Bobby Madritsch

Robert Allen Madritsch, known as Bobby Madritsch, was a force to be reckoned with. He was born February 28, 1976, in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Bobby was raised by his father, Ken, after his mother, Glenda Madritsch, left the family when he was just two months old. Glenda met Ken when she was in the US Army. Bobby never knew the reason why his mother left but told an interviewer he respected his father for not saying. “As a kid, you don’t want to hear bad things parents might say about one another.”1

Bobby, the youngest of three children in a poor family, loved baseball from an early age. When he was 6 years old, he would run to the corner newsstand and grab the Sunday paper for his father. It was worth it for Bobby because when his father was done reading the paper, he would take Bobby to go play T-ball. Ken coached Bobby in baseball up until high school.2

Bobby attended Reavis High School in neighboring Burbank, Illinois. Although there is not much information on his early childhood, he admitted to getting involved with gangs during his high-school years. “I more or less did it because it was the cool thing to do,” he told a journalist.3 But when one of his friends was killed, Bobby realized gangs were not so much fun after all and removed himself from them completely.3 At Reavis High School, he won All-Conference honors and was offered a scholarship to pitch at Moraine Valley Junior College.4 

After finishing high school, Bobby learned that his mother, Glenda, was 100 percent Native American and part of the Lakota Sioux tribe. His father, Ken, who worked on a loading dock for a Chicago company, gave Bobby his blue-collar work ethic.5 He said he was grateful to have his father’s work ethic but recognized how special it is to be Native American, especially a Native American baseball player.5 “I’m just proud to be Native American, just because there are not many of us around,” he said.6

During his first year at Moraine Valley Junior College, Madritsch found himself homesick and returned home. He found work as a laborer for a small Chicago business, rolling mats into boxes, a job he despised.7 Then he heard about an opportunity to play baseball at Point Park College in Pittsburgh. He had a fantastic season (1997-1998) going 13-0 for a team that finished 46-6 and seventh in the NAIA World Series. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-hander’s performance caught the eye of the Cincinnati Reds, and they chose him in the sixth round of the 1998 amateur draft.8

The Reds sent Madritsch to the Billings Mustangs, their affiliate in the rookie-level Pioneer League. While he pitched well, posting an earned-run average of 2.80 and a won-lost record of 7-3, Madritsch suffered a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder that put him out of action for the 1999 season.9

While he was recovering from surgery, Madritsch drew the sign of a Sioux medicine wheel, something he had seen in a book his brother gave him about their heritage. He decided to get the medicine wheel he had drawn tattooed on his body. He said, “If it worked for my ancestors, I thought it could work for me too.”10

After coming back in 2000, Madritsch made eight appearances with the Reds’ team in the rookie Gulf Coast League, and the Dayton Dragons of the Class-A Midwest League. After the season, he was released by the Reds.

Without a team, Madritsch headed south to pitch for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings and San Angelo Colts of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. Between the two teams he made nine starts. He finished off the 2001 season pitching for the Chico Heat in the independent Western League.

In 2002 Madritsch joined the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League for the 2002 season. Former major leaguer Hal Lanier was the manager of the Goldeyes and Madritsch felt that if he pitched well enough, he might be able to land a contract in the big leagues. Starting the season, Madritsch was not pitching well and was 0-3. Noticing Madritsch’s “lack of confidence,” pitching coach Rick Forney took the younger pitcher into the bullpen one day to have a conversation with him.11 After that conversation, Madritsch’s confidence grew and he wound up 11-4, 2.30 with 153 strikeouts in 125⅓ innings as the Goldeyes went to the league championship series. Madritsch was named the America’s Independent League’s Player of the Year.12

The Seattle Mariners and the Kansas City Royals expressed interest in Madritsch after his success with the Goldeyes.13 Initially he leaned toward the Royals, but after a conversation with Lanier and the Goldeyes’ owner, Sam Katz, he decided to sign with the Mariners.14 But if it weren’t for Mariners scout Charlie Kerfeld combing the minor league teams for talent, Bobby Madritsch might never have been found by the Mariners.15

In 2003 Madritsch was a starting pitcher for the San Antonio Missions, of the Double-A Texas League, posting a 13-7, 3.63 record. He started 2004 with the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners’ Triple-A team, and in 12 starts was 5-2, 3.75 with twice as many strikeouts as walks.

