• Card series: Beginnings: 1880's
• City: Boston
• Team: Beaneaters
• League: National League

Michael Joseph Madden (1867-1896) had a gift for curving the baseball, dazzling his hometown Portland, ME media as a teen. He had a head for the game and the heart, but sadly, not the physique. At 120 lbs he proved simply too frail for the rigors of professional play and travel in the late 1880s. His heart and head were on display during his rookie season with the Beaneaters in 1887. No matter that, for that one season, batters got four strikes; the Kid was outstanding: 21-14, 3.79 ERA completing all 37 starts. Despite his breaking stuff, he never appeared in nearly as many games in his short MLB career, suggesting his managers recognized his physical limitations. Stayed in Boston for three leagues in three years before closing out with the Orioles in 1891.

• Young Michael was taken by “consumption,” leaving a widow and two children at age 28