Not Much To-do About Greg Maddux

andyfox · #1 07-28-2004, 11:58 AM

299 wins, but doesn't it seem like there was much more publicity surrounding Clemens when he got to 299? Maybe it was the fact that Clemens played in New York, or Clemens' style of pitching (power vs. finesse) or maybe his more bombastic personality than the laid-back Maddux, but isn't there a good case to be made that Maddux, and not Clemens, is the greatest pitcher of his generation?

ThaSaltCracka · #2 07-28-2004, 12:17 PM

[ QUOTE ]
but isn't there a good case to be made that Maddux, and not Clemens, is the greatest pitcher of his generation?

[/ QUOTE ] Maybe, but Clemens was better, but Maddux has got to be #2.

nolanfan34 · #3 07-28-2004, 12:20 PM

I think a case can certainly be made that Maddux was better in the 90s. Comparing their whole careers though, Clemens gets the nod. More Cy Youngs, more wins, etc. It's close though.

I have to admit, I was surprised to see that Maddux was at 299. I knew he was close, but didn't know he was THIS close. His laid-back persona certainly doesn't help him get the media coverage that Clemens does. But there's no denying his greatness, especially from 90-95.

I'm glad I've been able to see both pitch. They are truly two of the greats, ever. Especially glad I have unopened boxes of 1985 Donruss, Fleer and Topps, Clemens rookie year. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

andyfox · #4 07-28-2004, 12:25 PM

Clemens pitched in 1984, won nine games.

nolanfan34 · #5 07-28-2004, 12:33 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Clemens pitched in 1984, won nine games.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm assuming you're addressing my 1985 baseball cards reference? His 1984 Fleer Update card is really his true rookie, but the 85 cards are still considered RC's, being his first regular cards. The 1984 Update set is out of my price range, and not something I have in my collection [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

offTopic · #6 07-28-2004, 01:04 PM

Is the 84 Fleer Update card still considered an XRC? I haven't looked at a Beckett's in years, so just wondering.

As far as the 85 sets go, those were dark days for Topps, but I love the design of the Donruss cards (especially super-clean ones, since there was so much bleed in those little red stripes on the fronts, and black borders chip). The only problem was those grainy photos...ugh.

nolanfan34 · #7 07-28-2004, 01:13 PM

Topps 85-91 were pretty bad. Well, the wood grain of 1987 was OK. 1986 was the worst design, and photography, ever.

Ha, I haven't seen a Beckett for a while, but I think the Clemens is still an XRC.

1985 Fleer and Donruss are good designs. 1985 was the first year I started collecting as a kid, and the first sets I hand collated, so I'm partial to this year.

Of course a certain 1968 Topps card with Jerry Koosman and some other young pitcher is the nuts! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

riverflush · #8 07-28-2004, 01:26 PM

nolanfan...that's the greatest avatar in the history of message boards. Being a huge Cub fan, that incident where Ryan beat the snot out of Robin Ventura was truly one of the greatest moments in Chicago baseball history.

The 1987 Topps set was classic. To this day my brother and I keep track of the players still active in MLB from the 87 Topps set (Larkin, Bonds, Clemens, Maddux, Palmeiro, McLemore, Sierra, Julio and John Franco, Moyer).

Maddux is just such a quiet worker that he's been able to put together a masterpiece career with minimal fanfare. He just brings his lunchpail and hardhat to work and gets it done every outing. He's a bad ass.

offTopic · #9 07-28-2004, 02:00 PM

1968 T #177 - A classic...and Koosman was no slouch, either.

My childhood set was 1978 Topps. Rubber-banded. Well-looked-at. I started assembling it into a hand-collated set in the early 90s, and discovered, much to my chagrin, that while I had a big stack of 4-player Rookie cards, that stack did not include the Molitor/Trammell RC. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Although it started a bad trend in terms of production numbers and pricing kids out of the market, I think the 1989 Upper Deck cards were the most beautiful things I'd seen.

jagoff · #10 07-28-2004, 02:22 PM

wow! you guys are taking me back to a strange and akward time! I was 14 in 89 and I had 2 sets of the Upper Deck cards that came out that year. I believe that the Donruss set that came out that year had the Billy Ripken "F uck off" bat! Jesus I hadnt thought about those long, gone and thrown out cards in some time! Yeah my bitchwhore of a mother threw them out when she threw all of us out!