Have you ever dealt with Greg Maddux?

Is he any good for one-on-one stuff, like before a game or stuff???

 

I've dealt with him in the offseason only, and he was as unassuming and laid-back as a guy could get. We went out for lunch at a Vegas casino and here's one of the greatest pitchers of all-time in his own homeotwn, a city loaded with tourists. NOBODY recognized him.

On game days I hear he's pretty carefree (wonder if he still has Wendy's every day he pitches).

 

Same as Mizzou. Got him on a day he neither pitched nor threw his bullpen session. Gave me about 15 minutes sitting on the top of the dugout bench. He and Tony Gwynn pretty much ruined all other MLB player interviews for me.

 

Jeter was great? When was this, 1996?

 

LEAVE JETER ALONE DICKHEAD! HE IS THE BEST AND MOST CLUTCHEST SHORTSTOP EVER!

 

Meow.

 

Make sure you have good questions for Maddux, don't try and wing it. He can be pretty blah sometimes. But don't throw out ass-kissing stuff either. He likes solid baseball conversation.

 

I found one of the basic journalism tenets to be especially true with Maddux: Ask open-ended questions. With some other guys you can ask an yes/no question as an icebreaker and they'll take it and run with it. That wasn't my experience with Maddux. If you ask him a yes or no question, you will absolutely get a yes or no answer, and he's unlikely to elaborate. On the other hand, I always got better stuff out of him when I was the only one talking to him. He seemed genuinely uncomfortable in the feeding frenzy after a game. Was always polite, though.

 

I covered a game in which he started a number of years ago... after the game was over, a big group of reporters, including me, and TV folks were interviewing Maddux... a few minutes after it wrapped up I was still hanging around waiting for another player when a local TV station walked up and asked Maddux if they could have a few minutes... he flat out told them no and they should have asked questions with the rest of the group. He finished putting on his shoes and walked out without talking to them.

 

Yeah, I've dealt with him. Put one of his hanging change-ups over the left-field fence.

 

I haven't, generally, found baseball players difficult in the least.
There are some, of course. As there are in every sport.
There may be a slightly higher impatience level caused in part by the disproportional amount of time the media has access to them.
But few complaints, on the whole.

 

I haven't spoken with Maddux, at least, not yet.

I have talked to Piazza and Smoltz, and have gotten really good stuff.