Maddux’s control was record-setting
August 2001 brought an unusual summertime drought to Atlanta.
During the back half of their 2001 season, the Braves suddenly found themselves in a rut. Even the most cheerful of players were not complimentary of the team’s mid-August slump.
“We stunk, we stink, all the tenses,” said third baseman Chipper Jones, abandoning any optimism assumed from his moniker.
With losses against the Astros on Aug. 8 and 9 – the former drawn to a grueling 12 innings – and a subsequent pair against the Diamondbacks, the Braves began a losing streak that would force them to share their former National League East lead with the Phillies.
Yet as the Braves’ slide continued, ace Greg Maddux was responsible for a dry spell of his own. Entering game three of the Braves’ series against the D-backs, Maddux’s ERA stood at 2.68, complete with a National League-record 70 consecutive walk-less innings; the right-hander last issued a walk to the Florida Marlins’ Charles Johnson on June 20. Having won eight of his nine walk-free starts, Maddux offered Braves fans a flash of hope as Atlanta looked to avoid a sweep in Arizona.
But on Aug. 12, 2001, at Turner Field, Maddux – the premier control artist of his generation – finally issued a base on balls.
Facing the top of the Diamondbacks’ lineup, Maddux began his bump day by giving up a pair of hits to the middle infield duo of Craig Counsell and Junior Spivey. An RBI by first baseman Mark Grace brought Counsell home, putting Arizona up 1-0 in the top of the first.
The Braves held the D-backs to one, and Maddux added two frames to his NL record for walk-less innings until an explosive third inning would stop him just short of big league history.
Counsell and Spivey returned to the plate in the top of the third to collect another pair of hits, scoring on a single by left fielder Luis Gonzalez and a sacrifice fly by Grace, respectively. Up 3-0 with one out and Gonzalez on first, third baseman Matt Williams followed up Grace by lining an RBI double to center field.
It would take center fielder Steve Finley stepping to the plate for Atlanta’s Bobby Cox to wave the four managerial fingers that snapped Maddux’s historic streak. Twelve innings away from the major league control mark – set by Bill Fischer in 1962 with 84.1 walk-less innings with the Kansas City Athletics – it would be strategy, not wildness, that denied Maddux the record.
Maddux immediately understood the decision.
“If I was manager, I would’ve walked him too,” Maddux said of Cox’s choice to intentionally walk Finley. “When you’re down, it’s a no brainer. You’ve got to walk guys and hope you don’t give up any more runs.”
“[The record] never meant much to me. You never pitch just thinking about not walking someone.”
While strategy, including another intentional walk of catcher Damian Miller, prevented additional runs in the third, it was unable to secure the Braves a much-needed win. The D-backs would continue their offensive assault, tallying 16 total hits over nine innings. Arizona’s 9-1 win over Atlanta was part of a six-game losing streak for the Braves, their longest in two years, that would ultimately come to an end on Aug. 15 with a win against the Rockies.
The Braves recovered from their August slide to finish 88-74, securing the NL East title and a feature in the league championship series. Maddux, whose 72.1 walk-less innings remain first among NL pitchers and just second across all MLB, ended his season 17-11 with a 3.05 ERA. He walked just 27 batters – 10 of which were intentional – over 233 innings. His ratio of 1.04 walks per nine innings marked the fifth of nine times he would lead his league in that category.
Maddux was inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Class of 2014.
Abbey Dempsey was the 2026 communications intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development
