Brewers

From Jayson Stark's rumblin stumblin grumblin's

The Maddux who has had the biggest impact on the National League in 2007 might not be Greg. It could be his big brother Mike, who has turned into one of the best pitching coaches in the biz in Milwaukee.

There are plenty of examples of pitchers Maddux has turned around. But how about his three closers -- Dan Kolb (signed after getting released by Texas), Derrick Turnbow (a waiver claim) and Francisco Cordero (who had a 7.50 ERA last year this time in Texas).

"Let's just say it's not by accident these three guys all developed into All-Star closers," said manager Ned Yost. Maddux told Rumblings he doesn't want any accolades. "I'll take the blame," he said. "Let them [the pitchers] get the credit." Sorry. He gets it anyway.

Maddux built back Cordero's psyche and expanded his repertoire. He encouraged Turnbow to go home last winter, after a brutal year, and "hit the eraser button." And now he reminds The Chief constantly to slow down and "control the pace of the game." And how did Maddux figure out the secret to controlling that pace? By doing such a lousy job of it during his own career, he said. "That's how I learned," he laughed. "By looking back on my playing days and figuring out all the things I wish I'd done different."

• While everybody was fixating on J.J. Hardy's home run total, we might have missed his most incredible stat of all. He has been so locked in, 57 percent of his swings have put the ball in play this year. That's the fourth-best percentage in the NL. And no one else in the top 10 has hit more than two homers. "I can't tell you how badly I missed on J.J. Hardy as an offensive player," said one executive who scouted Hardy in high school. "I loved his hands in the field. He had an unbelievable arm. But I thought there was no way his bat would work at all. Too much swinging and missing." Hey, not anymore.

That is amazing!