Name: Ryan Michael Madson 
Born: 08/28/80  Long Beach, CA 
Height: 6'6"  Weight: 180 
Bats: Left  Throws: Right

Madson graduated from Valley View High School (Riverside County) with a 3.5 GPA in 1998.  His 
uncle, Steve Barr, was in the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers systems from 1969-1975.  He was 
drafted by the Phillies in the 9th round (254th overall) of the 1998 amateur entry draft, the 
same year as current teammate Pat Burrell.

Highly regarded by the Phillies ever since they drafted him, Madson got to the major league 
level in 2004 as a relief pitcher.  In 2005, he started out well but appeared to wear down late 
in the season, finishing with a 4.14 earned run average in 87 innings.

The Phillies had high hopes for Madson in 2006, when they converted him back to a starter, the 
role he held throughout his minor league career, but he has since been returned in the bullpen 
to make room for Cole Hamels.

Madson has now become part of the "bridge to Lidge (closer Brad Lidge)", developing into an 
outstanding set-up man.  With a devastating change-up, Madson has found increased velocity, 
hitting as high as 97 miles per hour in the 2008 NLCS.

Madson earned his first playoff victory when the Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in 
Game 4 of the NLCS.  He pitched 1 2/3 innings, striking out one while allowing one hit and one 
walk.  Lidge had a plan as he strode in from the bullpen to preserve the Phillies' 3-2 lead in 
Game 1 of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.  He and catcher Carlos Ruiz were in 
perfect sync, according to Lidge, as the closer threw 15 pitches -- 13 of which were sliders -- 
to retire a rather meaty part of the Rays order that included Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and 
Carl Crawford. 

The inning followed Madson's perfect eighth, a scenario that has played out in the Phillies' 
favor more often than not as the Madson-Lidge tandem emerged as one of the best 1-2 back-end 
punches in the National League, and on Wednesday, it helped preserve another seven-inning gem 
by Cole Hamels, who allowed two runs and struck out five to improve to 4-0 during the postseason.  

On April 26th, Madson broke his right toe.  Madson's injury happened when he kicked a metal 
chair after blowing a save against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday afternoon.  The 
Phillies placed Madson on the 15-day disabled list that week.  He dodn't return until July 10th.

Personal: 
Ryan Michael Madson. 1998 graduate Valley View (Moreno County). 

Find Ryan Madson's' career statistics - Courtesy Baseball Reference.com