Bill Madlock

[tubbfan]

Here's a good article about one that got away. . . I remember that game at the end of the 1976 season and Jack Brickhouse going nuts when Madlock got the hit at the end of the game to win the batting title. Came to the Cubs in the trade with the Rangers for Fergie Jenkins and was traded himself for Bobby Murcer. He was one of the few Cubs that I could be proud of. There weren't many: Rick Monday, Bruce Sutter, Bill Buckner. I still don't buy Wrigley gum.

 

Fred Mitchell

 

Santo's successor a good hitter himself

 

Published March 8, 2007

 

This other old Cub won four National League batting titles.

 

He wound up a 15-year career with a .305 batting average. And if he had played for the Cubs more than three seasons, former third baseman Bill Madlock insists he could have been even more productive.

 

(Edited by moderator to comply with NSBB policy on copyrighted material)

[NCCubFan]

I realize you're fairly new here and therefore may not be aware of NSBB's policy relating to copyrighted material. It is against board policy to post complete articles. It is acceptable to post a brief exceprt from an article and/or a link to a website the article comes from. Feel free to edit your post to add a link to the article. This policy is to protect Tim from any possible liability due to copyright violation.

[biittner77]

Bill Madlock was my brother's favorite player- except for Larry Biittner.

[NCCubFan]

I still remember being upset when the Cubs traded Madlock for Murcer and Ontiveros because they were unwilling to pay Madlock what a two-time defending batting champion deserved. And if I remember, they then turned around and paid Murcer more than they were willing to pay Madlock. That may not have been as bad as the Brock for Broglio trade, but it was certainly one of the bad trades.

[CubinNY]

He was my favorite player too. I think I was 5 or 6 playing 3rd base in YMCA softball with wristbands up to my elbows. The only thing I was missing was an afro and the correct amount of pigmentation in my skin.

 

I cried when he was traded.

[Guest]

Bill Buckner was my favorite back then. But Madlock was certainly up there.

[NCCubFan]

It was hard not to root for Buckner because of the way he played hard despite constantly being in pain. Bill Mueller seemed very similar in that regard.

[tubbfan]

I realize you're fairly new here and therefore may not be aware of NSBB's policy relating to copyrighted material. It is against board policy to post complete articles. It is acceptable to post a brief exceprt from an article and/or a link to a website the article comes from. Feel free to edit your post to add a link to the article. This policy is to protect Tim from any possible liability due to copyright violation.

 

My bad. Won't happen again. :oops:

[dalgreen]

Bill Madlock was one of my favorites, too. Part of that was due to the fact that we're from the same hometown (Decatur, IL). For what it's worth, there have been a lot of stories/rumors for the last thirty years that Madlock was traded for more reasons than just money. But it's a shame that he's the "forgotten" third baseman.

[NewUserName]

I dont think Bill Madlock was a player that stat people would like. I remember after he was traded my dad saying "there the Cubs going trading a good black player for an over-rated white one" or something along those lines. Seems like most bad Cub trades seem to have that in common.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

<>

 

Um, I think a guy with a 400+ OBP that strikes out less than 40 times a season is EXACTLY the kind of guy stat people LOVE.

 

Madlock was the Balls. I was so crushed when they traded him. Cheapskate Wrigleys.

[NCCubFan]

I realize you're fairly new here and therefore may not be aware of NSBB's policy relating to copyrighted material. It is against board policy to post complete articles. It is acceptable to post a brief exceprt from an article and/or a link to a website the article comes from. Feel free to edit your post to add a link to the article. This policy is to protect Tim from any possible liability due to copyright violation.

 

My bad. Won't happen again. :oops:

Not a problem. Is there a link to a web site for this article? If so, people can read the entire article at the source site without running afoul of copyright issues.

[CubsWin]

I still remember being upset when the Cubs traded Madlock for Murcer and Ontiveros because they were unwilling to pay Madlock what a two-time defending batting champion deserved. And if I remember, they then turned around and paid Murcer more than they were willing to pay Madlock. That may not have been as bad as the Brock for Broglio trade, but it was certainly one of the bad trades.

I can't remember where I read this, so I can't back it up at the moment, but somewhere there is an article detailing the evidence that the reason why the Cubs paid Murcer more than what Madlock was asking is because Wrigley wasn't a fan of black people, especially black people who had the temerity to ask for the money they thought they deserved.

 

Racism. One of the many reasons why the Cubs have gone 98 years without winning a championship.

[CubsWin]

Bill Buckner was my favorite back then. But Madlock was certainly up there.

