Maddux Makes It Four in a Row : Baseball: Atlanta star is unanimous choice for Cy Young award for second time.

Greg Maddux extended his unprecedented string of National League Cy Young awards Monday, winning his fourth.

And for the second year in succession, Maddux was the unanimous choice of a 28-member committee of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

The only other pitcher to win unanimously in two consecutive years was Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers, in 1965 and ’66.

The only other four-time winner is Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies.

However, it has become such an annual event for Maddux that the Atlanta Braves’ ace said he didn’t expect to celebrate this latest accolade with anything more than a family dinner.

“After winning the World Series, we’re pretty much partied out,” he said from his Las Vegas home.

Maddux totaled 140 points, based on five for a first-place vote, three for a second and one for a third. Pete Schourek of the Cincinnati Reds was second with 55 points, followed by Maddux’s Atlanta teammate, Tom Glavine, with 30.

Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers, the National League’s rookie of the year, was fourth with 19 points, and Dodger Ramon Martinez was fifth with eight.

Maddux, who was 19-2, had such a dominant season that he is also considered a candidate for the league’s most-valuable-player award, which will be announced Wednesday. He tied for the major league lead in victories and led in earned-run average at 1.63.

He became the first pitcher since Walter Johnson in 1918 and ’19 to have ERAs lower than 1.80 in consecutive seasons, and his ERA was a remarkable 2.55 below the league average of 4.18.

He also led the league in complete games and tied for the lead in innings pitched. He was third in strikeouts and restricted opponents to a .197 batting average, second to Nomo’s .182.

Where does he go from here?

“If you just look at the numbers, it would be difficult to say there’s room for improvement, but I think you can always become more consistent, you can always improve,” Maddux said.

“Who knows? I may become more consistent with my breaking pitches. But I can’t be concerned with things I have no control over, and numbers aren’t in my control.

“I expect to make good pitches. I expect my effort to be as good next year as it’s been the last six years. If I’m successful with those goals, the numbers will follow.”

Some impressive numbers followed his fourth Cy Young award. He received a $750,000 bonus on top of his $5-million salary. Teammate Glavine received a $75,000 bonus on top of his $4.5-million salary for finishing third.

Maddux said the latest Cy Young was the “most special” because of the luster of the World Series victory.

He said he finally has more to celebrate than an individual award.

“I’m not the only one going home happy,” he said. “This was the first time I got to share in a celebration with my 24 teammates.

“As much of an honor as the Cy Young is, I’m more excited about what the team did because I know what it meant to the organization and city.

“The biggest kick I got was during my last couple of days in Atlanta when fans would come up and say, ‘Thank you.’ Even with the parade and all, I may not have realized what it meant until then.”

As for Koufax and Carlton?

“I can’t relate to the history,” he said. “I was brought up in an Air Force family that moved around a lot. We were never in one place long enough to become fans or establish roots.

“I appreciate the comparisons, but my enjoyment comes from going to the park, pitching, being with my teammates and just being a major league player. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what goes along with it or concern myself with where I fit in history.”

Perhaps, but Maddux is carving his own niche. And at only 29, seems capable of doing a lot more carving.

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The Voting

Five points for each first-place vote, three points for second and one point for third.

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Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd Tot. Maddux, Atlanta 28 0 0 140 Schourek, Cincinnati 0 16 7 55 Glavine, Atlanta 0 6 12 30 Nomo, Dodgers 0 5 4 19 Martinez, Dodgers 0 1 5 8

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Simply the Best

In baseball history, there’s nothing to compare with Greg Maddux winning four consecutive Cy Young awards. But here’s how some other athletes dominated their sports.

AWARDS

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PLAYER SPORT FEAT Larry Bird NBA MVP, 1984-86 Wilt Chamberlain NBA MVP, 1966-68 Wayne Gretzky NHL MVP, 1980-87 Greg Maddux Baseball Cy Young, 1992-95 Bobby Orr NHL MVP, 1970-72 Bill Russell NBA MVP, 1961-63 Tom Watson PGA Player of Year, 1977-80 Kathy Whitworth LPGA Player of Year, 1966-69

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RANKED No. 1 *--*

PLAYER SPORT FEAT Jimmy Connors Tennis 1974-78 Juan Manuel Fangio Formula One Champion, 1954-57 Martina Navratilova Tennis 1982-86 Bill Tilden Tennis 1920-25 Helen Wills Moody Tennis 1927-33

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OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS *--*

PLAYER SPORT FEAT Bonnie Blair Speedskating 1988-92-94 Sonja Henie Figure skating 1928-32-36 Carl Lewis Long Jump 1984-88-92 Al Oerter Discus 1956-60-64-68 Teofilo Stevenson Boxing 1972-76-80

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