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Most Cubs fans can remember the day that Greg Maddux left Chicago. With his first Cy Young Award in hand, the six-year veteran, who had won 95 games and a division title with the Cubs, decided to take less money to pitch for the up-and-coming Atlanta Braves.

Eleven seasons, 194 victories, and four Cy Young Awards later, Maddux's career has come full circle.

Now, don't get us Cubs fans wrong, we know that the Greg Maddux who will be pitching at Wrigley Field this season is not the same Greg Maddux who won the Cy Young in 1992. We've accepted that.

The reason excitement has generated around the city is because we still love the guy just as much as we did before. He didn't leave on bad terms. He didn't take the money and run like Alex Rodriguez. He took less money for a chance to win. And you can't blame him for that, no matter who you are.

The sight of Greg Maddux back in a Cubs uniform is certain to bring back memories of the late '80s and early '90s, even if the overall team memories are not so fond. Nothing is going to be better than watching him collect win No. 300 in a Chicago Cubs uniform.

Until Kerry Wood arrived in 1998, the Cubs lacked the star-power on the pitching staff that Maddux brought with each trip to the mound. Now with Wood and Maddux teaming up with Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano and Matt Clement, the Cubs possess one of the most formidable pitching staffs in all of baseball.

His return to Chicago has heightened the already soaring optimism of Cubs fans for this upcoming season, one that already had the Cubs listed as the favorite by most in the NL Central, even before one of the greatest pitchers of all-time decided to make his return to the Windy City.

What Maddux brings the Cubs rotation is something that no other team in baseball has: a solid pitching rotation from No. 1 through No. 5.

With the additions of Derrek Lee and a healthy Corey Patterson joining Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, and Aramis Ramirez in the lineup, the Cubs run support should, and will, increase from last season.

The pitching is there, and now the offense is there, too. No other teams, especially those in the NL, can compete with a rotation from top to bottom like the Cubs now possess.

When Maddux officially signs his new three-year, $24 million contract and reports to spring training, it will immediately prove that this is much, much larger than the Cubs simply acquiring another No. 4 or 5 starter. Just the reaction by Cubs fans upon hearing his agreement in principle on a contract will tell you that.

Not only are the Cubs and their fans more than happy to have him back in Chicago, it is evident that Maddux is more than happy to be back. He could have signed on to be the ace of the staff in San Diego; he could have easily joined the Yankees and their all-star squad; he could have bolted to the west coast and played for the Giants or Dodgers.

However, Maddux signed with Chicago, knowing full well he would be overshadowed by the young quartet of Wood, Prior, Zambrano and Clement. He will be the highest paid end-of-the-rotation starter in all of baseball, and probably the happiest, too.

The Chicago Cubs and Greg Maddux are a perfect fit for each other, and a reunion every Cubs fan has been hoping they would see since the day he left. We've seen Maddux win a Cy Young award, and division title, and, soon, his 300th career victory, in a Cubs uniform.

Don't be surprised if you see Maddux holding up a World Series trophy in a Cubs uniform, too.

E-mail Jeff Bartl at bartlstud4@msn.com