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Bill Madlock
Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League batting champion. His four batting titles as a third baseman was a record until Wade Boggs attained his fifth in 1988. 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.
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. 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.
Madlock has four children with his late wife Cynthia: Sara, Stephen, Douglas and Jeremy.
In a 15-season career, covering 1806 games, Madlock, nicknamed "Mad Dog", compiled a .305 batting average with 2008 hits, 920 runs, 348 doubles, 163 home runs, 174 stolen bases, 605 bases on balls and 860 runs batted in (RBI).
Madlock was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 5th round of the secondary phase of the 1970 amateur draft. After spending a few years in the minor leagues, with a season with the Ossining Oxen in the team's only season, he made his debut with the Texas Rangers (who had moved from Washington after the 1971 season) on September 7, 1973, and played 21 games with them, batting .351. Prior to his promotion, he led the Pacific Coast League in total bases (268) and runs scored (119), finished second in batting (.338) and had 22 homers and 90 RBI at Triple-A Spokane. He was traded along with Vic Harris from the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for Ferguson Jenkins on October 25, 1973. His new manager with the Cubs Whitey Lockman said about him, "Our scouts are extremely high on Madlock as being one of the best hitting prospects they have seen in some time." Madlock replaced Ron Santo as the Cubs' third baseman and hit .313, the highest average for a Cubs third baseman since Stan Hack batted .323 in 1945. In 1975 Madlock won his first batting title with a .354 average. On July 26 of that year he went 6-for-6 during a Cubs' loss to the New York Mets. He also made the first of his three All-Star appearances and shared Game MVP honors with Jon Matlack.
In 1976 Madlock repeated as batting champion with a .339 average, edging out Ken Griffey Sr. of the Cincinnati Reds on the final day of the regular season (October 3, 1976). In an 8–2 win over the Montreal Expos, Madlock collected four singles to raise his average from .333 to .339, one point ahead of Griffey. Griffey belatedly entered his team's game (which the Reds won 11–1 over the Atlanta Braves), and went 0-for-2, dropping his average to .336.
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Bill Madlock
Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League batting champion. His four batting titles as a third baseman was a record until Wade Boggs attained his fifth in 1988. 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.
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. 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.
Madlock has four children with his late wife Cynthia: Sara, Stephen, Douglas and Jeremy.
In a 15-season career, covering 1806 games, Madlock, nicknamed "Mad Dog", compiled a .305 batting average with 2008 hits, 920 runs, 348 doubles, 163 home runs, 174 stolen bases, 605 bases on balls and 860 runs batted in (RBI).
Madlock was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 5th round of the secondary phase of the 1970 amateur draft. After spending a few years in the minor leagues, with a season with the Ossining Oxen in the team's only season, he made his debut with the Texas Rangers (who had moved from Washington after the 1971 season) on September 7, 1973, and played 21 games with them, batting .351. Prior to his promotion, he led the Pacific Coast League in total bases (268) and runs scored (119), finished second in batting (.338) and had 22 homers and 90 RBI at Triple-A Spokane. He was traded along with Vic Harris from the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for Ferguson Jenkins on October 25, 1973. His new manager with the Cubs Whitey Lockman said about him, "Our scouts are extremely high on Madlock as being one of the best hitting prospects they have seen in some time." Madlock replaced Ron Santo as the Cubs' third baseman and hit .313, the highest average for a Cubs third baseman since Stan Hack batted .323 in 1945. In 1975 Madlock won his first batting title with a .354 average. On July 26 of that year he went 6-for-6 during a Cubs' loss to the New York Mets. He also made the first of his three All-Star appearances and shared Game MVP honors with Jon Matlack.
In 1976 Madlock repeated as batting champion with a .339 average, edging out Ken Griffey Sr. of the Cincinnati Reds on the final day of the regular season (October 3, 1976). In an 8–2 win over the Montreal Expos, Madlock collected four singles to raise his average from .333 to .339, one point ahead of Griffey. Griffey belatedly entered his team's game (which the Reds won 11–1 over the Atlanta Braves), and went 0-for-2, dropping his average to .336.
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