Tuesday, January 02, 2007 |
Today's Birthdays
George Boehler BRO b. 1892, played 1926, d. 1958-06-23
Cliff Dapper BRO b. 1920, played 1942
Greg Heydeman LAN b. 1952, played 1973
Bill Madlock LAN b. 1951, played 1985-1987, All-Star: 1975, 1981, 1983. Signed with the Senators as a fifth-round pick in the 1970 draft, but by the time he hit the bigs in 1973, the club was now called the Rangers and operating in Texas. Traded to the Cubs for Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, the third baseman replaced Ron Santo (who should be in the Hall). Madlock posted two batting crowns with Chicago, the first of four he would acquire in his long career.
Flipped to the Giants in February 1977, San Francisco attempted to turn him into a second baseman; the experiment failed, and his offense suffered. After two and a half unhappy years by the bay, the Giants sent him to Pittsburgh. There, he was part of the "We Are Family" Pirates team that won it all in 1979, and stuck around through the mediocrity that followed, earning two more batting titles along the way. In 1985, his stock had fallen so far the Pirates unloaded him to the Dodgers for a package of PTBNLs that included the never-made-good Sid Bream (who did eventually get his day in the sun, q.v.) and outfielder R.J. Reynolds.
Along with Dave Anderson, Madlock spelled the end of one of the Dodgers' lamest experiments, namely, playing Pedro Guerrero at third. Moved to the outfield, Guerrero lit up the league for the rest of the year. The Dodgers finished five and a half games ahead of second-place Cincinnati, winning the NL West. Despite Madlock's three homers, the Dodgers lost the NLCS 4-2 following one of Tommy Lasorda's greatest managerial blunders: pitching to Jack Clark in Game 6.
Madlock stayed on for another year and change, mostly as the team's starting third baseman, with Anderson and Jeff Hamilton splitting time there as well, with injuries diminishing his playing time. Even despite the limited playing time, his defense suffered, making 24 errors in 1986 on a Dodger team that led the league with 181. 1987 was more of the same, with spring training complaints of a sore shoulder, foot problems, and a hit-by-pitch on the elbow during batting practice. Despite being penciled in as the team's starting third baseman, management let it be known that he would be fighting for playing time against Hamilton and Tracy Woodson.
A tenuous relationship with management turned icy as general manager Al Campanis went on the national TV news program Nightline on the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first appearance in the majors, April 15; Campanis told Ted Koppel that blacks "may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager", comments that got him fired. Madlock shot back, "Who knows? Maybe he doesn't remember what he said. He's 70." As the season wore on, he asked to be traded, but the Dodgers released him on May 29 instead. Madlock finished his career in Detroit with decent offensive numbers, playing mostly as a 1B/DH.
Mike Metcalfe LAN b. 1973, played 1998, 2000
Bobby Reis BRO b. 1909, played 1931-1932, 1935, d. 1973-05-01
: 1/02/2007 10:05:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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