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Bill Madlock

Bill Madlock Marquee

b. January 12, 1951 · Texas Rangers 1973, Chicago Cubs 1974–1976, San Francisco Giants 1977–1979, Pittsburgh Pirates 1979–1985, Los Angeles Dodgers 1985–1987, Detroit Tigers 1987

He led the league in average in 1975 with .354, in 1976 with .339, in the shortened 1981 season with .341 and in 1983 with .324, for three different clubs. Fifteen seasons gave him 2,008 hits, 348 doubles, 163 home runs, 860 runs batted in, 174 stolen bases and a .305 average.

Chicago traded him to San Francisco for Bobby Murcer after the second of those seasons, which the Cubs have not lived down, and San Francisco traded him to Pittsburgh in 1979 in time for him to hit .375 in the World Series the Pirates won.

He was called Mad Dog and was thrown out of games for it — a fifteen-day suspension in 1980 for shoving a glove into an umpire's face is the one people remember. He played third base without much range and hit enough to keep the job for a decade. The 1993 ballot gave him 19 votes of 423.

Honors

AwardTimesYears
All-Star selection 3 1975, 1981, 1983
Player of the Week 3 1975, 1976, 1985
All-Star Game MVP 1 1975
The Sporting News All-Star 1 1975

Batting, season by season

YearTeam GABR H2B3B HRRBIBB SOSBAVG
1973 TEX 21771627 531 5793 .351
1974 CHC 12845365142 2159 54423911 .313
1975 CHC 13051477182 2977 6442349 .354
1976 CHC 14251468174 36115 84562715 .339
1977 SFG 14053370161 28112 46433313 .302
1978 SFG 12244776138 26315 44483916 .309
1979 PIT/SFG 15456085167 26514 85524132 .298
1980 PIT 13749462137 22410 53453316 .277
1981 PIT 822793595 2316 45341718 .341
1982 PIT 15456892181 33319 95483918 .319
1983 PIT 13047368153 21012 6849243 .323
1984 PIT 10340338102 1604 4426293 .253
1985 LAD/PIT 14451369141 27112 56495310 .275
1986 LAD 11137938106 17010 6030433 .280
1987 DET/LAD 10838761102 18017 5734504 .264
Career 180665949202008 34834163 860605510174 .305

On this day & linked events

1951

Born January 12, 1951

Memphis, TN, USA

1973

Major-league debut: Bill Madlock

Bill Madlock made a major-league debut on September 7, 1973.

1987

Bill Madlock's Three-Home-Run Game, 1987

Bill Madlock hit three home runs for the Detroit Tigers against the Baltimore Orioles on June 28, 1987.

1987

Final major-league game: Bill Madlock

Bill Madlock played a final major-league game on October 4, 1987.

Image: Los Angeles Dodgers, public domain