The Texas Rangers have not had an ace pitcher for many of their seasons in Arlington, but they now have another former ace that is employed by the club. Just a few weeks ago it seemed that Mike Maddux might be joining his brother Greg in Chicago as the manager for the Cubs, but now it will be the other way around.

Greg Maddux had worked as an assistant to Jim Hendry for the past two seasons in Chicago, but now he will have a similar role with the Rangers. Maddux was a four time Cy Young award winner and compiled a 355-227 record during 22 major league seasons with the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers and Padres. In Texas, Maddux will work with pitchers during major and minor league spring training and will travel to work with minor league pitchers during the season. Maddux won 18 Gold Glove awards during his big league career and that will be one of the specific areas he will be involved with when working with Rangers’ pitchers, along with the mental side of pitching.

Mike Maddux has become one of the best pitching coaches in baseball and now he will have the benefit of working with his brother on a regular basis. It will not only be nice that they get to work closely for the first time in their respective careers, but Mike will also have the luxury of having his own brother work with young pitchers in the Rangers’ organization. Many of those young arms Mike does not get to see until they are in the big leagues.

The Rangers now have Greg Maddux, Mike Maddux and Nolan Ryan that can work with young pitchers at different times and in different capacities. The Rangers are loaded with young, talented pitchers at the big league and minor league levels. Pitchers like Derek Holland(notes), Matt Harrison(notes), Alexi Ogando(notes) and Neftali Feliz(notes) will greatly benefit to having a mind like Greg Maddux around to help them with many of the small aspects of pitching that turned Greg into one of the best pitchers of his generation. He will also be a great tool in working with minor league pitchers such as Martin Perez(notes) and Tanner Scheppers(notes) who have yet to get over the hump and become ready for big league action.

Greg and Mike may not see each other on a regular basis during the regular season as Greg will be traveling to minor league clubs and returning home to Las Vegas, but the brothers will still be involved with each other more often than they have been in years. As a Rangers’ fan it is nice to see Greg traveling to Texas to work with Mike instead of the other way around.

John Bowman is a lifelong baseball and Texas Rangers fan that loves to ponder the deeper aspects of the game. Some of his first baseball memories involve Arlington Stadium nachos, Charlie Hough’s knuckeball, dirt on Pete Incaviglia’s uniform and the voices of Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel as he fell asleep. Follow him on Twitter @TexasWinColumn.

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ARLINGTON, Texas, Nov. 29 (UPI) — The Texas Rangers said Tuesday they have hired former major league pitching great Greg Maddux as a special assistant to the general manager.

The American League champion Rangers hired Maddux away from the Chicago Cubs, where he had held a similar position for two years under since-fired GM Jim Hendry.

Maddux, 45, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, will be reunited with his brother Mike in Texas, where the latter is the pitching coach under Manager Ron Washington.

“We’re excited to add Greg to our group and look forward to him contributing to the development of our young pitchers,” Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said.

Greg Maddux will be an instructor for both the minor and major league staffs during spring training. He will also work with the Rangers’ farm clubs during the regular season, Daniels indicated.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Greg Maddux is leaving the Chicago Cubs to join the Texas Rangers, reuniting him with his brother Mike.

The Rangers said Tuesday that Greg Maddux will become a special assistant to the general manager, the same role he held with the Cubs the last two seasons.

When asked what drew him to the Rangers, Greg Maddux responded: “Probably the majority of it was my brother.” He also said it was very attractive to work with Hall of Fame pitcher and Rangers President Nolan Ryan.

Mike Maddux has been the Rangers’ pitching coach for the last three seasons. He interviewed to become manager of the Cubs before Dale Sveum was hired this month.

Greg Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, will be an instructor at major and minor league spring training and will visit farm teams during the season.

“I like being around the game at the highest level possible,” he said. “I will be another set of eyes. I will try to use the experiences I’ve had in the game and just pass those down to the players and coaches, just try to help out any way possible.”

The brothers had first spoken about eventually working together when Greg Maddux took his job with former Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who was fired in August.

Greg Maddux said Hendry’s departure made him more open to see if working with Mike was a possibility now.

