Sports: Maddux falls short of Fischer

Maddux falls short of Fischer

By KEVIN KELLY

ST. PETERSBURG -- Greg Maddux had no chance.

Not when Rays pitcher Tanyon Sturtze put the "whammy on him" at the request of pitching coach Bill Fischer.

"We were talking about sending Mr. Maddux a little package, but it ended up we didn't have to send a package," Sturtze said. "He had me call (Arizona and former Rays pitcher) Albie Lopez last night and say something to Albie."

Maddux's run at Fischer's major-league record of 84 1/3 innings without a walk ended at 72 1/3 when Maddux intentionally walked Arizona's Steve Finley in the third inning of the Braves' game on Sunday.

The news made Fischer, who set the record in 1962 with the Kansas City A's, grin during the Rays' game against Minnesota.

"If he would've broken it, I wouldn't have felt bad about it," Fischer said. "Records are made to be broken and it would've been broken by a great pitcher."

As a multipurpose pitcher for the Athletics, Fischer compiled a 2-10 record with a 3.92 ERA during the 14 games it took to set the mark.

"It laid dormant for 30 years and now it popped up and now it will pop away," Fischer said. "Nobody will mention it again until maybe 30 years."

Maddux entered Sunday's game with 70 1/3 walkless innings and got a standing ovation in Atlanta when fans realized the streak would end with an intentional walk. He issued another walk in the same inning of the 9-1 loss.

Fischer got an equally enthusiastic cheer when shown on the videoboard at Tropicana Field before the bottom of the third inning. As the camera zoomed in on him, Sturtze ran into the picture and wrapped his coach in a congratulatory bear hug.

"I'm happy for him," Sturtze said. "That's huge; 84 innings. That's a lot."

Rays manager Hal McRae said: "He's the envy of everybody in St. Pete. They're comparing a 70-year-old guy, who played 50 years ago, with a young stud today. He has to be proud of that.

"He deserves the attention he is getting now."