"He was unbelievable, the greatest control of any pitcher probably in the history of Baseball," former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone said of Maddux, 42, who won four Cy Young Awards and ranks eighth in career wins with 355, more than any other living pitcher.

"He is the best artist I ever saw paint a Baseball game," said Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, a former Braves broadcaster. "I wish I could have played with him. By osmosis I probably would have won 50 more games."

After averaging nearly 18 wins during an 11-year stint with the Braves through 2003, Maddux finished his career with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, going 8-13 in 2008 for the Dodgers and Padres.

"I came up here just to say thank you," Maddux said to a crowd of media and team officials in a Bellagio Hotel ballroom at Baseball's annual winter meetings. "I appreciate everything this game's given me. It's gonna be hard to walk away. But it's time.

"I have a family I need to spend more time with. I still think I can play the game, but not as well as I'd like to. So it's time to say goodbye."

He said he might consider coaching or managing in the future.

Maddux went 194-88 with a 2.63 ERA in 11 seasons with Atlanta, forming with Tom Glavine and John Smoltz the dominant "Big Three" that won six Cy Young Awards for the Braves and sparked their run of 14 straight division titles.

"It's hard to describe how good the guy was," Braves manager Bobby Cox said of Maddux, who won 16 or more games 10 times in 11 seasons with Atlanta, including 19 or more five times.

"There's certainly no superlative you can use that would adequately describe his career and what he was about," Glavine said. "He's arguably the greatest pitcher of our generation."

Smoltz said, "It was absolutely beyond the word 'pleasure' to have played with him for so long. We look back now and realize that it was pretty incredible. It was the 10 greatest years of my career."

Glavine agreed: "No question about it. That'll be the 10 best years of my career, and certainly the years that define my career and to a certain extent the [ Atlanta ] Braves and all three of us."

From 1988-2008, Maddux made at least 33 starts annually except the shortened 1994-95 seasons. In those two, he was 35-8 with a minuscule 1.60 ERA --- more than 2 1/2 runs below the league average.

All about the postseason

The period with Atlanta is what he remembers most fondly.

"Very special," Maddux said. "We won all 11 years I was in Atlanta. ... Just to be around that atmosphere --- I remember Bobby talking about in spring training, that we were getting ready for the postseason. We weren't getting ready for the season; we were getting ready for the postseason."

He looked across the room Monday at Cox, in attendance with Braves president John Schuerholz, team trainer Jeff Porter and travel director Bill Acree.

"Bobby, thank you," Maddux said, "for everything you taught me about the game. Leo as well, and all the coaches. ... I just had a lot of coaches that taught me so much about the game."

Cox said Maddux had "as good a control as I've ever seen, but also the most movement on a Baseball of any pitcher I've ever seen in my 50 years in the game.

"He was probably the smartest player I've ever been around. But he had talent, too. And the guy never missed starts."

Maddux said Glavine had something to do with that.

"Probably the biggest thing I learned pitching alongside Glavine was to realize you don't have to be 100 percent to win," he said. "You have to take the ball, and you have to go out there.

"Sometimes it's really easy to say, 'I need another day or two.' But in Atlanta, we pitched. Tommy led the way with that. He showed everybody that if you go out there, if you could throw the ball over the plate you had a chance to win, no matter how bad you felt."

Smoltz, 41, and Glavine, 42, are rehabbing this winter and hope to continue pitching after season-ending arm surgeries in 2008.

Barring a change of mind, Maddux is a lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame in five years, when he's eligible.

The brain

Maddux was signed as a free agent by then-GM Schuerholz after a 20-win season in 1992 with the Chicago Cubs. "Throughout the years of free agency, I think he was the greatest free agent ever signed," Schuerholz said. "I was proud to be a part of that."

After winning his first Cy Young Award with the Cubs in 1992, Maddux swept the next three awards with the Braves. All without bringing much attention to himself.

"He wanted to quietly stick it to you and go unnoticed," Mazzone said. "He had a fire in him that nobody saw unless you were down in that tunnel once in a while. And he pitched when his arm hurt, too.

"I've seen him get cortisone patches put on his arm between innings, stuff like that. He took great pride in going to the post, as they [Braves starters from that era] did."

For Maddux, it was a period of dominance the likes of which has rarely been seen in Baseball's live-ball era.

"Every time he went out there you felt you were gonna win," Cox said. "We had to mess something up not to win."

After going 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA for the Cubs in 1992, Maddux was 20-10 with a 2.36 ERA for the Braves in 1993.

"He told me one time, 'Everybody thinks I'm the smartest pitcher in Baseball and that I outsmart everybody,' " Mazzone said. "He said, 'Well, it's amazing how smart you can look when you can put your fastball where you want it.' "

His control was never more apparent than when Maddux had fewer walks than starts in a season --- 28 walks in 35 starts in 1996 and 20 walks in 33 starts in 1997.

"He's like a meticulous surgeon out there --- he puts the ball where he wants to," Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn once said.

Maddux also issued fewer walks than starts in 2001 and 2003, then returned to Chicago as a free agent after the payroll-conscious Braves didn't try to re-sign him.

He ran his record-breaking streak to 17 seasons with at least 15 wins with a 16-11 record in 2004, but he had his first 4.00 ERA since 1987. His 13-15 record in 2005 was his first losing season since 1987.

When he left the Braves, he had a 289-163 record and 2.89 ERA. He was 66-64 with a 4.16 ERA since, and 355-227 with a 3.16 ERA for his career.

"When I heard he was going to retire, it brought back tremendous memories," Mazzone said. "I wish we could do it all over."

Greg Maddux was a model of consistency throughout his long career, evidenced below by almost identical deliveries with four different teams:

355: Career victories, which rank eighth all time

3.16: Career ERA in 23 seasons

4: Cy Young Awards: '92, '93, '94, '95

11: Seasons pitched with the Braves (194-88 record)

17: Consecutive 15-win seasons (MLB record)

18: Gold Gloves, the most in history

8: All-Star appearances, six with the Braves

16: Consecutive seasons with an ERA under 4.00

999: Career walks, an average of 43 per season

740: Career games started, fourth all time