When the 2007 schedule was released for the Atlanta Braves this year, I noticed the four-game series that San Diego was going to have in Atlanta. The first thought that popped into my head when I thought about all the games I planned on attending was that "I want to see Greg Maddux pitch." With four consecutive games, the probability of that happening looked to be great.
Last Friday, I attended the Braves game in which John Smoltz outpitch Brett Tomko, and the Braves took down the Dodgers. Later that evening tuning into SportsCenter, I noticed that Greg Maddux pitched in a losing effort against the Florida Marlins that same day. If both Smoltz and Maddux maintain their five-day rest period, they were going to collide on Wednesday.
It was announced pretty early on this past Monday that it would indeed be John Smoltz vs. Greg Maddux for Wednesday's game. I quickly hit up my connections to see if I could score some tickets for such a special matchup, and fortunately for me, one of them came through.
Match-ups like these don't come around very often. The history that these two pitchers have, along with the Mets' Tom Glavine is historic, especially to those in Atlanta. A World Series, seven Cy Youngs, countless wins, and sheer dominance. Whenever any two of them pair up in a pitcher's duel, it's never really just about team vs. team, it's about friends acting as rivals, in order to one-up the other, to get those all-important bragging rights amongst friends.
Every now and then, a pitcher can skip a day or go a day early in order to pitch on a desired day, but for the most part the scheduling, and the necessity of routine and resting make it harder and harder for that to happen. So it's extremely convenient that Smoltz and Maddux managed to get their matchup lined up as it did.
The game was everything as advertised. Turner Field, which rarely sells out, let alone draw close to it's 50,000 seating capacity was quite packed, even on a school-night for the still-in-session students. As Maddux has aged throughout the years, he has definitely lost a step or two, and on any given night, you might see the aged Maddux who gets rocked in the first-inning and doesn't last too long, or you could see glimpses of vintage Maddux who just precisely dismantles a lineup in the least amount of pitches necessary. As much as I admire Maddux and his accomplishments, I still had to root for the home team, so I was hoping that he would at least give up a run or two, to give me some hope.
Nope, that wasn't happening, at least not in the first. Or second, or third, as Maddux carved up the Braves lineup with typical bait-pitches to make them swing at some garbage on the next pitch that flings right back to his glove, or to Khalil Greene, whom with the rest of the San Diego Padres, I'm beginning to believe has one of the most underrated defenses in the majors.
To make matters worse, it appeared early on that Smoltz was going to drop this one to his senior, as he gave up two solo-homers in the second and third innings, to give Maddux a little cushion. Not only did he give up the homers, he gave up a single to Maddux himself, who in good nature jokingly showed off his balding head prior to pitching. And upon Maddux getting onto first, Turner Field erupted in a massive standing ovation for their former ace.
Fortunately for the Braves fans, Maddux apparently worked himself a little too hard, and the emotions of the day's events evidently begun to get to him in the sixth inning, as he was pulled after only 72 pitches in 5.2 innings pitched. Upon the slow walk to the bullpen, not a single butt was seated as Maddux received his second massive standing ovation, to which he even had to tip his cap towards. It was truly a thing of beauty.
The rest would be history - the Braves would rally against yet another so-called-by-ESPN "impenetrable" bullpen, and beat Cla Meredith like a dead horse, and take the lead in late innings. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano would slam the door on the Padres, and the game would be over.
John Smoltz gets the win, and Greg Maddux is fortunately left with the no-decision. Against the former Big Three members, Smoltz is now 3-0. Maybe, and I'm hoping that there will be another rematch out in San Diego, when the Braves venture out to Petco Park. Perhaps Maddux will tangle up with Glavine later on this year. And there's no question that Smoltz and Glavine will lock up again, maybe several more times later on this season.
Baseball is a team sport, but occasionally it goes back to being the game that we play with our friends.
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