Although it is a deviation from our normal focus on law and politics, I thought I would take this opportunity to note Greg Maddux's retirement from baseball. Maddux's record shows that he was probably the greatest pitcher of the post-World War II era. He won 355 games (more than any other postwar pitcher) finished with a 3.16 ERA an impressive 32% better than league average, and won four straight Cy Young Awards. In the postwar era, his peak period (roughly 1992-98) is equalled only by the peak years of Pedro Martinez, Sandy Koufax, and Roger Clemens. Of these, only Clemens also matched Maddux' longevity. Clemens' career stats are probably slightly better than Maddux's. However, we now know that the last 10 years of Clemens career were tainted by steroids use, which leaves Maddux as clearly the best clean pitcher of his era.

Maddux also is impressive because he achieved all this without having a great arm by major league standards. He's an inspiration to overachievers everywhere.