BEST DEFENSIVE PITCHER EVER?!?! Greg Maddux won EIGHTEEN Gold Gloves in his career (won 13 straight)

18-time Gold Glove Winner Greg Maddux.
Don't forget to subscribe! / mlbclassics
Follow us elsewhere too:
Twitter: / mlb
Instagram: / mlb & / mlbvault
Facebook: / mlb
TikTok: www.tiktok.com....
Visit our site for all baseball news, stats and scores! www.mlb.com/

[@mattysquizzato7094]

Immediately, I notice two things here; 1)Maddux is extremely courageous. Most pitchers are not going to get in front of those are hard-hit balls like that. And 2)He *NEVER* gives up on a play, even when it seems impossible. LOL. Some amazing infielding.

[@bluemonkjd]

Amazing athletes don't always look like you'd expect.

[@Alboalt]

Like watching your social studies teacher take down all opponents. I had a childhood friend who was very chubby but also happened to be the region's champion long distance high school swimmer and number one tennis player. And this was in the late 70s, when tennis was big. He got a college scholarship for tennis and was number one as a freshman. Too bad he was dumber than a post and flunked out sophomore year.

[@jackmiller-johnston8689]

One of the most fundamentally sound athletes in sports history. Mad Dog was simply devastating

[@kenabiggs]

A few quick facts...1st all-time for pitchers in putouts, 11th for assists, 18th GG his last season (still diving around)...and most GG for ANY player at ANY position...so yeah, more than Ozzie Smith. Oh, he was a pretty decent pitcher too. This guy was the last of his breed, proud to say I watched him pitch for and against the Cubs

[@donarthiazi2443]

Ozzie was a tremendous defensive player, but the best defensive position player ever is unquestionably the _human vacuum cleaner_ Brooks Robinson with 16 gold gloves.

[@bmac4]

@@donarthiazi2443 For sure they're both great. Maddux only won more because relative to his position nobody put himself in close to as many opportunities to make a play as Maddux, while Ozzie and Brooks had to contend with more good defenders at their position.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Jim Kaat might have been as good as Maddux, or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

@@donarthiazi2443 No baseball player ever demonstrated a defensive clinic as well as Brook Robinson did in the 1970 World series vs the reds. That was the greatest 5 game demonstration of a wizardry at 3rd base. No player ever showed a better defense at their position than Robinson in that series.

[@patrick9865]

Absolutely insane. I knew his defense was good, but I hadn't seen half of these.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

[@jordel2010]

A 5th infielder indeed.

[@savemey2jnavi]

Plus..... a strikezone machine pitcher, and rarely got injured...... Arguably, one of the five best pitchers to ever step in the mound in MLB history.

[@ljohnson4185]

Darn tootin. Dude could play!

[@MickeyMo600]

​@@savemey2jnavi I don't think it's arguable. The man is in the top 5.

[@TheRealSwampOperator]

If you sat an ice cube on his head in the middle of a Georgia summer, it would never melt.

[@vikingbynature777]

As a Floridian I'm offended

[@imnwah]

I too am floridian taking offense to this

[@SCFick318]

The sheer amount of hits/runs he took away by fielding his position

[@CalvinHikes]

But if he was a strikeout picture then there wouldn't have been ground balls to deal with. He was an excellent athlete and defensive player but this was also necessitated by the fact that he pitched for ground balls.

[@driveral1305]

​@@CalvinHikesof course he was a ground ball pitcher. Even earlier in his career he had a low 90s fastball, low to mid 80s curve, and upper 70s change up. He never was a power pitcher, but he still got them out better than most. He painted the corners like no one else. He still had a decent number of strike outs earlier in his career with the low 90s fastball hitting paint, the curve freezing batters, and the change up making them whiff. Consistently low ERA numbers throughout his career except as a rookie and an old man. 17 straight years winning 15+ games. What a great pitcher. No one else ever played like him. Still though, the object is to get them out by any means, not just strike outs. He was one of the best.

[@pilesovinyl]

A lot of younger fans may not remember him but another great one was Jim Kaat, I think he had like 15 gold gloves. Best play I ever saw by a pitcher however was Mark Buehrle of the White Sox. If you search it you will see what I mean.

[@norwegianblue2764]

Kaat was great. I always marveled at the back of his baseball card, because he played in four different decades. 1959-83.

[@CVSoprano]

@@norwegianblue2764 A thumbs-up, plus a nod to Nolan Ryan for his longevity (60s through 90s).

