, but I didn't research).

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay, so it wasn't a specific rule change, but rather a gradual change by the officials. I'm sure there's more history behind this but that works for now. thanks

[youtalkfunny]

Mr Maddux was (still is, for all I know) a poker dealer.

A friend of mine was once in a game with the father dealing, and the two MLB sons (Greg and Mike) playing. When the father's down was over, the sons cashed out.

After they all left the table, the conversation was all "Do you know who those guys ARE???".

One player got very upset that he had tipped the father of two millionaires, and vowed to never tip that dealer again.

[kerssens]

Didn't they also change the way the baseball was wound or something like that?

[MicroBob]

Yeah...I think so.


george possibly also thinks of today as being even more of a live-ball era than, say, the 1960's and 70's because of how the ball just jumps of the bat.

Even taking the whole steroid bit as well as some smaller ball-parks into consideration it probably has some merit.

Some of opposite-field HR's that are hit these days just did NOT happen (at least not as much) 20-40 years ago.


But the 'official' dead-ball era was pre-1920 when the leader in HR's would have somewhere around 9 (and maybe 3 or 4 of them would be inside-the-park).

We all know that Babe Ruth changed the game dramatically...but when you consider that the old record for HR's was something like 24 (I believe) and then Babe hit 54 and then 60 (again....going off memory) one can get a better idea for how he became such a huge superstar.


Haven't read the linked article yet...but I'm a big fan of George Will's baseball stuff (and his political stuff is some of the only conservative writings that seem logical to me).
Look forward to checking this one out.

[andyfox]

Thanks, Rick, I did enjoy it. I sure wish Will would stick to baseball and abandon politics. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I've long felt that Maddux, and not Clemens, has been the outstanding pitcher of his time. My Yankees almost got Maddux when he left Chicago, but he ended up with Atlanta instead. (We got Jimmy Key, who certainly pitched creditably with the Yankees, but was no Maddux.) I used to think I felt that way because Maddux is such an easier guy to think highly of than is Clemens, but now I think there's an objective case to be made for Maddux.