Card of the week: 1988 Topps Bill Madlock

1988 Topps

If you are watching baseball during this season, you may hear Bill Madlock's name on numerous occasions.  Detroit's star slugger Miguel Cabrera is going for his fourth consecutive batting title in 2014.   The last right handed hitter to win four batting crowns at any point in his career was Madlock. 
"Mad Dog" led the league in 1975 and 1976 as a Chicago Cub and 1981 and 1983 as a Pittsburgh Pirate.  He ended his career as a .305 hitter and racked up a total of 2,008 hits from 1973-87.
I also would like to mention about Madlock is that he has been lost a bit in amount of impact he had on the 1987 Tigers team.   Long time Tiger fans remember Doyle Alexander as the key acquisition that lead to Detroit's division crown in 1987.  Madlock was also a key pickup midseason.  After being released by Los Angeles Dodgers in May, Tigers signed Madlock.  In 326 at bats, Madlock hit 14 HRs and knocked in 50 runs while hitting .279.
This wasn't the first time Madlock was acquired midseason and the team the benefited from.  In 1979, the Pirates traded for Madlock at the end of June from the San Francisco Giants.  Madlock batted .328 for rest of season and the Pirates ended the season as World Series champions. 
Then in 1985, Pittsburgh traded him to the Dodgers for a playoff push.  It worked.  Madlock hit a robust .360 in 114 at bats and the Dodgers won the NL west.