RetroSimba

Needing an effective performance to show he belonged in the major leagues, Phillies rookie Mike Maddux broke through with an impressive effort against the 1986 Cardinals.

Maddux, 25, limited the Cardinals to one earned run in 6.1 innings and got the win in a 4-3 Phillies victory on Sept. 18, 1986, at Philadelphia.

That performance helped Maddux establish himself as a big-leaguer. He went on to pitch for 15 seasons (1986-2000) in the majors. After his playing days, he built a second career as a big-league pitching coach.

On Oct. 26, 2017, the Cardinals hired Maddux to be their pitching coach, replacing Derek Lilliquist.

Throwing darts

Chosen by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 1982 amateur draft, Maddux rose through the farm system until he was promoted to the big-league club in June 1986.

Placed in the Phillies’ starting rotation, Maddux struggled. After 13 starts, his record was 2-6 with a 6.05 ERA.

To some, he seemed to be regressing. On Sept. 8, Maddux yielded five runs in three innings against the Cubs. Five days later, he gave up three runs in the first and was lifted before recording an out against the Mets.

Maddux was trying to be perfect with his pitches and was aiming the ball. “He wasn’t a pitcher; he was a dart-thrower,” wrote Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Maddux’s ERA for the first inning of his 13 starts was 15.00.

“Something had to be done,” Maddux said to Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Maddux sought the advice of Phillies manager John Felske and pitching coach Claude Osteen. “I absorbed everything they said like a sponge,” Maddux said.

(Osteen had been Cardinals pitching coach from 1977-80.)

Wrote Stark: “They told him to think more about winning than about surviving the first inning.”

Different guy

In his next start, Maddux was matched against Greg Mathews of the Cardinals.

From the first pitch, when he made Vince Coleman skip away from a low delivery, Maddux was in command.

In the second inning, his confidence grew when he lined a RBI-single to right against Mathews. It was the first hit and first RBI in the big leagues for Maddux.

Maddux held the Cardinals to one hit _ a Terry Pendleton single _ over six innings.

Maddux struck out seven before he was relieved with one out in the seventh. Boxscore

“He went out tonight totally prepared to pitch,” Felske said. “He was a different guy out there. He was confident. He was determined to do well. He really threw some outstanding breaking balls.”

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I can see why they’re putting him out there.”

Herzog compared Maddux to the Cardinals’ Tim Conroy, “who has struggled but is considered to have a major-league arm,” wrote Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals outfielder Andy Van Slyke, however, compared Maddux with Aaron Herr, 4-year-old son of St. Louis second baseman Tommy Herr.

Noting that the Cardinals weren’t swinging the bats well, Van Slyke said, “They could have put Aaron Herr out there and he could have held us to one hit for five innings.”

Lengthy career

Maddux, whose younger brother, Greg, became a Hall of Fame pitcher, played for nine clubs: Phillies, Dodgers, Padres, Mets, Pirates, Red Sox, Mariners, Expos and Astros.

Converted to a relief pitcher after he left the Phillies, Maddux has a career record of 39-37 with 20 saves and a 4.05 ERA in the big leagues.

His career record versus the Cardinals is 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA in 25 appearances. (On Aug. 11, 1988, Maddux started and pitched eight scoreless innings against the Cardinals, but got no decision. The Phillies won, 1-0, with a run in the ninth.)

Maddux was pitching coach for the Brewers (2003-08), Rangers (2009-15) and Nationals (2016-17) before joining the Cardinals.

He was the Rangers’ pitching coach in 2011 when Texas played the Cardinals in the World Series.

Previously: Cardinals tried making Greg Maddux a teammate