For Third Time in a Row, Maddux Wins Cy Young

Greg Maddux, the Atlanta Brave right-hander who lost $999,960 in salary during the 52-day player strike, recouped a large chunk of it Monday when he won the National League’s Cy Young Award in voting by a committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

A unanimous selection, Maddux became the first pitcher in either league to win the award three consecutive years and the sixth to win it three times, a total exceeded only by Steve Carlton’s four.

This one was worth $750,000 to Maddux, who was 16-6 with a 1.56 earned-run average, the third lowest in the last 75 years and 2.65 below the league average, the largest differential in history.

The five-year, $28-million contract Maddux signed as a free agent with Atlanta after winning his first Cy Young with the Chicago Cubs in 1992 calls for an annual bonus of $250,000 for winning the award and a $500,000 bonus on top of that for winning it twice during the life of the contract.

Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz recently said that he questioned whether bonuses should be honored in a strike-abbreviated season.

On Monday, however, Schuerholz said that Maddux had turned in another spectacular season and was deserving of the bonus.

“When we put that clause in, we were hoping he would do it,” Schuerholz said. “If a guy wins the Cy Young, his team normally wins a pennant, but this wasn’t a normal year.”

The Braves were six games behind the Montreal Expos in the National League East when the season was canceled. Maddux said he can understand any controversy about the bonus in light of the shorter season.

“I can see both sides,” he said in a conference call. “Two years ago, when I signed my contract, the Braves knew I was taking less to come to Atlanta, so they were more generous on the incentive side.”

Asked if the shorter season diminished the impact of the award, Maddux said his goal is to pitch in a World Series and he was frustrated by that lost opportunity.

“But it doesn’t sour (the award) for me at all,” he added.

“Everyone basically started the same number of games. It’s like when you’re rained out. The winners are happy and the losers say, ‘We needed just two more innings.’ ”

Ken Hill, who was 16-5 with a 3.32 ERA for the Expos, was second in the voting. Bret Saberhagen of the New York Mets was third. He had a 14-4 mark with a 2.74 ERA.

Maddux called it his best season.

“I can’t even imagine an ERA under two,” he said. “My goal is to keep it under three. If someone had told me at the start of the season that I’d have a 1.56 ERA, I would have laughed and tried to make a bet with them. I think that when you exceed your own expectations, it’s much more gratifying.”

Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers was a unanimous winner of the Cy Young in 1963, ’65 and ‘66, but was deprived of four in a row when Dean Chance of the Angels received the 1964 award. At the time, there was only one award. It was not until 1967 that one was presented in each league.

Maddux said he does not consider himself in the class of Koufax, Carlton, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver or Jim Palmer.

“I’ll evaluate my career when I retire, but I don’t think you can be considered one of the best after just three or four years,” he said. “Maybe if I can do it for another three or four. But the only thing I’m thinking about and trying to do right now is find ways I can improve.”

Improve? Teammate Tom Glavine, the last National League pitcher to win the Cy Young before Maddux started his streak, wondered if he will get a chance to win another.

“It seems like just when you think he’s had a career year, he comes back and has a better one,” Glavine said of Maddux. “Maybe he’ll leave some room for the rest of us to win one some time.”

Said Manager Bobby Cox: “I’ve managed two machines since I’ve been managing in the major leagues, Glavine in 1991 and now this guy. He’s pinpoint with everything he throws.”

Cy Young Winners

Records of Cy Young winners from the National League. From 1956-1966 there was one selection from both leagues.

Year Pitcher Team IP W-L SV ERA 1956 Newcombe Bkn 268 27-7 0 3.06 1957 Spahn Mil 271 21-11 3 2.69 1960 Law Pit 271 2/3 20-9 0 3.08 1962 Drysdale LA 314 1/3 25-9 1 2.83 1963 Koufax LA 311 25-5 0 1.88 1965 Koufax LA 335 2/3 26-8 2 2.04 1966 Koufax LA 323 27-9 0 1.73 1967 McCormick SF 262 1/3 22-10 0 2.85 1968 Gibson StL 304 2/3 22-9 0 1.12 1969 Seaver NY 273 1/3 25-7 0 2.21 1970 Gibson StL 294 23-7 0 3.12 1971 Jenkins Chi 325 24-13 0 2.77 1972 Carlton Phi 346 1/3 27-10 0 1.97 1973 Seaver NY 290 19-10 0 2.08 1974 Marshall LA 208 15-12 21 2.42 1975 Seaver NY 280 22-9 0 2.38 1976 Jones SD 315 1/3 22-14 0 2.74 1977 Carlton Phi 283 23-10 0 2.64 1978 G.Perry SD 261 21-6 0 2.72 1979 Sutter Chi 101 6-6 37 2.23 1980 Carlton Phi 304 24-9 0 2.34 1981 Valenzuela LA 192 13-7 0 2.48 1982 Carlton Phi 295 2/3 23-11 0 3.10 1983 Denny Phi 242 2/3 19-6 0 2.37 1984 Sutcliffe Cle-Ch 244 2/3 20-6 0 3.64 1985 Gooden NY 276 2/3 24-4 0 1.53 1986 Scott Hou 275 1/3 18-10 0 2.22 1987 Bedrosian Phi 89 5-3 40 2.83 1988 Hershiser LA 267 23-8 1 2.26 1989 Davis SD 92 2/3 4-3 44 1.85 1990 Drabek Pit 231 1/3 22-6 0 2.76 1991 Glavine Atl 246 2/3 20-11 0 2.55 1992 Maddux Chi 268 20-11 0 2.18 1993 Maddux Atl 267 20-10 0 2.36 1994 Maddux Atl 202 16-6 0 1.56