Is It Hot In Here?

Usually Greg Maddux just makes batters squirm. "How did I let that fat pitch get by? It was coming in to my hands and it broke back softly over the plate. I guess I'll slump back to the bench..."

Today, it's Dusty Baker who is squirming. "Why did I suggest in the media last year that maybe Maddux should retire?" he's thinking.

If you don’t think he’s squirming, then you haven't seen all these articles in the Trib, Sun Times and Daily Herald (including Rozner) that make the case for a contract extension for Greg.

Now, some may say Dusty's goading actually motivated Maddux into getting rid of his beer belly in the offseason and is the reason why Maddux is 3-0 right now. Don't buy that. ore likely is that Baker just wanted the $9 million in salary to spend on a guy like Kevin Millwood.

Regardless, now that the Cubs sure seem to have the 2000 Maddux on hand and not the 2003-2005 "good-but-not-great" Maddux, a radical change in the team’s projected fortunes is in order. On Opening Day, you looked at the pitching staff and saw one #1 starter (Zamboni), two #5s (Rusch and Maddux) and a cast of questions. Two and a half weeks later, you have a different #1 (Maddux), a #2 (Zambrano), and three #5s (Rusch, Williams and Marshall) with reinforcements on the way.

If Maddux has indeed found what Ponce De Leon never did, then seeing this team as an upper echelon team in the mediocre NL Central becomes a reality and not just wishful thinking. It would also be hard to not give Maddux two or three more years to get up into the top 5 win totals of all time.