For Greg Maddux, it came down to a simple question posed long ago.

He was a young pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and was asked by pre-eminent sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman "to ask myself have I ever wondered how good I can be," Maddux, 41, told IBD.

"I never asked myself that question before," said Maddux, who now pitches for the San Diego Padres. He decided to answer it with a work ethic that encompasses what he calls the "three D's: desire, dedication, discipline. Those were brought up to me at a pretty young age, and I bought into it."

Maddux could've added a fourth D: deeds. His 340 career wins and four straight Cy Young Awards from 1992 to '95 make him a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer. Maddux ranks 10th in career wins on a list that includes four pitchers not from baseball's modern era. His winning percentage is better than 60%.

Some say Maddux is among the finest right-handers since Walter Johnson retired in 1927. "He's perfect, as perfect as you can get," said Bobby Cox, Maddux's longtime manager with the Atlanta Braves.

Braves pitcher John Smoltz said of his old teammate: "He never did more than he was capable of doing. He stayed within himself and stayed within his ability."

Los Angeles Dodgers announcer and former teammate Steve Lyons says Maddux wasn't necessarily a great athlete, but made himself into a great pitcher.

Think And Throw

At 6 feet and 180 pounds, Maddux isn't the intimidating physical specimen in the mold of a Randy Johnson or Steve Carlton. He doesn't posses the overwhelming fastball of a Nolan Ryan. While his velocity is considered average, Maddux maximizes his ability by studying hitters and developing uncanny control and placement of his fastball.

"Maddux is probably the best pitcher in all of baseball, along with Roger Clemens," Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Randy Johnson, the only other player to win four straight Cy Young Awards, said on Baseball-Almanac.com. "He's much more intelligent than I am because he doesn't have a 95 or 98 mph fastball. I would tell any pitcher who wants to be successful to watch him, because he's the true definition of a pitcher."

Maddux said a few years ago: "I could probably throw harder if I wanted, but why? When they're in a jam, a lot of pitchers try to throw harder. Me, I try to locate better. I try to do two things: locate my fastball and change speeds. That's it. I try to keep it as simple as possible."

Leo Mazzone, Maddux's longtime pitching coach with the Braves, said: "He's got the greatest control of any pitcher I've ever seen, as far as being able to hit a target on a consistent basis, and I've been in this game 40 years. He spent 80% of his preparation in between starts working on the command of his fastball."

Even today, with all he's accomplished, Maddux often studies film of hitters three hours before a game when he isn't even scheduled to pitch for a few days.

"He has a relentless approach to preparation and in striving for perfection," said Michael Barrett, a catcher with the Padres who also caught Maddux with the Cubs in the pitcher's second go-round with the team. "Whether it's preparation, approach or working on every aspect of his game to make the most of his ability, he's relentless."

Former Atlanta teammate and catcher Eddie Perez said his former battery mate has "a mind-set for what he's going to do in a game, and even for situations in games. He's ready for everything."

Perez talks about the time a few years ago when Maddux took a shutout into the ninth inning in a game in which the Braves led the Houston Astros by several runs. Maddux had told Perez he wouldn't be throwing inside to the Astros' slugging first baseman, Jeff Bagwell. Yet with a runner on first, Maddux decided to come inside to Bagwell, who hit a home run. After the game Perez, who wanted the shutout, asked Maddux why he went against his own game plan.

"Maddux said, 'Two months from now, Bagwell's going to look for that pitch and it's going to be a different game, maybe 2-1, 3-1. It's going to be a playoff game, and he's going to look for that pitch.' I just said, whatever," Perez said. "So two months later, we're in the playoffs, bases loaded in the seventh, and here comes Bagwell. We struck him out and we won the game. I had forgotten about what happened a couple of months earlier. So after the game Maddux says, 'Let me show you something.' We go to the video room and he says: 'Look at this. Remember that Bagwell homer? He was looking for that pitch today.' Maddux knows everybody at bat, and he knows how to pitch them. He's always paying attention."

Mazzone said: "Maddux recognizes the reaction of hitters to his pitches better than anyone I've ever been around. I think there's a whole lot of people in this game that have the answers after the fact. He's one of the few in the game that I think has the answer before the fact."

For all his individual awards and accolades, Maddux values his team accomplishments most. He takes no satisfaction in pitching well if his team loses, as he told the Washington Post after the Braves lost a World Series game to the New York Yankees in 1999.

And while he says he's proud of his Cy Young Awards, he contends his biggest accomplishment was earning a World Series ring with the Braves in 1995.

"He's just a competitor, and he doesn't like losing," said former teammate Terry Pendleton, now the Braves' hitting coach. "Losing, he doesn't accept that. He's going to do whatever it takes to be better than the hitters are."

Fun Job

What keeps Maddux, a native of San Angelo, Texas, pitching in his 22nd year in the big leagues? He says it's the joy of baseball. It's also his effectiveness, as he displayed by pitching five shutout innings in the Padres' 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday.

With all his experience, it's no wonder young pitchers ask him for advice. "My best advice is don't offer any unless they want it," he said. "I really believe that there are a hundred different ways to pitch out there on the mound, and you have to find ways that work best for you. I'm very careful with the young players. I don't really offer much. I just try to be there for them and be honest with their questions. And I'm still learning from them also."

In some way it all goes back to the question: How good can he be?

"To this day I'm still trying to answer that question," he said.

BY MICHAEL MINK