Pitch Count
Hall of Famer pitcher Greg Maddux played quite a bit of golf during his baseball career, but now that he’s retired, he’s picked up the pace even more
By Chuck Wasserstrom

This article appeared in the July 2017 issue of Chicago District Golfer.
He’s 51 now, happily retired and nine years removed from throwing his last major league pitch.
So, what does a Hall of Fame pitcher do to keep busy?
“In Vegas, you have to call me after 12 o’clock,” said Greg Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner and an eight-time all-star. “I can literally play golf every morning but Saturday and Sunday.”
A standout pitcher during his playing days, Maddux used golf as an outlet to clear his mind during his 23-year big league career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 after pitching in the big leagues from 1986–2008, including 10 seasons with the Cubs and 11 in an Atlanta Braves uniform. His 355 career victories rank eighth in major league history, while his 3,371 strikeouts rank 10th.
“It got me away from the game,” Maddux said. “When you’re on the golf course, you don’t think a whole lot about baseball. When you’re sitting in your hotel room on the road, you’re kind of always thinking about it. Baseball consumes you, and if you can find a way to get your mind occupied and away from it, it can be beneficial for you when it’s time to go to the park.”
Maddux, who grew up in Las Vegas, started playing golf right around the time he signed his first professional contract with the Cubs in 1984. He called it “just a hobby” going out to play during the off-season with his dad, Dave, and his older brother, Mike, who spent 15 years as a big league pitcher.
“I still keep it a hobby, believe it or not. It’s something that I enjoy doing,” Maddux said.
“We’re all creatures of habit, and I’ve kind of made golf one of my habits. But I keep it fun.
If it starts to get to me a little bit, then I’ll take time off and make sure that when I go to the golf course, the main reason is to go out there and have fun with the guys and enjoy the game.”

As a member of the Cubs, Maddux didn’t play much golf during the season, especially when the team was at home. Afternoon games at Wrigley Field will do that to you.
And during his trips to the Windy City as an opposing player, “Chicago, with the day games and staying downtown . . . was kind of the toughest city to play (golf) in,” he said. “But we did have off days on occasion, and we’d go play Medinah. I remember going there on an off day and playing 36 — and having a great time.”
While a member of the Braves, Maddux and a pair of his future Hall of Fame teammates, pitchers John Smoltz (inducted in 2015) and Tom Glavine (2014), often could be found on a golf course when the team was on the road. The ringleader was Smoltz, a scratch player.
“We were lucky to have Smoltzie as the game’s best golf coordinator around,” Maddux said.
“For everybody but Smoltzie, it was real easy; after the game, we would get on the bus and look at Smoltzie, and he’d go, ‘Hey, 6:30, lobby.’ Everything was taken care of.
“We played the nicest courses in every city we visited. I think what stands out for me was Pine Valley, just outside of Philadelphia; when we played the Phillies, we had the opportunity to play there. I loved the New York courses — Winged Foot and Shinnecock Hills and National (Golf Links) and Deepdale. Pittsburgh was nice; when we got to play Oakmont, that was a treat. Every city we went to, it seemed like Smoltzie had us set up at one of the best courses.”
Known as “The Professor” during his baseball days for the way he studied batters and his game preparation, Maddux has been asked if he could have been a professional golfer if he had that same work ethic.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “You have to realize how hard tour players had to work early on.
It’s no different than the 25-year-old football player saying, ‘I could have played baseball if I wanted to.’ There are a couple exceptions out there, but when I was growing up as a kid, I was playing baseball and basketball every weekend — while future tour players were going to golf tournaments. There’s a lot more to it than just being dedicated and hours of practice. You have to have some kind of a gift in order to swing fast enough to hit it far. You have to make putts. You have to experience playing in tournaments.”
These days, Maddux is satisfied playing golf as often as he can. He remains involved in baseball as a volunteer pitching coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; his son, Chase, is a pitcher for the team. But when he’s not at the baseball field, Maddux can be found on a fairway.
“My golf game is good enough to wake up in the morning and go out and have a good time,” he said. “I’m going to shoot anywhere from probably 72–82. But at the same time, I enjoy going to different courses and playing with different people, enjoying the experience. My golf game is really inconsistent . . . I know that. I’m OK with that. I just kind of take it as it comes.
“Golf is like a drug; you can get hooked on it. I certainly did.”
Chuck Wasserstrom is a Chicago-based freelance writer. He maintains a storytelling site, chuckblogerstrom.com.
