WHY I THINK BILL MADLOCK SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Bill Madlock was a very good overall hitter, but he was primarily valuable for his four Batting Titles. Who wins four Batting Titles and doesn’t receive serious Hall of Fame consideration? Apparently Madlock. He had some home run potential in his bat, some stolen base potential on the basepaths, great postseason numbers, and was always very hard to strike out, but was actually not that impressive defensively at third base. Madlock also had a bad reputation for being impatient with sportswriters, which is probably what has kept him out of Cooperstown for all these years. Bill Madlock started his career with the Rangers in 1973, batting .351 in 21 games. He was traded to the Cubs with Vic Harris for Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins in a move that proved okay for both teams. Madlock batted .313 in 1973 to finish third in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. He then captured his first two Batting Titles. Madlock was traded to the Giants for the 1977 season with a .337 lifetime batting average and a 15 homer season, so the Giants expected one of the best players in baseball. Madlock batted over .300 in each of the next two seasons, hitting another 15 home runs in 1978, but split the 1979 season between the Giants and the Pirates. He was traded after batting only .261 in 69 games, but hit .328 for the Pirates for the remainder of the season to help them win the World Series. He batted .375 with five walks in the Series win over Baltimore to cap the decade. Madlock also swiped a career best 32 bases that season, showing off some speed to go along with his consistency. He slumped a little in 1980 but returned in 1981 to lead the MLB in batting during the strike shortened season. Madlock batted .319 with 19 home runs and 95 RBI’s in 1982 and captured his final Batting Title in 1983, but hit a sharp decline in 1984, batting a career worst .253. He started splitting seasons and produced better after that, even hitting 17 home runs in his final season of 1987, but was never again a Hall of Fame calibre player. In the 1985 NLCS, however, he batted .333 with a double, three home runs, and seven RBI’s, proving that he was still a valuable player and a clutch postseason performer. He was out of the Big Leagues by 1988 as a free agent when nobody picked him up. Bill Madlock was a great hitter, a fine baserunner, and a FOUR TIME BATTING CHAMPION. His case shouldn’t be that hard to evaluate, and he should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame at least 25 years ago.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,806 season high: 154 in 1979 and 1982
At Bats career: 6,594 season high: 568 in 1982
Hits career: 2,008 season high: 182 in 1975
Doubles career: 348 season high: 36 in 1976
Triples career: 34 season high: 7 in 1975
Home Runs career: 163 season high: 19 in 1982
Runs career: 920 season high: 92 in 1982
Runs Batted In career: 860 season high: 95 in 1982
Stolen Bases career: 174 season high: 32 in 1979
Walks career: 605 season high: 56 in 1976
Strikeouts career: 510 season high: 53 in 1985
Batting Average career: .305 season high: .354 in 1975 led NL: .354 in 1975, .339 in 1976, .341 in 1981, .323 in 1983
On Base Percentage career: .365 season high: .413 in 1981
Slugging Percentage career: .442 season high: .500 in 1976
Total Bases career: 2,913 season high: 277 in 1982
Sacrifice Hits career: 36 season high: 9 in 1978 and 1987
Fielding Percentage career: .955 season high: .974 in 1978
Double Plays career: 313 season high: 49 in 1978
Putouts career: 1,694 season high: 234 in 1978
Assists career: 3,025 season high: 300 in 1978
DID YOU KNOW?
