Maddux Wins a Second Time : Baseball: Brave pitcher is a repeat winner of National League Cy Young Award.

The best way for Greg Maddux to show the Atlanta Braves he was worth the big money was to win a second straight Cy Young Award.

And Maddux did just that Wednesday, joining Sandy Koufax as the only National Leaguers to win the honor in successive seasons.

Maddux was 20-10 with a major league-leading 2.36 ERA in his first season for Atlanta, and became the first pitcher to win the award in consecutive years with different teams. He went 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA in 1992 for the Chicago Cubs, then signed a five-year, $28-million free-agent contract with the Braves.

“You change teams and you want to make a good first impression,” Maddux said. “I feel like I’ve done that. . . . I didn’t really change anything in the way I pitched. I pretty much tried to do the same things that have always worked in the past.”

Maddux received 22 of the 28 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He easily outdistanced San Francisco’s Bill Swift and John Burkett and Braves teammate Tom Glavine--all with more victories but higher ERAs.

“I am surprised,” Maddux said from his home in Las Vegas. “I think the most important stat is games won, and Glav and Swift and Burkett all won more than I did.”

No pitcher was named on all 28 ballots. Jack McDowell won the AL’s Cy Young winner Tuesday and was the only pitcher listed on every ballot.

Koufax won the award in 1965-66 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, when only one Cy Young was presented. Koufax also won in 1963.

“I don’t consider myself to be half the pitcher he was,” Maddux said. “But I think I still have six or seven or 10 years left.”

Beginning in 1967, a winner in each league was selected. Since then, Roger Clemens in 1986-87, Jim Palmer and Denny McLain have been repeat winners in the AL.

The only other pitcher to win the award for different teams was Gaylord Perry -- in 1972 with Cleveland and 1978 with San Diego.

Maddux, 27, is the top winner in the majors in the last six seasons with 107 victories. He has won three straight Gold Gloves and has been one of the best-hitting pitchers in baseball. He also is a good baserunner, as he showed this season when he dodged Pittsburgh catcher Don Slaught to score a run.

Maddux, just 7-8 a week before the All-Star break, won 13 of his last 15 decisions in leading the Braves’ surge to their third straight NL West championship. The right-hander made 36 starts and pitched 267 innings, led the league with eight complete games and was third with 197 strikeouts.