MADDUX ON THE SPOT HE HAS TASK OF KEEPING SEASON ALIVE.

Byline: TONY JACKSON Staff Writer

On the surface, the Dodgers would appear to be handing the ball to the perfect man at the perfect moment.

With the club standing one defeat away from elimination, Greg Maddux's stone-faced stoicism seems tailored to pressure-packed dilemmas like this one, as do his 333 career victories and his certain Hall of Fame status.

This is the reason the Dodgers acquired him at the trade deadline. But if they fail to extend the National League Division Series beyond tonight's Game 3, when Maddux will make his first start of these playoffs against the New York Mets, it could be the reason for that, too.

At age 40 and possibly on the verge of retirement, Maddux has become an enigma when it comes to postseason play. In 31career appearances, 29 of them starts, he has a sterling 3.22 ERA. But he has only an 11-14 record to show for it.

And for all of his legendary achievements, Maddux has just one World Series ring, which he got with Atlanta in 1995.

Maddux is the all-time poster boy for the concept of finesse pitching. But while that is his biggest regular-season asset, it might be his biggest postseason liability.

Generally, the playoffs are ruled by intimidating, imposing power pitchers. The slightly built, scholarly looking Maddux isn't intimidating or imposing, and neither is his stuff.

``But his pitches have a lot of movement, and that's what has allowed him to become great,'' said New York Mets left fielder Cliff Floyd, who enters tonight's game batting .247 (18 for 73) with 17 strikeouts against Maddux.

``I think power depends on what kind of power you have. If a guy throws the ball 97 mph and straight, he's going to get crushed at this level. If a pitcher can change speeds, hit corners and make the ball move and dip, he can be throwing 80 mph and still get guys to pop up.''

That may be true, but the conditions tend to change in the playoffs. Maddux and fellow finesse pitcher Tom Glavine of the Mets, long-time teammates in Atlanta, thrive on the fact umpires tend to give them widened strike zones during the regular season, an obvious nod to their achievements and their shared tendency to live on the corners.

But there is a prevailing school of thought that in the playoffs, when umpires know they are being closely scrutinized by league officials, strike zones tend to actually shrink.

``I think everybody is pretty true to the vest in the postseason,'' Dodgers manager Grady Little said. ``The umpires' No. 1 job is to be as consistent as they can be, and they are.''

On the flip side, Maddux also was the victim of a notorious hard-luck loss to Florida in Game 5 of the 1997 NL Championship Series. Plate umpire Eric Gregg's strike zone was so ridiculously wide that day that it helped the Marlins' Livan Hernandez more than Maddux, and the Braves wound up losing 2-1 in the pivotal game of that series.

It isn't that Maddux has been awful in the postseason. That much is made clear by his ERA. But the irony is that he hasn't received tremendous run support, which bears out the fact he usually has been pitted against one of those power pitchers whose styles are so different from his and who have managed to shut down the offense of whatever team Maddux was pitching for.

Maddux has his own theories about pitching in the playoffs.

``Really, it's the same as it is during the season or during spring training,'' he said. ``There is just a little more eyewash on the outside of it. But you do what you can to try to fight through that and just try to get ready for the game, the same way you would if it were spring training, April, May, June or July and so on.

``I only know one way to pitch. Hopefully, that will be good enough (tonight).''

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CAPTION(S):

photo, 6 boxes

Photo:

(color) Greg Maddux has a 3.22 postseason ERA, but just an 11-14 record to show for it.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) GAME 1

(2) GAME 2

(3) GAME 3

(4) GAME 4

(5) GAME 5

(6) PROBABLE GAME 3 STARTERS