Major League Baseball

Maddux won't go into Hall of Fame as a Brave

Published Jan. 23, 2014 5:11 p.m. ET

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Cory McCartney

While three Braves icons will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, one of them won't be going in with an 'A' on his plaque.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced the cap selection for each of this year's class Thursday, with Greg Maddux opting for no logo instead of choosing between Atlanta and the Cubs.

Maddux's former teammate Tom Glavine and manager Bobby Cox will both go in as Braves when they are all inducted on July 26.

"I feel good about it," Maddux told FOXSportsSouthwest.com. "I spent half my career in Chicago and half my career in Atlanta. I came up a Cub and played there for six years and went back for three more. I was in Atlanta for 11 years so it comes out to about the same amount of time in both cities. I love both places."

Maddux was drafted by the Cubs in 1984 and won a Cy Young in Chicago before leaving for the Braves in 1992 as a free agent. He won three Cy Youngs with Atlanta and a World Series title, then returned to the Cubs in 2004 and stayed two more years before ending his career with stints with the Padres and Dodgers.

He threw 2,526 2/3 innings for the Braves and 2,016 for the Cubs.

"It's impossible for me to choose one of those teams for my Hall of Fame plaque, as the fans of both clubs in each of those cities were so wonderful," Maddux said in a statement. "I can't think of having my Hall of Fame induction without support of both of those fan bases, so, for that reason, the cap on my Hall of Fame plaque will not feature a logo.”

He's not the only member of this class to go sans logo on their plaque -- manager Tony La Russa will too -- and in all there are 128 players already in Cooperstown who don't have a team on their cap. The last was Catfish Hunter, who played for both the A's and Yankees.

"The Museum staff works with each inductee by suggesting an appropriate logo option, or no logo at all," said Jeff Idelson, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "For those whose most compelling contributions clearly took place with one team, a logo makes sense. For those whose careers were built significantly among multiple teams, not having a team logo is equally acceptable. Regardless of the selection, a Hall of Famer belong to every team for which he played or managed, as well as every fan who followed his career."

Frank Thomas, the other member of the Class of 2014, will have a White Sox logo on his cap.

Cox, who retired fourth all-time with 2,504 wins, began his managerial career with the Braves in 1978. He was fired four years later and following a four-year run with the Blue Jays that included a 1985 AL East title, returned to Atlanta.

Hired as the team's GM, he was back in the dugout in 1990 and led the team to 14 straight division titles and a 1995 championship. It's that run that was responsible for him becoming a HOFer.

"I was fortunate to manage 29 years in the major leagues in two wonderful cities in Toronto and Atlanta," Cox said. "I can't imagine two better places for me to spend my managerial career. With 25 of those years in Atlanta, my Hall of Fame election is a direct result of all the success of those great Braves teams that were assembled."

Like Cox and Maddux, Glavine made his mark with two franchises, but he spent the bulk of his career -- 17 seasons -- in Atlanta and just five with the Mets.

In his time as a Braves, Glavine won 244 of his 305 games, a pair of Cy Youngs and a 1995 World Series MVP. He won 65 games in New York with two All-Star Game appearances.

"During the course of my major league career, I had the opportunity to play for two great organizations," Glavine said. "Though I spent five great years with the Mets, my baseball life has been defined by the city of Atlanta, from the club selecting me out of high school to where my family makes our home today. My path to Cooperstown was largely determined by my 17 major league seasons in a Braves uniform. I'm proud my Hall of Fame plaque will feature a Braves logo."

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