My little league number was 22. Even though I am right-handed, I learned to bat lefty and, even though it didn't really work very well for me, I would crouch down in my batting stance and try to have my bat lay parallel to the ground just like Billy Buck did. He was the coolest.

[tubbfan]

I still remember being upset when the Cubs traded Madlock for Murcer and Ontiveros because they were unwilling to pay Madlock what a two-time defending batting champion deserved. And if I remember, they then turned around and paid Murcer more than they were willing to pay Madlock. That may not have been as bad as the Brock for Broglio trade, but it was certainly one of the bad trades.

I can't remember where I read this, so I can't back it up at the moment, but somewhere there is an article detailing the evidence that the reason why the Cubs paid Murcer more than what Madlock was asking is because Wrigley wasn't a fan of black people, especially black people who had the temerity to ask for the money they thought they deserved.

 

Racism. One of the many reasons why the Cubs have gone 98 years without winning a championship.

 

I find that hard to believe. He stuck with Ernie Banks as long as he did. He stuck with Billy Williams as long as he did. By the time Fergie Jenkins was in a position to ask for a lot of $$$, the rest of the team (Beckert, Santo, Williams, etc.) was either too old or no good. He gave the team a shot up until 1973 to produce. It wasn't going to produce and Mr. Wrigley wasn't going to pay anyone big $$$. He got a good return for Jenkins from Texas (Madlock), but once he got good enough he shipped him off too. Murcer was towards the end of his career. If this were true, he would have kept Rick Monday too. That didn't happen. Look at the black/latino's he got in return for most of the trades: Manny Trillo, Ivan DeJesus, Bill Madlock, etc. Jose Cardenal was a fan favorite too.

[BigbadB]

<>

 

Um, I think a guy with a 400+ OBP that strikes out less than 40 times a season is EXACTLY the kind of guy stat people LOVE.

 

Madlock was the Balls. I was so crushed when they traded him. Cheapskate Wrigleys.

 

I was a huge Madlock fan. I even followed him closely after he left. He was awesome. Oh, and I'm one of those stat people who didn't know a thing about stats way back when.

[tubbfan]

I realize you're fairly new here and therefore may not be aware of NSBB's policy relating to copyrighted material. It is against board policy to post complete articles. It is acceptable to post a brief exceprt from an article and/or a link to a website the article comes from. Feel free to edit your post to add a link to the article. This policy is to protect Tim from any possible liability due to copyright violation.

 

My bad. Won't happen again. :oops:

Not a problem. Is there a link to a web site for this article? If so, people can read the entire article at the source site without running afoul of copyright issues.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-070307mitchell,1,787823.column?coll=chi-sportstop-hed

[CubsWin]

I still remember being upset when the Cubs traded Madlock for Murcer and Ontiveros because they were unwilling to pay Madlock what a two-time defending batting champion deserved. And if I remember, they then turned around and paid Murcer more than they were willing to pay Madlock. That may not have been as bad as the Brock for Broglio trade, but it was certainly one of the bad trades.

I can't remember where I read this, so I can't back it up at the moment, but somewhere there is an article detailing the evidence that the reason why the Cubs paid Murcer more than what Madlock was asking is because Wrigley wasn't a fan of black people, especially black people who had the temerity to ask for the money they thought they deserved.

 

Racism. One of the many reasons why the Cubs have gone 98 years without winning a championship.

 

I find that hard to believe. He stuck with Ernie Banks as long as he did. He stuck with Billy Williams as long as he did. By the time Fergie Jenkins was in a position to ask for a lot of $$$, the rest of the team (Beckert, Santo, Williams, etc.) was either too old or no good. He gave the team a shot up until 1973 to produce. It wasn't going to produce and Mr. Wrigley wasn't going to pay anyone big $$$. He got a good return for Jenkins from Texas (Madlock), but once he got good enough he shipped him off too. Murcer was towards the end of his career. If this were true, he would have kept Rick Monday too. That didn't happen. Look at the black/latino's he got in return for most of the trades: Manny Trillo, Ivan DeJesus, Bill Madlock, etc. Jose Cardenal was a fan favorite too.

The Cubs had to have black and latino players to survive in the post Jackie Robinson era.

 

Note, the article didn't say all black people. Just the ones that had the temerity to ask for the money they thought they deserved. Banks was from a different era. He may never have asked for more money than what Wrigley offered him.

[NCCubFan]

Madlock also asked for a multi-year contract. I'm not sure if Murcer had one as well, but Wrigley may have been willing to pay Murcer a higher annual salary but only on a one-year contract.