When he wins his 300th career game, Greg Maddux will solidify himself as one of his generation's greatest pitchers in the past 20 years. However, despite Maddux' s phenomenal career, Roger Clemens -- not Maddux -- is and will be remembered as the greatest pitcher of our time.
Firstly, Clemens has better stats than Maddux. Though the two have similar ERAs, Clemens' other career statistics far surpass that of Maddux.
Clemens pitched over 300 more innings than Maddux, a testament to his durability and consistency. Clemens also sports higher career winning percentage than Maddux. Moreover, Clemens also possesses more complete games, shutouts and a better hit per nine inning ratio than Maddux. Although comparing Clemens and Maddux explicitly in terms of career strikeouts is unfair -- Maddux was never a strikeout pitcher -- Clemens is second on the all-time strikeout list, an achievement which greatly complements Clemens' other career numbers.
Secondly, Clemens pitched better when it mattered most. In postseason play, Clemens has more wins and a better ERA than Maddux. In series-deciding games, Clemens has a career 4-2 record, compared to Maddux' 1-1 mark. When the games matter most, Clemens always pitched his best.
Finally, Clemens also tops Maddux beyond the statistical realm. Baseball historian/guru Bill James suggests that Maddux benefited from having much better fielding behind him than Clemens did throughout his career. Furthermore, Clemens consciously changed his pitching style -- developing a split-finger fastball in the later stages of his career to offset the decline of his fastball -- while maintaining a continual high standard of play, a feat rarely accomplished.
In the future, both Maddux and Clemens will be revered as the two greatest right-handed pitchers of our era. Nonetheless, at this moment, Clemens' career wins, achievements, and record in the World Series give him the slight edge over Maddux as the best of our time.
