May 12, 2008
‘Dream’ debut: From Aylmer to catching Maddux’s 350th win
By SUN WIRES
SAN DIEGO — Greg Maddux’s 350th victory might have meant more to a 27-year-old catcher from Aylmer making his big-league debut.
Luke Carlin, who caught the win Saturday night, a day after the Padres purchased his contract from Triple-A Portland, said he’ll never forget catching two future Hall of Famers — Maddux and closer Trevor Hoffman — on a historic night.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s kind of like all my dreams came true at once, I guess,” Carlin said. “It was a privilege, an honour. I’m pretty much speechless.”
Hoffman pitched the ninth and earned his big-league record 530th save.
“Trev gave me the ball. That was cool,” said Maddux, the ninth pitcher with 350 wins — and the only active hurler to reach the milestone.
“I’ll take any free ball I can get. I’ll give it to my kid. Let him go play with it somewhere.”
Carlin and Maddux, 42, talked Thursday and Friday about how to set up and what pitches Maddux wanted to throw. The pitcher also told the catcher to have fun.
“He made it so easy for me,” Carlin said.
Maddux praised his new battery mate.
“(Carlin) did real good — set up right, gave a very good target and it looked like he had fun,” Maddux said. “It’s kind of hard to tell sometimes because his mask is on all the time, but it looked like he actually enjoyed being back there. That was pretty cool.
“I was happy for him,” Maddux added. “Your first day in the big leagues, trust me, is a lot more special than things you do