Hi Swoboda4 - what a great question. I went back and looked at Madlock's shipping records and starting in 1979 when he first ordered K48 model bats, he actually ordered 729 bats ( K48 & other models ) during the 9 year stretch you are referring to which ended with his retirement in 1987. That's an average of about 81 bats per year.

I did not include any baseball promotional or miscellaneous orders, which begin to show in the Louisville Slugger records around 1981 - but that's another topic for another day, as there are still authenticators that will authenticate those models that were ordered by Baseball Promotions or Baseball Miscellaneous during the 80's & 90's. A great example is Don Mattingly 1986 - 1989 M110 model bats. There have been numerous examples that have sold in auction for over $1,700 in the past few years that were authenticated when in fact, the Yankees and Mattingly never ordered that model during that time period. I personally have never seen a 1986 - 1989 Mattingly M110 that I thought was legitimate. As mentioned, this is a topic for another day......

Back to your great question. The number of bats that Madlock ordered during this time period is not out of the ordinary for players in the 70's and 80's. You have to keep in mind the amount of batting practice the players take and the fact that some of the bats may have been used by other players on the team or through the organization. Madlock was also a batting champion and a very good player - I am sure some of the bats were never used, but were given away as gifts or used for promotional purposes because of his popularity. He was an every day player, so he was going through them probably pretty rapidly. I once saw an article where Tino Martinez said he would go through about 60 - 70 bats per year, so the amount ordered by Madlock is not out of the norm so to speak.

You should review Roberto Clemente's shipping records. During the 9 year period from 1963 - 1971, Clemente ordered 1,366 bats, or almost 152 bats per year! Mike Specht once told me that Clemente ordered so many bats as he sent a lot of them back to his homeland for use in youth leagues, etc. There is no way Clemente used that many bats per year. You can also see directly in Clemente's shipping records where he requested that certain shipments be sent to San Juan........

Today - because of the growth of the game used hobby, some of today's players order in excess of 200 bats per year! They use the bat for a few days - and then it is sold to a marketing company that has a contract with the player and it ends up on ebay or in a major auction. This is becoming more and more prevalent.

My senior year in high school ( 1980 ) I went through 5 bats in a 20 game schedule. I know, because I still have those bats. I was the last guy to use wood in my District. That would equate to 40 bats if I played a 160 game schedule, but I didn't take nearly the amount of batting practice that the pros take - and nobody touched my wood, as everyone was using aluminum back then. Those bats were used until they were cracked or splintered - so they had heavy use. I am sure Madlock had his favorites, but some were discarded probably after a few games. I also didn't give any bats away back then! If I would have used 40 in a 160 game shcedule without taking much BP, or giving bats away, etc., it is not unreasonable for a major leaguer to go through twice that amount in a full season.

I hope this answers your question. Let me know how else I can help......

Jim - jcaravello@nc.rr.com