greg maddux is in my hall of famer collection

greg maddux had two stints with the dodgers, one of which closed out his career.  even so, he is in my hall of famer as a brave, with this card as his entry:

that's a 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph, numbered 13/15.  here's the back:

the significance of the '204' on the card is that it is the highest number of strikeouts maddux recorded during a single season. he wound up with 3.371 strikeouts in his career which is 10th all-time and speaks to his consistency when you realize that he never struck out more than 204 batters in a single season.  same with wins - he won 20 games just twice in a season, but sits 8th all-time with 355 victories.

just like everybody else, i was able to see maddux pitch on tv quite a bit thanks to wgn and tbs and their heavy coverage of the cubs and braves in the late 1980's and 1990's.  maddux, of course, started his career with the cubs before joining the braves prior to the 1993 season. he won four straight cy young awards around that time, and would wind up pitching in 10 consecutive postseasons thanks to the dominance of the braves' starting rotation that he anchored along with fellow hall of famers john smoltz and tom glavine.

the only time i saw maddux pitch in person was in 2002. it was june 10 to be exact, and the braves were visiting the twins at the hubert h. humphrey metrodome.  this was a game that i attended specifically because maddux was pitching, and a friend and i had tickets in the upper club for which we paid $1. these seats were in the upper level of left field, but we would usually be able to work our way down to better seats pretty quickly.  that was definitely the case that night, as the game went 15 innings, and so by the time tom prince scored the winning run, we were down behind home plate.

as for maddux, the twins 'rocked' him with five straight singles to start the game, and scored five times off of him in the first inning. maddux shut them down for the next six innings with some of those frames being vintage maddux with minimal pitches thrown.  i was glad that bobby cox left maddux in after that rough start because it was exciting to see him pitch. if i recall correctly, cox was ejected at some point during the contest, so maybe it was the bench coach that left maddux in.  either way, i was grateful.

maddux would return to the cubs and then eventually made his way to the dodgers for two different stints (with a stop in san diego in between). i was happy to see him in dodger blue, as he joined the likes of juan marichal, hoyt wilhelm, and rickey henderson as hall of famers who finished their careers somewhat out of place as dodgers.  as for his hall of fame braves teammates - glavine, smoltz, and chipper jones - i did see glavine pitch in person, and chipper went deep in this game against the twins, but i don't think i will add them or smoltz to this collection.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs 

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame