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Take a look at MLB’s career pitching wins list and when you scroll past the workhorses of the late 19th and early 20th century (Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, etc.), i.e. post the dead-ball era, you come across Warren Spahn at #6 and Greg Maddux at #8 with 363 and 355 career victories, respectively. Known for their pitching guile and control rather than overpowering heat, both the southpaw Spahn and the righty Maddux spent their primes with the Braves franchise and helped lead the team to World Series titles nearly 40 years apart – thus, it seems only natural to compare these all-time MLB and legendary Braves pitchers and ask:
Who was better – Greg Maddux or Warren Spahn?
The Beginning
Signed or drafted by MLB teams as teenagers, both Maddux and Spahn would take some time to develop into the ace pitchers they would eventually become, with the latter missing three seasons due to World War II.
An Air Force brat, Maddux was born in Texas and spent part of his childhood in Madrid, Spain, before settling in Las Vegas; there, he and his old brother Mike developed their pitching skills under the tutelage of former scout Ralph Meder and would each be drafted by MLB teams: Mike in 1982, followed by Greg in 1984 as the 31st overall pick in the second round by the Chicago Cubs. Two years later, the younger Maddux made his major league debut with Chicago as a September call-up in 1986 before a rough rookie year in 1987: 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA (76 ERA+, which is an advanced statistic that adjusts a pitcher’s ERA for both his ballpark and the league-wide ERA; 100 is average), 1.64 WHIP, and 101 strikeouts in 155.2 innings pitched.
As for Spahn, he was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and signed with the then-Boston Braves as a 19-year-old in 1940. Though he initially made his major league debut late in the 1942 season, pitching in four games total, he would soon go off to serve in the Army for World War II where he participated in the legendary Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart. Upon the conclusion of the war, Spahn returned to MLB and the Braves at age 25 and went 8-5 with a 2.94 ERA (118 ERA+), 1.14 WHIP, and 67 strikeouts in 125.2 innings pitched.
Career Comparison
For two decades apiece, Maddux and Spahn were consistently among the elite pitchers in baseball – with pinpoint accuracy and control, they were essentially shoo-ins for at least 15 wins annually and would pitch their respective ways to the very top of the all-time MLB wins leaderboard.
Maddux quickly became a top-flight starter, going 18-8 in 1988 with a 3.18 ERA (114 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, and 140 strikeouts in 249.0 innings pitched to make the first of eight All-Star teams. The following year, he missed out on the All-Star Game, but was even better with a 19-12 record, 2.95 ERA (129 ERA+), 1.28 WHIP, and 135 strikeouts in 238.1 innings pitched to finish third for the NL Cy Young. Over the next two years, Maddux won 15 games each year and would begin an unmatched record of 18 Gold Gloves at the pitcher position. In his last season with the Cubs in 1992, Maddux would win his first Cy Young: league-best 20-11 record with a 2.18 ERA (166 ERA+), 1.01 WHIP, and 199 strikeouts in a league-high 268.0 innings pitched (the second of five straight years leading the league in innings pitched).
As a coveted free agent (matched only by slugger Barry Bonds), Maddux signed a lucrative deal with the Atlanta Braves to join stalwarts Tom Glavine and John Smoltz in the rotation and continue his run as arguably the best pitcher of the 1990s. In his first three years with the club, he won the Cy Young each year and led the league in ERA, WHIP, innings pitched, and complete games:
- 1993: 20-10 with a 2.36 ERA (170 ERA+), 1.05 WHIP, and 197 strikeouts in 267.0 innings pitched
- 1994: 16-6 with a microscopic 1.56 ERA (271 ERA+), 0.90 WHIP, and 156 strikeouts in 202.0 innings pitched; also fifth for NL MVP
- 1995: 19-2 (a 90.5% winning percentage!) with a 1.63 ERA (260 ERA+), a career-best 0.81 WHIP, and 181 strikeouts in 209.2 innings pitched; Maddux finished third for NL MVP, became the first pitcher since Walter Johnson with back-to-back seasons of a sub-1.80 ERA, tied Steve Carlton for the then-record of four career Cy Youngs, and was the first pitcher to win four of them consecutively (later matched by Randy Johnson)
Though Maddux did not win another Cy Young in his career, he remained an elite pitcher for the next half-decade – in fact, over the next five years, he finished top-five for Cy Young 4x with three 19-win seasons and another ERA title; notably, he was Cy Young runner-up in 1997 to Pedro Martinez on the strength of a 19-4 record, 2.20 ERA (189 ERA+), 0.95 WHIP, and 177 strikeouts in 232.2 innings pitched.
