(Almost) Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Greg Maddux

It's just a matter of waiting patiently until the announcement is made on January 8, 2014 at 2:00PM, but as of right now, this ball will have to wait to be placed among my Hall of Fame signed baseballs.  This one and possibly a couple more that I have, really.  We'll have to see.

That being said, for the low price of $52.00, I was able to pick up this Greg Maddux signed baseball from Conrad at the Columbia Antique Mall.  Conrad had gotten several cases of the Maddux balls from a private signing (he also had some Glavines, one of which I should have grabbed.  I was really happy with this Maddux, though.

Maddux (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1986 to 2008 for the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers and Padres.  He:

• was a 2-time 20 game winner (1992 and 1993)
• led the NL in wins 3 times (1992, 1994 and 1995)
• set a record (once held by Cy Young) by winning 15 or more games in 17 straight seasons
• won 13 or more games in 20 total seasons
• won the Cy Young Award an unprecedented 4 straight times (1992 through 1995)
• finished second in the Cy Young voting in 1997; 3rd in 1989 and 2000; 4th in 1998; 5th in 1996
• led the NL in ERA 4 times (1993, 1994 1995 and 1998)
• had a season ERA of 2.20 or better 4 times
• had a season ERA of less than 1.64 in two seasons (1.56 in 1994 and 1.63 in 1995)
• won the World Series in 1995 with the Braves
• went 2-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 5 World Series starts
• won the Gold Glove Award 18 times
• was a 8-time All Star
• finished as high as 3rd in the NL MVP voting (1995)
• had a career record of 355-227, ERA of 3.16 with 3,371 strikeouts
• had 109 complete games, 35 of which were shutouts
• is ranked 8th all-time in Wins with 355
• is ranked 10th all-time in Strikeouts with 3,371
• is ranked 1st all-time in putouts by a pitcher with 546

So, based on all of this, I am REALLY happy to have added this ball to my collection.  My only question is, with the voting being announced on January 8th for the 2014 Hall of Fame election, what idiot(s) will leave Maddux off of their ballots?  You and I know that someone will and they will try to make an argument for their decision.  Kind of like the woman last year who tried to say that Shawn Green was a deserving candidate but then said that she didn't vote for Jeff Bagwell because he did steroids.  That is another story all in itself, but you get my point.

Anyway, regardless of the few stupid voters out there, Maddux will be getting a call on January 8 saying that he is a member of the 2014 Hall of Fame class (one that has the potential to be one of the largest in history).  It will be then that this ball will be placed among my collection of Hall of Fame signed baseballs.