-nicknamed “Mad Dog”
-his four Batting Titles are the most of any player not in the Hall of Fame, and he was the first to win multiple Batting Titles each for two different teams
-was a three time all-star (in 1975, 1981, and 1983) and the game’s MVP in 1975 (1-for-2, two RBI’s)
-his four Batting Titles were the record for a third baseman until Hall of Famer Wade Boggs topped it in 1988
-went 6-for-6 on July 26, 1975
-hit three home runs in one game on June 28, 1987
-finished sixth in the NL MVP Award voting in 1976, eighth in 1983, 11th in 1982, 12th in 1975, 17th in 1981, and 18th in 1979
-led the NL in hit by pitch in 1976 (11)
-finished second in the 1982 NL Batting race behind Al Oliver (.331)
-won three career Player of the Week awards
-hit two home runs each off of Jim Kaat and Phil Niekro and one each off of John Franco and Tom Seaver
-ranks 47th in career games at third base
-also played 61 games at first base, 184 at second base, 64 as a DH, 89 as a pinch hitter, and one as a pinch runner
I am always a little wary of electing players who drew very little support from the BBWAA, unless there is very good evidence that the writers were wrong. Madlock drew a mere 4.5% in his one year in the ballot, and I can't argue with them. He hit .305, but his career OBP, though quite good, was less than players like Mickey Tettleton (.241, .369), Eddie Yost (.254, .394), Gene Tenace (.241, .388), and others who get the doubtless get the thumbs down from you but actually were just as good or better in value.
ReplyDeleteIf he was a good fielder, he might be in the hall today. But he never won a gold glove, and BR rates him as 107 runs below average in the field (though with a positional adjustment of 28 runs).
DeleteOBP isn't everything. Winning four Batting Titles and batting .305 in his era makes Madlock a pretty good candidate. He also had some power, speed, and longevity, so he's in for me. And please don't make the argument that Mickey Tettleton or Gene Tenace were better than Madlock. Yost has a case for the Hall of Fame, but it is pretty weak. I also don't really care how much support he got, especially since Madlock was so unpopular among sportswriters (the ones who vote) and reporters for his ATTITUDE. Every team wanted him for his HITTING. It's not the Hall of Niceties. It's the Hall of Fame. Madlock should be right in there with Ty Cobb.
OBP certainly is not everything. But OBP combined with SLG are certainly pretty close to everything, and Tettleton had a better SLG, while Tenace's was not much lower.
DeleteAlso, the fact that Madlock bounced around from team to team further convinces me he was not a great player. Madlock played for 6 teams. Hall of famers generally play for one team, like Sandberg, Rizzuto, Schmidt, B. Robinson, Haines, DiMaggio, Rivera, Jeter, or only switch teams late in their career, or because of a free agency. It is rare that a hall of famer is traded in mid-career. The fact that Madlock bounced from team to team makes me think that he was a good player, as teams wanted him, but wasn't the teams' ideal 3rd baseman. The longest time Madlock spent with one team was 7 years, which includes a couple of partial seasons.
The Hall of Fame is not the Hall of Niceties, but attitude does make some sort of impact. Ty Cobb is in the Hall because he hit .366, but I think with border-line cases bad attitude will keep a player out. If Madlock had hit .325 career, he would be in the hall. But he didn't.
Yost and Tettleton probably aren't better than Madlock, but Tenace probably is.
What do you think about Tony Fernandez, Jack Quinn, Ed Konetchy, and Mickey Lolich? I am considering publishing articles on each of them, but I am beginning to doubt them somewhat.
DeleteOkay. First of all, Tenace collected half as many hits as Madlock did and his number one similarity score is Mickey Tettleton. A .158 postseason hitter, Tenace was a catcher, I'll give you that, but unless you ask (a special request might bump up viewership) I will not be publishing one on Tenace because I have a standard to only elect players if they can hit .250, which is pretty generous. I could have players featured on The Cooperstown Advocate who beat the record for the lowest batting average in the Hall by several points, though it is unlikely, considering how many .250+ hitters can still manage to stink. So what do you think about Madlock and Tenace individually? In or out?
DeleteI think Quinn, Konetchy, and Lolich all deserve articles.
DeleteI'd say Madlock is out, and Tenace is probably out too, but closer IMO. I'd like to see you do a Tenace article, as I'm quite interested in seeing what you'd say. Here's my case for him: A decent fielding catcher, with plenty of power and walks, often in pitcher's parks. He had subtle skills, but was indeed valuable.