Dave Madison

From BR Bullpen

David Pledger Madison (The Freakin' Deacon)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.
School Louisiana State University
Debut September 26, 1950
Final Game August 20, 1953
Born February 1, 1921 in Brooksville, MS USA
Died December 8, 1985 in Macon, MS USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Dave Madison was a pitcher ten years (1941-1954); three in college (1941-1943); three in the Majors (1950;1952-1953) and ten in the minors (1947-1950;1953-1954), losing three years to the Military. He graduated from High School in 1941 at age 18, where he starred in baseball. He then attended Louisiana State University (LSU) (1941-1943), where he starred in baseball and football and was a football teammate of Alvin Dark. He was drafted into the U.S. Army on in 1943 for World War II and discharged in 1945. He married Frances Patty on August 3, 1945. He returned to LSU and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry (1947).

He was then signed by scout Atley Donald of the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1947, and broke into Organized Baseball at age 26 with the Denver Bears of the Class A Western League and then was with the Kansas City Blues in the AAA American Association (1948-1950). On September 26, 1950, at 29 years of age, he broke into the big leagues with the Yankees. With one game and three innings of MLB under his belt, having remained in the Army Reserve, he was recalled as a First Lieutenant and sent to Korea.

On April 7, 1952 he was purchased by the St. Louis Browns from the Yankees. In a game between the Washington Senators and the Browns on June 3, 1952, Madison had two hits in two at bats. Madison was relieved by Gene Bearden. Bearden pitched 4⅓ scoreless innings and had one at bat with no hits. Satchel Paige pitched the final 5⅔ innings and had three hits in three at bats. For the season, Madison's batting average was .105 (career .100) and Paige's was .128 (career .097.)

On August 14, 1952 he was traded by the Browns with Bud Black, Jim Delsing and Ned Garver to the Detroit Tigers for Dick Littlefield, Marlin Stuart, Don Lenhardt and Vic Wertz. Staying on with Detroit in 1953, he appeared in 73 games for the Browns and Tigers and played his final MLB game on 20 August 1953 at age 32. He returned to the minors and faded out with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League (1953) and Sandersville in the Georgia State League (1954), ending his playing career at age 33.

He then managed in the minors (1954-1955) and scouted for the New York Yankees (1956-1958), Baltimore Orioles (1965-1967), Oakland Athletics (1968-1974) and New York Mets (1974-1985). He discovered Glenn Abbott and Ronn Reynolds who were selected in their respective Amateur Drafts.

He had auburn hair and blue eyes, his ancestry was English-Irish and his principal hobbies were hunting and fishing. He died at age 64 at Noxubee General Hospital in Macon, MS after a lengthy illness and is buried at Brooksville Cemetery in Brooksville, MS.