[@marcussimmons2708]

18 Gold Gloves by a pitcher is definitely a record that may never be broken… 👍🏾!

[@Lovlee33161]

Lowkey. Maddux might be the goat pitcher.

[@norwegianblue2764]

Does that count as low-key? He is, in my estimation, the GOAT. And I assume he makes everyone's Top 5.

[@CarlosCruz-ll5ez]

Now just imagine how many of his defensive catches contributed to his own wins!

[@marclaporte3710]

That 1st play was an athletic marvel ... from a 2nd baseman... A starting pitcher is unworldly athletic ability. Maddox was a one of a kind.

[@free2roam674]

Agreed. Also the lightning quick reflexes to make catches. A real joy to watch someone at the top of the athletic abilities pile!!

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Jim Kaat might have been as good or even BETTER.. Kaat won 16 gold gloves. I once saw him catch a short fly ball,on a dive running full speed and dove, catching the short fly, just left of home plate almost in FOUL territory all the way from the mound.

[@cottagechskitty]

Played defense like he was a SS

[@SlothRunClubReady_Set_No]

According to an interview i just watched, he played ss and cf in high school

[@williamtaylor1136]

When a Pitcher is so Great you can make a compilation of his defensive highlights that can rival the length of his Pitching ones.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

From 94 to 98 we have a pitcher who not only walked fewer than 20 to 40 a year, but also had below 2.00 ERA's, was astonishing. One year he pitched over 200 innings and compiled a 1.54 era?? That's mind boggling, Koufax level era, but Maddux also had a gold glove in fielding, Imagine that combination, Whoever traded him to Atlanta made the biggest trade blunder since Nolan Ryan to Angels from the mets. Here's my list of greatest pitchers in modern baseball, for a 6 yr stint. Koufax, Maddux, Ryan, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez. These are the superior kings of the mound in a 6 yr spread.

[@Anglovox]

As soon as the pitch was out of his hand, he became BOBBY FREAKING GRICH!

[@deneenjeffries2768]

Guidry was a great fielder too. It takes great reflexes for you to pitch and field the ball like that

[@mattblah7737]

his form is perfect in every way, it left him facing the batter, ready to catch BALLS

[@BrownBomber92181]

Even in when I pitched in high school in the 90's, this is how we were taught after releasing your pitch, so you're prepared for a comebacker as we would call it. Now they teach these kids to push so hard off of the mound they're completely out of position to be able to field.

[@Trystaticus]

Maddux played the pitcher position perfectly. At 2B, 3B, or SS, it's nice to be able to dive for ground balls because it lets you get your eyes nice and low near the ball, but you don't always have time to dive, stand, transfer, and throw to first. But because the pitcher is so much closer to home plate, you almost never need to bother barehanding or backhanding slow grounders to save time. Maddux was one of the only pitchers who really seemed to understand and implement this with any regularity. He always got dirty on ground balls, not because he *had to* but because it yielded more consistent results and because he knew he had time to.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Kaat and Maddux both had approaches that allowed them to be in perfect balance after their pitching motion. Katt was taller than maddux and no doubtedly could have reached with a wider angle on the field. The balls that get hit back to maddux shows his strengths. How he stabs at balls hit back to him is incredible. His sliders down and in on right handers and down and away on left handers, gave him tons of opportunities to show his fielding abilities wiht more ground ball than most pitchers in history..

[@manemba]

The Master 💪🏾 Mad Dog, my favorite.

[@Genman510]

A Bad man. 🎉

[@MichaelReedmd]

This shows that very good pitchers become elite when a two-way player.

[@minister8207]

With great control, defense and remember he had to bat!!

[@norwegianblue2764]

My gosh, he was a pleasure to watch. He and Bob Gibson were the two best pitchers I ever saw play the game.

[@Artificialintelligentle]

Koufax and Pedro Morales for a 6 yr stint, were both better than gibson.

[@rafaelramirez1507]

He was that good

[@scottrackley4457]

Maddux's whole game was ground balls. He was square when you made contact.

[@ramonmateo5428]

Con razón gano 18 guantes de Oro

[@reginaldgreen6221]

Even the best coaching can't coach talent.

[@davsaltego]

Don’t forget: He could have been the worst fielding pitcher ever, and he’d STILL be in the Hall.

[@mattday6910]

Yes. I say 2nd’s tied for last in comparison to him. Usually it’s an exaggeration to say a “5th infielder”.. w/ him it was a reality (which is hard to wrap your mind around).