Entering the 2000s and his mid-30s, Maddux was no longer the dominant pitcher of his prime, but remained an outstanding starter – case in point, in his second-to-last year with Atlanta in 2002 at age 36, he posted a 16-6 record with a 2.62 ERA (159 ERA+), 1.20 WHIP, and 118 strikeouts in 199.1 innings pitched. Following the 2003 season, he returned to the Cubs and had yet another 15+ win season, though his ERA ballooned above 4 and would stay that way for the rest of his career. Maddux’s last 15-win season came in 2006 (15-14 split between the Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers) and he would also spend a season-and-a-half with the San Diego Padres, ultimately retiring after the 2008 season at age 42; all in all, his 355 career wins is second only to Spahn in the live-ball era and he is the only pitcher ever with 300+ wins, 3,000+ strikeouts, and fewer than 1,000 walks.
A couple of generations beforehand, starting in 1947, Spahn would become one of MLB’s top pitchers, posting the first of 13 20-win seasons and the first of 17 All-Star selections with a 21-10 record (including a league-leading and career-best 7 shutouts), a league-low 2.33 ERA (170 ERA+) and 1.14 WHIP, and 123 strikeouts in a league-high 289.2 innings pitched. Though he dipped to “only” 15 wins the next year, he would then post three straight 20-win seasons as part of six consecutive All-Star teams and four straight years topping the league in strikeouts:
- 1949: a league-best 21-14 record (25 complete games) with a 3.07 ERA (124 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, and 151 strikeouts in 302.1 innings pitched; seventh for NL MVP
- 1950: again led the league with a 21-17 record (25 complete games), 3.16 ERA (122 ERA+), 1.23 WHIP, and a career-high 191 strikeouts in 293.0 innings pitched
- 1951: 22-14 record (26 complete games) with a 2.98 ERA (124 EA+), 1.25 WHIP, and 164 strikeouts in 310.2 innings pitched
Following a sub-standard 14-19 season in 1952, Spahn once again led the league in wins and won the ERA title in 1953 with a career-best 23-7 record, a career-low 2.10 ERA (188 ERA+), a league-best 1.06 WHIP, and 148 strikeouts in 265.2 innings pitched, finishing fifth for MVP. In fact, between 1953 and 1963, he would win 20+ games in every season but two (17 wins in 1955 and 18 wins in 1962) and led the league in complete games 7x. With the introduction of the Cy Young Award in 1956 (there was only awarded across both the AL and NL in its first decade of existence), Spahn was an annual fixture in the top-five – in his late 30s, he achieved three straight seasons of top-five Cy Young and MVP showings:
- 1956: 20-11 record with a 2.78 ERA (125 ERA+), 1.07 WHIP, and 128 strikeouts in 281.1 innings pitched; third for Cy Young and fourth for MVP
- 1957: league-leading 21-11 record with a 2.69 ERA (130 ERA+), 1.18 WHIP, and 111 strikeouts in 271.0 innings pitched; won his only Cy Young while finishing fifth for MVP in the same year teammate Hank Aaron won MVP and the team won the World Series
- 1958: league-leading 22-11 record with a 3.07 ERA (116 ERA+), a league-low 1.15 WHIP, and 150 strikeouts in a league-high 290.0 innings pitched; second for Cy Young and again fifth for MVP
