Kids

[LBiittner]

38 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

They had one who won two batting titles and PK Wrigley sent him off for the audacity of asking for a raise and maybe also because he was black. 

And ended up paying an over the hill bobby mercer twice as much as Billy was asking. 

I think good ol'boy Bobby lead the league in warning track flyouts in 78'. And when news leaked in the papers about Bobby's $, it created a lot of not so quiet whispers.

[Rcal10]

4 hours ago, chibears55 said:

I didn't say he was supposed to make them forget Santo.

I just remember the local sports media at the time and even Harry and Stone were all excited with him in 96 and 97 when he was in minors and his rookie year and they kept mentioning him as the kid who can finally be the one to take over 3B cause they haven't had a set 3Bmen since Santo..

He was supposed to be their long awaited answer to 3B 

 

You have a better memory than I do. I know one year he actually made the top 50 prospect list, but being honest, I never expected much out of him. Guess I never considered him as a set 3rd baseman. They would have had one earlier too, had they not traded Madlock. He was a damn good ballplayee for a number of years.

[chibears55]

5 hours ago, CubinNY said:

They had one who won two batting titles and PK Wrigley sent him off for the audacity of asking for a raise and maybe also because he was black. 

Madlock- considering the big stars black players on that team before Madlock,  I doubt it was because of his skin color..

PK was just a cheap ass that wasn't going to pay anyone

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

You have a better memory than I do. I know one year he actually made the top 50 prospect list, but being honest, I never expected much out of him. Guess I never considered him as a set 3rd baseman. They would have had one earlier too, had they not traded Madlock. He was a damn good ballplayee for a number of years.

Yep, he was Santo replacement after Santo was traded to Whitesox, he should of been there for years but PK was a cheap ass.

[Rcal10]

21 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Yep, he was Santo replacement after Santo was traded to Whitesox, he should of been there for years but PK was a cheap ass.

I do think there was more than just that. As for the previous black players on the team the two that come to mind immediately are Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. Both extremely humble, very nice men. Both would not cause any issues. I think Madlock was a bit more vocal. And I do think PK didn’t like that AND he was cheap. But cheap aside, he did pay Murcer more. Trading Madlock was not just about him wanting money. 

[LBiittner]

Back in the day most mlb contracts were not published. It would take digging by reporters to find out how much a player was making. Up until free agency hit the fan.

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I do think there was more than just that. As for the previous black players on the team the two that come to mind immediately are Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. Both extremely humble, very nice men. Both would not cause any issues. I think Madlock was a bit more vocal. And I do think PK didn’t like that AND he was cheap. But cheap aside, he did pay Murcer more. Trading Madlock was not just about him wanting money. 

Madlock wanted a multi-year deal in an era when Cubs ownership and management didn’t really want to give those out. It was right at the dawn of free agency, which the Cubs didn’t really participate in either.

The Cubs offered Madlock a $110,000 contract for 1977, far below his market value. The New York Times reported:

Madlock wanted a multi year deal of at least 200K per.

Madlock wanted a multiyear contract with an annual salary of about. $200,00

So the Cubs traded him. 

 

Edited March 6, 2024 by chibears55

[LBiittner]

49 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Madlock wanted a multi-year deal in an era when Cubs ownership and management didn’t really want to give those out. It was right at the dawn of free agency, which the Cubs didn’t really participate in either.

The Cubs offered Madlock a $110,000 contract for 1977, far below his market value. The New York Times reported:

Madlock wanted a multi year deal of at least 200K per.

Madlock wanted a multiyear contract with an annual salary of about. $200,00

So the Cubs traded him. 

 

For mercer who was making over 300k lol

Edited March 6, 2024 by LBiittner

[BigbadB]

14 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I do think there was more than just that. As for the previous black players on the team the two that come to mind immediately are Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. Both extremely humble, very nice men. Both would not cause any issues. I think Madlock was a bit more vocal. And I do think PK didn’t like that AND he was cheap. But cheap aside, he did pay Murcer more. Trading Madlock was not just about him wanting money. 

Fergie Jenkins was also on that team with Ernie and Billy. Jose Cardenal might have been Latino, but as the snot nosed kid I was at the time, I always just associated him as black as well. 

All of those guys were gone by the time Madlock got traded. Madlock was about the only guy worth watching at that time.

[CubinNY]

Madlcok was my hero as 6 6-year-old old. In YMCA softball I demanded to play 3rd base and wore wristbands like him. I cried so hard when he got traded.