Bill Madlock
| Bill Madlock | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Madlock playing for the Dodgers in 1986
|
|||
| Third baseman | |||
|
Born: January 2, 1951 Memphis, Tennessee |
|||
|
|||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 7, 1973, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 4, 1987, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .305 | ||
| Home runs | 163 | ||
| Runs batted in | 860 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 2, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball player. From 1973 to 1987, Madlock was a right-handed hitter who won four National League batting titles. His record of four batting titles as a third baseman would be eclipsed in 1988 by Wade Boggs. Since 1970, only Tony Gwynn has won more National League batting titles (eight). Madlock is also one of only three right-handed hitters to have won multiple National League batting titles since 1960, Roberto Clemente having also won four and Tommy Davis having won back-to-back titles in 1962 and 1963.
Bill Madlock was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Decatur, Illinois, where he graduated from Eisenhower High School. His future wife Cynthia attended the same city's Stephen Decatur High School.
At Eisenhower High he played basketball, football and baseball. He received 150 scholarship offers for his skills as a basketball player, around 100 for his skills as a football player and two for his skills as a baseball player. He accepted one of the two baseball scholarships, at Southeastern Community College in Keokuk, Iowa, because of his preference for playing a less hazardous game. His reasoning was clear from what he later told a Sports Illustrated reporter: "I didn't want to have 6'5", 250-pound guys bearing down on me, so I decided to play baseball."
He was considered for the baseball draft by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1969, but would not sign with the Cardinals for two reasons. The first was because he figured he would have a difficult time breaking into the majors as a shortstop given the abilities of the Cardinal shortstop at the time, Dal Maxvill. The second was the delay required by the birth of his daughter Sara in December 1969. By the time Madlock was ready to sign with a major league baseball team, he had decided to go with an offer from the Washington Senators organization.
While an active player with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983, Madlock's three children, his daughter Sara and his older sons Stephen and Douglas, had earned the nickname "The Mad Puppies" around the Pirates clubhouse. Madlock's fourth child, his son Jeremy, was born in what was described as a "tense delivery" by Madlock, who witnessed it in the delivery room, in that same year.
In a 15-season career, Madlock, nicknamed "Mad Dog", compiled a .305 batting average with 2008 hits, 163 home runs and 860 runs batted in.
...
Wikipedia