At an age when most players were either retired or in severe decline, Spahn continued to amaze, pacing the league in wins from 1957 to 1961 (his age 36 to 40 seasons). Notably, this included back-to-back Cy Young runner-ups in 1960 (21-10 with a 3.50 ERA (98 ERA+), 1.23 WHIP, and 154 strikeouts) and 1961 (21-13 with a 3.02 ERA (122 ERA+), 1.14 WHIP, and 115 strikeouts), which were also the two times he would throw no-hitters. As a 42-year-old pitcher in 1963, Spahn had his final 20-win season: 23-7 with a 2.60 ERA (124 ERA+), 1.12 WHIP, and 102 strikeouts in 259.2 innings pitched, highlighted by his matchup against San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal in the so-called “Greatest Game Ever Pitched” – in a 1-0 Giants victory on a Willie Mays home run in the 16th inning, both Hall of Famers hurled complete games. Finally, as a 44-year-old in 1965, Spahn was sold to the New York Mets and spent the season between the Mets and the aforementioned Giants; his 363 career wins remains the most in the live-ball era and the standard for left-handed pitchers.
Across more than two decades apiece, Maddux and Spahn are separated by a total of six games played with split numerical advantages: as a mid-20th century workhorse, Spahn pitched more innings, won more games with more shutouts (but also lost more games), and had a lower absolute ERA, but the modern-day Maddux posted a superior ERA+ with a lower WHIP and more strikeouts (despite not being viewed as a power pitcher, he nevertheless still struck out 3,000+ career batters). In dissecting further, Spahn had an incredible 13 20-win seasons (while winning 15+ games 16x), though never struck out 200 batters in a season. In comparison, though he only won 20 games twice, Maddux set longevity records with 17 straight 15-win seasons and 18 15-win seasons overall; likewise, he only struck 200+ batters once, but also had three straight years with 197, 198, and 199 strikeouts. In terms of awards and accolades, Spahn had more than double the number of All-Star selections (17x vs. 8x), but Maddux won more Cy Youngs (4 to 1), ERA titles (4 to 3), and is arguably the greatest fielding pitcher ever with 18 Gold Gloves. Encapsulating all of this into one number, Maddux accumulated slightly more career Wins Above Replacement than Spahn at 106.6 to 100.1; both legendary pitchers were fittingly Hall of Fame selections on the first ballot, Spahn in 1973 and Maddux in 2014.
Regular Season Statistics
| Greg Maddux | Player | Warren Spahn |
| 23 (1986-2008) | Seasons | 21 (1942, 1946-1965) |
| 744 | Games Played | 750 |
| 5,008.1 | Innings Pitched | 5,243.2 |
| 355-227 | W-L Record | 363-245 |
| – | Saves | 28 |
| 3.16 | ERA | 3.09 |
| 132 | ERA+ | 119 |
| 1.14 | WHIP | 1.20 |
| 3,371 | Strikeouts | 2,583 |
| 35 | Shutouts | 63 |
| 106.6 | Wins Above Replacement | 100.1 |
| 8x | All-Star Games | 17x |
| – | MVP | – |
| 4x | Cy Young | 1x |
| 1x | World Series Titles | 1x |
| 4x ERA, 18x Gold Glove | Other Awards | 3x ERA |
| 2014 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1973 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
In addition to all of their individual regular season success, Maddux and Spahn each pitched the Braves to the World Series 3x (across each of the team’s locations in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta), leading the team to their most recent titles in 1957 and 1995.