Meanwhile the Mariners were struggling, and Madritsch’s chances of playing in the big leagues were higher than they had ever been.16 His opportunity came in late July. His manager at Tacoma, Dan Rohn, called Madritsch into his office and told him, “I got a call from the league, they said you can’t play tomorrow.”17 Madritsch, assuming that he had been suspended for the time he hit a batter, slammed his fork down. Rohn then came clean: “You’re on a flight to Seattle at 10 A.M. in the morning.”18

On July 21, Madritsch made his major-league debut, against the Oakland Athletics at Seattle’s Safeco Field. He entered the game in the 10th inning with the score tied, 5-5. A single and an error put runners at first and second with no outs. A sacrifice moved them up. But third baseman Justin Leone (who had made the error) snagged a line drive to end the inning with an unassisted double play. In the bottom of the 10th, Bucky Jacobsen swung at Justin Duchscherer’s first pitch and homered to center field to win the game for the Mariners, 6-5.19

Now that he had become a major leaguer, Madritsch hoped the associated publicity would help connect him with his mother: “Maybe, if she hears about me, her and I can get in touch.”20

August 5 versus Tampa Bay was another special game for him. Not only were some of his family members going to be there to watch him, but this game marked his first career start in the big leagues. He pitched eight innings, threw 105 pitches, gave up five hits, one run, and struck out six batters. The Mariners took the win over Tampa Bay 4-2. Mariners general manager Bob Melvin had good things to say about the type of player he was. “You just watch the way he competes out there… that’s a lot of his success.”21 Madritsch believed his family watching helped him succeed as well and he is grateful they were there. “That’s what gave me the extra oomph when I needed it, them being there.”22

On September 29, Madritsch and the Mariners were up against the Oakland Athletics again. In the top of the ninth inning, Ichiro Suzuki—just two singles away from tying George Sisler’s single-season record—was hit in the back by Oakland pitcher Duchscherer. Madritsch was furious and wanted to “drill that first guy up in the ninth.”23 But, with the help of his teammates, he was able to calm down. His competitiveness and care for his teammates was something to be admired. He had an impressive performance throwing 133 pitches and 85 of those were strikes. He was the first rookie to have a complete game for the Mariners since Freddy Garcia in August of 1999. Teammate Dan Wilson admired Bobby’s competitiveness: “You’ve got to love his intensity, the way he competes.”24

After the conclusion of the 2004 season, Madritsch was expected to continue as a starter for the Mariners in 2005. “We’re going with a similar cast that we had last year,” said pitching coach Bryan Price.25

Unfortunately, in his first start of the 2005 season, on April 6 against the Minnesota Twins, he felt “a twinge in his shoulder in the fifth.”26 He had to leave the game.

An MRI revealed that he had torn a ligament in his left shoulder and had to wear a sling for three weeks.27 After getting the first MRI, the Mariners wanted to do a second one to get a more expansive idea of the injury.28 Two weeks later, Bobby Madritsch was still in a sling, and was advised not to pick up a baseball for another four weeks.29

Madritsch never fully recovered from his left shoulder injury in 2005 with the Mariners. Pressed for roster space, the team released him, and he was picked up on waivers by the Kansas City Royals.30 The Royals took Madritsch because—even though he was healing from an injury— “we believe he could help us in the long run” said general manager Allard Baird.31

In 2006, Madritsch was still working on getting his left shoulder healthy so he could get back out on the mound.32 He even got another tattoo on his left hand, perhaps no surprise. “A crazy man,” he said.33 The man tattooed on his left hand looks like he wants to scream, yet nothing comes out.34 Madritsch was frustrated he could not be out on the mound, pitching his heart out, and the tattoo shows that.

After the Royals released him in 2006, Bobby Madritsch’s career in the major leagues was done.

He did play for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League in 2008, starting in one game and playing a total of two, with one inning pitched.

