HOF Plaque- Bill Max

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Born July 13, 1950 in the USA
Drafted by Honolulu in 1973 MBBA Dispersal Draft
Debut April 1, 1975

Won OCA Rookie of the Year Award in 1975
Won Landis Memorial Series with New Orleans in 1984, 1988
Was selected to the 1985, 1987, 1988 All-Star Games

Bill Max grew up in a suburb of Providence, Rhode Island. Like many youngsters of his generation he dreamt of playing for Notre Dame. Unlike many of those other youngsters he dreamed about playing baseball. He originally set out to become an outfielder like his father, who had played some minor-pro ball in his day, but it quickly became evident that Bill didn't have the physical skills needed to play in the field every day, nor hit consistently well.

Then in high school, his coach suggested pitching to him. Max was skeptical but gave it a shot and found he had a real natural aptitude for it. After distinguishing himself somewhat as a high school pitcher, Max got a partial baseball scholarship from Notre Dame, allowing him the chance to realize one of his childhood dreams. He spent a full four years pitching for the Fighting Irish, becoming one of the most popular and decorated players in their history. He was an honorable mention All-American as a freshman, and achieved full All-American status in each of his three final years with the school. He was named Pitcher of the Year in his junior year, and arguably could've won it in his senior year as well.

When he graduated in 1971 he recieved interest from a number of teams, eventually entering the Cleveland Indians organization as a free agent signing. He spent the next two years working his way through A-class before being approached with an interesting offer. The Honolulu Typhoons of the MBBA offered him a contract and with the new league in need of more young talent, Max felt he was more likely to get a shot at professional baseball with Honolulu. He wouldn't get the opportunity to find out in Hawaii however, as he was traded just months later to the Buffalo Bison organization. He spent '73 and '74 in mostly AA-class ball with some less than stellar AAA experience mixed in. Then in 1975 he burst onto the MBBA scene, winning 13 games in 30 starts with a solid 3.27 ERA and he captured the OCA Rookie of the Year award for the FL. He also showed a penchant for strikeouts, ringing up 222 as a rookie.

He continued to emerge in 1976, posting an 18-8 record and throwing 264 1/3 innings. He racked up 286 strikeouts and began to solidify his reputation as one of the leagues best young pitchers. He also showed flashes of dominance in the postseason where despite going 0-1 he fashioned a 1.42 ERA in his two starts. Unfortunately for Max, 1977 would throw a twist into his plans. After some first-half struggles he was traded back to Honolulu. Unfortunately by then the former LMS Champions were into a downturn, and Max struggled with the club. He finished '77 with 15 wins but by far the worst statistical season of his young career. He turned his numbers around the following season but by then the Typhoons were just a bad team and from 1978 to mid-1980 he went 29-38 and was really struggling in 1980 when he was traded again, this time to the Charlotte Knights. Despite signing a wealthy extension he had a pretty lousy half-season with the Knights but when they morphed into the Greenville Moonshiners for 1981 he seemed to find the form he showed early in his career. Despite just a 12-13 record he posted strong numbers in ERA, strikeouts and PWS.

Before he was ever able to get settled in, Max was traded yet again before the 1982 season. This time he became a member of the New Orleans Crawdads. His first year as a Crawdad saw him go 12-12, but again his numbers were impressive and New Orleans seemed to be a team on the rise. 1983 saw him post his first winning record since 1977 as he won 17 games against just 10 losses while posting the second lowest ERA of his career and helping the Crawdads return to the playoffs for the first time since 1975. He also gave the club four superb starts in the playoffs but wasn't rewarded with a single victory despite his 2.63 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Nevertheless he built on his strong performances in 1984 when he put together by far his best season to that point. He went 20-5 with a career-best 2.78 ERA and he broke 20 PWS for the first time in his career. Surprisingly Despite his outstanding year he wasn't rewarded with an All-Star appearance. In the postseason he again struggled to pick up wins. In 5 starts he allowed just 11 runs but went only 1-1 despite striking out 39 in 33 innings. He helped enough however, for the Crawdads to win their second LMS Championship.

Despite the fact that he didn't repeat his 20-win season from '84, 1985 saw new career bests in ERA (2.44) and PWS (21.2) while he recorded an 18-7 mark. He also made the first All-Star appearance of his career at the age of 34. He again pitched well in the postseason only to earn another 1-1 record as the Crawdads were defeated in the LMS after their 105-win campaign. Max didn't show any signs of slowing down despite the evergrowing number of innings on his arm. 1986 saw him win 16 more games against just 5 losses while posting a stellar ERA (2.54) and again setting a PWS high this time with 21.4. Unfortunately the Crawdads could not translate his success into more playoff success as they were unceremoniously swept out of the first round, with Max being lit up in his one appearance.

Max returned a few months later, rededicated to his craft. He made his second All-Star appearance at the age of 36, picking up 18 wins against just 7 losses and setting what would finally stand as his career best PWS mark with 21.9. This time it was bad playoff luck that derailed Max, as the Crawdads lost in the '87 LMS and he went just 1-3 despite a 3.09 ERA and just 11 earned runs in 5 outings. People kept waiting for the decline of Max, but he just kept coming. 1988 saw another All-Star appearance along with his second 20-win campaign and his fifth straight season with a sub-3.00 ERA. He finally translated his success into playoff victories, as he went 2-0 in four dominating performances, allowing only 5 earned runs. In the process he led the Crawdads to their third ever LMS Championship and their second with him in the rotation.

In the offseason, Bill Max stated that he would retire at the end of the 1989 season. With the Crawdads dynastic team aging, ownership decided to rebuild and dealt Max at his request to the Phoenix Talons in the middle of the season. Max was pleased to find himself back in the playoff race and racked up a 7-3 record as a Talon to put his season mark at 11-9. Although he wasn't able to help the upstart Talons into the playoffs, he had already indelibly left his mark on the MBBA with his excellence as a Crawdad.

One of the most feared pitchers of the 1980s, Bill Max sits third in the MBBA in career victories (223), 21st in ERA (3.23), 5th in games started (496) and innings pitched (3376 1/3) and 8th in strikeouts (2787). Perhaps overlooked at times during his long career, Max was one of the few players who distinguished himself after his 30th birthday, running up a 146-73 record from that point on. If he had played on some more stable teams, or stayed with one club early in his career he likely could have ran up some even more gaudy totals. As it is he retires a two-time LMS Champion, a three-time All-Star and an undisputed great in the lore of the MBBA.

Plaque written by Ryan Scott