Greg Maddux won't throw his first pitch for the Dodgers this season until he faces the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, but Derek Lowe said that the four-time Cy Young Award winner has already made an impact.
Lowe pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the Dodgers' 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday at Dodger Stadium, something he said he didn't do alone. While the Dodgers were hitting, the 42-year-old Maddux offered him his opinion on what the opposing hitters were trying to do and what he might want to do to offset that.
"It actually worked, believe it or not," Lowe said, smiling.
Of course, Lowe wasn't surprised.
This is the second go-around with the Dodgers for Maddux, who was 6-9 with a 3.99 earned-run average this season with San Diego and will be aiming for his 354th career victory tonight, which would he tie him with Roger Clemens for eighth all time.
Acquired on Tuesday for two minor-league players to be named, Maddux came to Los Angeles on the day of the 2006 non-waiver trade deadline.
He was 6-3 with a 3.30 earned-run average in 12 starts for the Dodgers that season, helping them reach the playoffs.
Catcher Russell Martin, who was a rookie that season, said Maddux changed the way he looked at the game.
"He keeps everything so simple," Martin said. "He doesn't make things complicated when they don't need to be."
Martin said he learned how small adjustments can make huge differences by watching Maddux get people out with a fastball in the low-to-mid 80s.
"He kind of tweaks every pitch," Martin said. "He has a fastball he can cut and a fastball that he can run back. He's just trying to get you to miss by two inches. That's the difference between a groundball and a line drive. It's an art form.
"He once told me that he can make a guy hit the ball wherever he wants. I believe him. He's that good."
Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny said Maddux taught him how to outthink hitters.
"He's a lot smarter than most people -- probably smarter than anyone, as far as setting up hitters," Penny said.
In a story that ran in ESPN magazine this year, Penny said he once asked Maddux to call a game for him from the bench when he faced the Chicago Cubs. Maddux signaled the pitches by looking toward different parts of the park and Penny threw seven shutout innings.
Penny wouldn't confirm the story, saying Maddux didn't want him to talk about it.
