A little more than a year ago, it seemed that we couldn’t talk enough about Roger Clemens and the 300th victory he was about to nail down. And the talk wasn’t about whether the Rocket was one of the best pitchers of a generation or even two generations, but about whether he deserved to be considered one of the greatest of all time.

So now another right-hander who has defined excellence in the National League for nearly two decades the same way Clemens had in the American League achieved that same magic number.

And it’s almost as if no one cares.

This isn’t being fair to Greg Maddux, especially since it is possible that, at the age of 38, he could end up with even more wins at the end of his career than the celebrated Clemens, who got his 300th at the age of 40.

But life hasn’t ever really been fair to Maddux. OK, that’s hyperbole.

One can hardly complain about being given nearly matchless skills in a very difficult game and about being assured a place in the hall of fame. But it’s not as big a stretch as it sounds.

Maddux’ problem is that he doesn’t overpower people, he tricks them. He doesn’t make strong men, the best in the world at what they do, look puny and weak, he does it by making them look silly.

Clemens devours.

Maddux nibbles.

But, if few have ever been better than Clemens at winning with power (Nolan Ryan was better at pitching with power, but, with the lowest winning percentage of any starting pitcher in the hall of fame, he didn’t always win that way.), just as few has been as good at nibbling as Maddux.

And, since the object is to get the other guys out and win the game, there’s no difference between an out generated by toying with the corners and getting ground balls and weak flies and one generated with splitters low and heaters high and tight.

That being the case, it’s time to give Maddux his due as a truly great pitcher. Unlike Clemens, who has six 20-win seasons, Maddux has but one. He also, unlike Clemens, has twice had losing seasons, in the first two seasons of his career.

But Clemens has also had years of nine wins, 10 wins, 11, wins, 13 wins, and 14 wins. Maddux, over the past sixteen years, has never won fewer than 15 games in a season. That happens to be a record for consecutive 15-win seasons, and it goes to another mark of excellence — consistency.

Maddux isn’t Clemens, as he will constantly be reminded. Clemens, as of Saturday, has 322 wins and 163 losses; Maddux has 300 wins and 170 losses.

Clemens wins more often. And Maddux’ career ERA of 2.93 looks better than Clemens’ 3.16, but pitching in the American League puts an extra 0.4-0.5 runs per game on your ERA, so if you adjusted for that, Clemens wins there, too.

But to say a pitcher isn’t as good as Clemens is like saying Raphael wasn’t as good a painter as Michelangelo or Georg Friedrich Handl wasn’t as good at pounding the pianoforte as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

And I have to be honest. I’ve never given Maddux his due as a truly great pitcher. For years, I was convinced that the reason he won was because National League umpires gave him a plate that was about 20 inches wide, which is six inches wider than the rule book says it should be.

But one of the good things Bud Selig has done as commissioner is demand that the umps call the actual strike zone, not their personal ideas of what the strike zone ought to be. When the plate got smaller, I thought Maddux would lose his effectiveness.

And for several seasons, it seemed early in the year as if he had. But he’d always straighten out, always ring up 15 or more wins, always drive hitters crazy by changing speed and location and spin. This year has been the same.

He went 2-3 in April, was 6-6 at the end of June, and, after four straight wins and five out of six, he’s 11-7.

And the guy I also criticized for barely being a six-inning pitcher is going nearly seven a game this year. He has two complete games, more than he’s had since he did three in an entire season in 2001, and his last victory was his first shutout in three years.

He turned 38 in April. Clemens turns 42 in August. Clemens is 23 wins ahead of Maddux. But if Maddux keeps throwing the way he has all his life — and there’s not a lot of reason to think he won’t — he should be able to finish his career with more wins than even Roger.

Hitters say that Maddux is as smart as any pitcher ever, a right-handed Warren Spahn who knows what the hitters are thinking before they know themselves.

He’s also got a pile of gold gloves. The guy who, before Lasik surgery, always looked like a junior law partner on the mound with his glasses, is one heck of an athlete. He’s also one of the better golfers in both leagues.

And now he is the 22nd member of the 300 Club, and, given the changes in the game, there aren’t going to be a lot after him. He may not be Clemens, but he’s still in a league of his own.

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