After Bobby Madritsch retired from professional baseball, he founded a youth baseball program called the Burbank Knights with his brother Ken in his hometown of Burbank, Illinois. The Burbank Knights’ first year of existence was in 2012 and it is unclear whether the program is still running today. As of 2025, Madritsch lived in Burbank, Illinois.35

Last revised: October 1, 2025

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jason Levin for providing copious news clippings on Bobby Madritsch. Thanks to SABR member Carter Cromwell for providing some background information.

Sources

In addition to the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and Baseball-Almanac.com.

Photo credit: Bobby Madritsch, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 “Madritsch,” Vancouver (Washington) Columbian, July 27, 2004: B1.

2 Jeff Passan, “Royals: Madritsch Trying to Heal,” Kansas City Star, March 5, 2006: C1, C12.

3 Bryan Borzykowski, “Seattle Prospect Bobby Madritsch Spells Out Native American Heritage,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 18, 2002. https://www.angelfire.com/nc3/lakota/madritsch.html, accessed August 31, 2024.

4 Scott Taylor and Dr. Kris Row, Home Run: The History of the Winnipeg Goldeyes and CanWest Global Park (Winnipeg: Studio Publications, 2005), 121.

5 Bob Finnigan, “Benefits of Fame,” Vancouver Columbian, July 27, 2004: B5.

6 Borzykowski.  

7 Taylor and Row, 121.

8 Taylor and Row, 121.

9 Taylor and Row, 121.

10 “Injuries Have Taken Toll on More Than the Phillies,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, August 15, 2004: C3.

11 Taylor and Row, 123.

12 Taylor and Row, 123.

13 Ken Wiebe, “Madritsch Switches Gears and Signs Triple-A Deal with Seattle,” Winnipeg Sun, September 24, 2002: 53.

14 Wiebe.

15 Kirby Arnold, “Big Decision Due on Little Unit,” Bremerton (Washington) Sun, September 5, 2004: C2.

16 Greg Johns, “Rookie Bobby Madritsch Bright Spot in Otherwise Dreary Year,” Olympia (Washington) Olympian, September 20, 2004: 23.

17 Kirby Arnold, “Outfielder Bocachica Designated for Assignment,” Olympian, July 22, 2004: D2.

18 Arnold, “Outfielder Bocachica Designated for Assignment.”

19 Larry Larue, “Walk-Off Homer: 10th-Inning Blast Makes Madritsch Winner in Debut,” Tacoma (Washington) News Tribune, July 22, 2004: C5.

20 Finnigan, “Benefits of Fame.”

21 Chris O’Meara, “Bobby Madritsch Pitches Strong in His First Career Start,” Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal, August 6, 2004: 28.

22 Greg Di Cresce, “Madritsch Impresses in First MLB Start,” Winnipeg Sun, August 7, 2004: 39.

23 Larry Larue, “Madritsch’s three-hitter leads M’s past A’s, 4-2,” Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review, September 30, 2004: 17.

24 Herald news services, “Suzuki 2 Hits from History,” Tri-City Herald (Pasco, Washington), September 30, 2004: 21.

25 Kirby Arnold, “Mariners Take Their Chances,” Spokane Spokesman-Review, April 3, 2005: 40.

26 Greg Johns, “Injury Underscores Fragility of M’s Staff,” Bremerton Sun, April 7, 2005: B2.

27 Corey Brock, “Madritsch Sidelined Indefinitely,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 11, 2005: C7.

28 Larry Larue, “Starter Bobby Madritsch Is Eager to Learn More From a Second MRI on His Shoulder,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 10, 2005: C5.

29 Corey Brock, “Lefty Bobby Madritsch Will Be Trapped in an Arm Sling for Another Three Weeks,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 22, 2005: 37.

30 “Royals Claim M’s Pitcher,” Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, Washington), October 22, 2005: C3.

31 Bob Dutton, “Royals Claim Left-Hander on Waivers from Seattle,” Kansas City Star, October 22, 2005: D5.

32 Passan, “Royals: Madritsch Trying to Heal.”

33 Jeff Passan, “A Time To Heal,” Kansas City Star, March 5, 2006: 27.

34 Passan, “A Time To Heal.”

35 Jeff Sullivan, “Bobby Madritsch Update,” Lookout Landing, https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2012/3/19/2884646/bobby-madritsch-update, accessed September 1, 2024.