Greg Maddux's knack for confounding hitters is surpassed only by his clairvoyance. Awestruck teammates tell stories of how Maddux will be sitting in the dugout and observe three pitches in advance that a hitter is about to line a foul ball off the Gatorade jug and send the cups flying. Then, miraculously, it happens.
Maddux is part future Hall of Famer, part Amazing Kreskin. He is also a pitcher, and in some circles that severely limits his future employment opportunities.
When ESPN.com polled 60 players, executives, managers and coaches on which active players have the best managerial potential, Maddux received three mentions. The only other pitcher to receive multiple mentions was San Diego's Woody Williams. He got two votes.
Maddux, winner of 324 career games with Atlanta and the Cubs, understands why lots of baseball people don't rank pitchers high on their list of managerial candidates.
"We have guys here like Neifi Perez and John Mabry who are always on the bench, watching the game," Maddux said. "In the fourth and fifth inning, the starting pitchers are upstairs having a food rally, playing video games, making phone calls and doing their fan mail. So why would pitchers come to mind when it comes to managing?"
That's typical Maddux, self-deprecating and prone to underselling his knowledge and baseball instincts. But how much is fact and how much is fiction? Why couldn't Greg Maddux, a guy who has dominated with smarts rather than velocity, be a successful manager one day?
The people who know Maddux the best respond this way: There's no reason in the world that he couldn't.
"Maddux could be the general manager, the manager, the pitching coach or the bench coach," said Cubs GM Jim Hendry. "He's different than anybody. That's why he pitches different than anybody. He could do anything he wants. I don't know anybody smarter than him about the game."
History certainly isn't on Maddux's side. Clark Griffith won 237 games as a pitcher and 1,491 as a manager, and Walter Johnson guided the Washington Senators to three 90-win seasons during the Great Depression. But the names of former pitchers most commonly cited in the debate are Tommy Lasorda, Dallas Green and Roger Craig.
In 1997, the Devil Rays hired Larry Rothschild and Baltimore named Ray Miller to manage. Rothschild amassed a .411 winning percentage in Tampa Bay and is now Dusty Baker's pitching coach in Chicago. Miller compiled a 157-167 record with the Orioles before being replaced by Mike Hargrove.
Joe Kerrigan, who served as Red Sox interim manager in 2001, alienated some players with his know-it-all style, and has since gone on to coaching positions with the Phillies and Yankees.
The common perception is that pitchers prepare in their own little world and lack a grasp of in-game tactics. They're best suited to become pitching coaches, where they can focus on mechanics and playing head doctor rather than executing strategy. Even some pitchers buy that argument.
"We're so one-dimensional, it's not like we know all the facets of the game as well as we should," said Atlanta's Tim Hudson. "Most pitchers have no idea when they should put on a hit-and-run. All we know is when guys do it against us."
There's an obvious division between pitchers and hitters in the clubhouse. When managers such as Lou Piniella and Don Baylor spend 20 years viewing pitchers as the enemy, it's a tough habit to break once they're running teams of their own.
"In a jovial manner, the position players refer to us as the golfers with the golf bags," said former big-leaguer Al Leiter. "Not that they don't respect you as a person. But pitchers have this rep. Hitters think, 'What do you know about taking a 2-0 fastball the other way? You're a pitcher.' "
"This is not a negative thing, but I just don't think pitchers are baseball players. The starters play once every five days. They're very smart about the game, but they don't know the grind of the game, if you can understand that. I'd have a tough time with a pitcher trying to tell me how to hit."
Braves catcher Todd Pratt
That mind-set is personified by Atlanta catcher Todd Pratt, a blue-collar worker who has spent his entire 13-year career as a backup player.
"This is not a negative thing, but I just don't think pitchers are baseball players," Pratt said. "The starters play once every five days. They're very smart about the game, but they don't know the grind of the game, if you can understand that. I'd have a tough time with a pitcher trying to tell me how to hit."
With eight All-Star appearances, four Cy Young Awards, 15 Gold Gloves and a World Series ring to his credit, Maddux has lots of credibility. The question is whether he would be hungry enough to manage in the minor leagues and tolerate the whining in the clubhouse. Maddux has earned more than $120 million as a player, so he doesn't need the money to pay his greens fees.
Running a team from the first through ninth innings might be fun, Maddux observed. It's all the garbage that goes on between the ninth and the first that concerns him.
"There's a big difference between playing the game and trying to manage 25 different personalities," Maddux said. "It takes a special breed. I don't know if I've had enough psych courses to be able to do something like that."
Still, Maddux chuckles at the notion that catchers are the best decision-makers and have somehow discovered the true secret to managerial success.
"They get shook off 50 times a night," he said with a laugh.
Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN Insider. His book "License To Deal" was published by Rodale. Click here to order a copy. Jerry can be reached via e-mail.