The part-time gig also allows Greg Maddux to spent time at home in Las Vegas with his 14-year-old son, helping his team and coaching younger kids.

“I missed the first 10 years of his life, I’m playing catch-up right now,” he said. “At the same time, I want to try to keep my feet wet in the game.”

Greg Maddux pitched 744 major league games from 1986-2008. He finished a 355-227 record and 3.16 ERA for the Cubs, Atlanta, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego. His Cy Young Awards came from 1992-95.

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When Mike Maddux was interviewing for the head managerial job at the Chicago Cubs, one of the things he spoke of was keeping his younger brother Greg Maddux in a prime position as well. It made plenty of sense because Greg pitched for the Cubs at the start and end of his career. Retaining a hometown hero, especially to secure the services of a manager you were seeking, is a win-win.

However, things did not go as planned and the Cubs chose to move in another direction, stating that it seemed like Mike would be focusing more of his attention on his kids in Texas instead of on rebuilding the Cubs. That means the man who made Texas one of the best pitching staffs in baseball would return for another season in Arlington.

On Nov. 29, another announcement was made as Greg Maddux accepted a position in the Texas front-office staff as well. Mike wanted his brother in Chicago and ended up getting him in Texas instead. Once again, it is a win-win for both the Maddux brothers as well as the Texas Rangers organization.

Throughout the ’90s, and part of the last decade as well, Greg Maddux was one of the most dominating pitchers in major league baseball. The Texas native retired with 355 wins in his career, a lifetime 3.16 ERA and 3,371 strikeouts. He was an eight-time all-star, four-time Cy Young winner in the NL and 18-time Gold Glove winner. He won the World Series in 1995 and had his number retired by both the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves.

Now, Greg takes the next step in his career as the special assistant to general manager Jon Daniels. Daniels said that Maddux will help his brother with the development of the pitching staff in the Rangers’ organization. He served the same role in Chicago where he worked as a Spring Training instructor and scout. While Mike Maddux will work as the major league pitching coach, Greg will work with the young players the Rangers hope to add to their big league roster.

It was easily a win-win situation.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and dreams of the year they finally win the big one.

Source: MLB.COM

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Greg Maddux is leaving the Chicago Cubs to join the Texas Rangers, reuniting him with his brother Mike.

The Rangers said Tuesday that Greg Maddux will become a special assistant to the general manager, the same role he held with the Cubs the last two seasons.

Mike Maddux has been the Rangers’ pitching coach for the last three seasons. He interviewed to become manager of the Cubs before Dale Sveum was hired this month.

Greg Maddux, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, will be an instructor at major and minor league spring training and will visit farm teams during the season.

ARLINGTON, Texas — An artist has been selected by the Texas Rangers to create a statue honoring fallen Brownwood firefighter Shannon Stone.Bruce Greene, known as one of the nation’s top Western artists and sculptors, was named by Rangers President Nolan Ryan on Tuesday.Stone died July 7 after falling about 20 feet at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington while trying to catch a baseball thrown into the stands.Stone was trying to catch the ball for his 6-year-old son, Cooper, who was beside at the time of the accident. The ball was being thrown into the stands by Rangers star Josh Hamilton, Cooper’s favorite player.The statue, to be entitled “Rangers Fans,” will depict Shannon Stone and Cooper attending a Rangers game. The bronze statue will be located outside the Home Plate Gate at the ballpark, according to mlb.com and texasrangers.com.Greene’s studio is located on his ranch near Clifton, Texas. His paintings and sculptures are exhibited in a number of museums and galleries throughout the nation, including the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, and the Phoenix, Ariz., Art Museum.Greene may be best-known for his “Immortal Ten Memorial,” located on the Baylor University campus, a sculpture completed in 2007 on the 80th anniversary of a deadly bus crash near Austin that took the lives of 10 Baylor players, coaches and fans.The statue honoring Shannon Stone will be the third sculpture at Rangers Ballpark. Full-size bronze statues of Nolan Ryan and Tom Vandergriff were dedicated in 1997 and are in the Vandergriff Plaza, located beyond centerfield in the ballpark.

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