[@coyote4237]

Glavine was no slouch, either. Watching them play on the same team was fun.

[@davidjackson2690]

A GREAT fielder who happened to be a GREAT pitcher.

[@daryllabraham3106]

You don't see ANY pitcher diving for a grounder with the frequency of Maddix.

[@디오스미오-i7i]

ㅈㄴ 침착하네 저런건 어느 분야를 가던 배울 태도인 것 같다. 멋있다

[@bbryan36]

First highlight might be the best one, what a play. Loved watching him back in the day...just the best

[@mattbates5904]

What a phenom😎

[@envoydroid4027]

5:49 no really how can someone do that

[@donarthiazi2443]

Reflexes, instinct, and lots of experience. Not to mention very athletic. _(yes, he was very athletic)_ A bit of self-preservation mixed in for good measure 😂

[@なまけうま]

打者．．．😭😄😃😅😂😅🤣😅😂😅🤣。

[@mz610]

pitchers ARE NOTTTTTTT athletes. Except Greg Maddux.

[@jamesrichardson381]

You do realize the '?' punctuation mark is meant to signify a question right? This isn't one of those positions where there are a few guys who stood out that can be debated about. When it comes to greatest defensive pitchers it's Maddux.......and then everyone else. There are just a few certainties in sports where everyone is in agreement and the answer is a given no matter who you ask and this is one of those times. 18 Gold Gloves! For a guy who if someone didn't know who he was saw him come out onto the mound they would think he is some middle school history teacher throwing out the first pitch makes it all the more amazing that he is the greatest to ever do it (pitching and defensively). When a guy puts up better numbers than those guys of yesteryear that many people consider the greatest despite doing it during the most prolific offensive era the sport had ever seen there should be know question, he is the greatest pitcher of all-time.

[@warp9pk767]

Never get tired of the announcer "welll theres a reason he wins gold glove every year"... lmao 25x from 25 insane plays... what a mfn baseball legend dude.

[@John-dv7de]

He didn't always look graceful,but he sure got the job done.

[@justiciadivina6968]

El mejor firdeador de la historia

[@chadperry9947]

Throws it crisp and accurately to first when needed 👍

[@danagiles5100]

Picture him throwing to Yadier Molina...

[@frankxaoz1286]

He threw harder to first than to the plate

[@stephaniemalley5694]

He didn't want to retire,does he?

[@williamstreet4304]

And this shows only one side of Maddux. I always liked watching him expand the strike zone during the game. One reason he could field so well was his fielding position after a throw. He finished looking at the batter rather than allowing pitching momentum to carry through.

[@ikkajaalati]

That first play was incredibly athletic. Never seen that before and I audibly said “wow” watching the video

[@CalvinHikes]

In other news, "ground ball pitcher develops talent for handling ground balls."

[@rotcconsulting]

Which baseball writers did not vote for him on the first ballot for the HoF?

[@203Chance]

An asshole😂.

[@morbidlyo7114]

Total idiots, that's who

[@joshuaentin4134]

Where's Keith Hernandez's defensive highlights?

[@donarthiazi2443]

🙄

[@kufkzxkxzvkdvkxz]

Probably hidden away in Keith's blow stash.

[@milliesboy666]

Greatest? That would be Jim Kaat

[@joebarr725]

Who was the fat first base umpire at 0:39?

[@davidshoemaker4195]

Did any of u mention Jim kart??

[@paulnettles9109]

18 gold gloves are insane

[@deweydecimal1446]

Legend

[@Cheryworld]

Jim Kaat?

[@hu18323]

God 😯

[@inutero10]

Old goofy jaw

[@rogertayloRRR]

Great at defending his position. I disagree with giving gold gloves to pitchers. It helps their era. They play once a week. The cy young is their award.

[@GamerBen87]

Maybe you shouldn't compare a pitcher's GG to a shortstop's, but you can certainly compare pitcher to pitcher in terms of fielding. Pitchers have to field. Why not give the best fielding a pitcher an award?

[@bumblebeemoi]

You’re not aware that GGs are given BY POSITION??? Namely, the GGs Greg won were separate from the ones for the other positions. So, Greg’s GGs did not take away from everyday players.

[@donarthiazi2443]

*@rogertaylor* _FYI_ KZbin offers the option of deleting buffoonish comments that may have been posted in the past.

[@CADClicker]

How're you doing a year after this idiotic comment?

[@198020203797]

😮