Maddux was a cornerstone of the Braves dynasty of the 1990s and early 2000s – of his 13 career playoff appearances, he won 10 straight division titles with Atlanta and pitched in the World Series 3x, ultimately helping the team to the 1995 crown. However, due to his 11-14 postseason record, he is often viewed as a playoff underachiever, but his peripherals (3.27 ERA and 1.24 WHIP) were strong; in fact, in three World Series trips, Maddux was only 2-3, but with a sterling 2.09 ERA and 0.91 WHIP – notably:
- 1995: in a six-game World Series triumph over a powerful Cleveland Indians team, Maddux went 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA (4 earned runs in 16.0 innings pitched), winning Game 1 and losing Game 5 to Orel Hershiser
- 1996: lost their title defense in six games to the New York Yankees; Maddux was 1-1 with a 1.72 ERA (3 earned runs in 15.2 innings pitched), winning Game 2 and losing the deciding Game 6
- 1999: lost Game 1 with 4 runs (2 earned) in 7.0 innings pitched in a sweep by the Yankees
During Spahn’s era, the winners of the AL and NL pennants met directly in the World Series, i.e. only the top two teams in baseball made the playoffs each year – he pitched 3x in the World Series and likewise was outstanding overall with a 4-3 record, 3.05 ERA, and 1.07 WHIP:
- 1948: lost in six games to Bob Feller and the Indians; Spahn lost Game 2 and won Game 5, allowing 4 earned runs in 12.0 innings pitched (3.00 ERA)
- 1957: beat a loaded Yankees team led by like the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford in the full seven games; Spahn was not at his best, going 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA (lost Game 1 and won Game 4; 8 earned runs in 15.1 innings pitched)
- 1958: fell in seven games in a rematch to the Yankees, though it was Spahn’s best individual performance – he won Games 1 and 4, but lost Game 6, giving up 7 total runs in 28.2 innings pitched (2.20 ERA)
Playoff Statistics
| Greg Maddux | Player | Warren Spahn |
| 35 | Games Played | 8 |
| 198.0 | Innings Pitched | 56.0 |
| 11-14 | W-L Record | 4-3 |
| 1 | Saves | – |
| 3.27 | ERA | 3.05 |
| 1.24 | WHIP | 1.07 |
| 125 | Strikeouts | 32 |
| – | Shutouts | 1 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; as two of the most consistently excellent pitchers ever, Maddux and Spahn defied age and remained effective hurler well into their late 30s and early 40s. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Greg Maddux | Player | Warren Spahn |
| 1992-1998, 2000-2002 | Decade of Dominance | 1947, 1949-1951, 1953-1954, 1956-1957, 1959, 1962 |
| 329 | Games Played | 384 |
| 2,357.0 | Innings Pitched | 2,858.1 |
| 179-79 | W-L Record | 209-125 |
| – | Saves | 15 |
| 2.37 | ERA | 2.83 |
| 1.01 | WHIP | 1.17 |
| 1,767 | Strikeouts | 1,413 |
| 25 | Shutouts | 36 |
| 70.8 | Wins Above Replacement | 63.3 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Though Spahn won (and lost) more games over his 10 best seasons by virtue of volume, Maddux was the more dominant pitcher during his run in the 1990s: better winning percentage, lower ERA and WHIP, more strikeouts, and more WAR.
My Thoughts
With the way pitching has become more and more specialized, it seems highly unlikely that any current or future pitcher will match/surpass Greg Maddux’s 355 career wins or Warren Spahn’s 363 career victories. As such, while Spahn will most likely remain the winningest pitcher of the live-ball era and the winningest lefty ever for the foreseeable future, I think in the context of his era, Maddux was the more dominant pitcher – yes, he did not pitch as many innings/complete games or make as many All-Star Games as Spahn, but during the so-called “Steroid Era”, Maddux’s prime of four straight Cy Youngs in the early to mid-1990s is simply out-of-this-world incredible. Beyond just his peak greatness, his consistency is also unparalleled – the 17 straight 15-win seasons (and 18 overall), the 18 Gold Gloves, and peripheral numbers that exceed those of Spahn. When all is said and done, Maddux and Spahn to me are the two greatest pitchers in Braves franchise history.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Greg Maddux
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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