Baseball coach inducted into MVCC Athletics Hall of Fame

Al Budding, of Palos Heights, is one of six former Moraine Valley Community College athletes or coaches inducted into the college’s 2020 Athletics Hall of Fame in February.

Budding was head baseball coach from 1987 to 2005. While at Moraine Valley, Budding worked 10-hour days improving the field, practicing in the offseason, scouting local high school games and recruiting talented athletes. Budding envisioned turning the diamond from a field to a stadium, making changes that still exist. He created the berms behind the outfield fences and had Campus Operations replant a tree on those hills that otherwise would have been chopped down. For several years after, his teams raised money to add more pine trees on those hills. Budding enhanced the fencing and helped make the field more playable despite drainage issues. His team also raised money to buy a field tarp.

Several of Budding’s players went further in baseball, most notably pitcher Bobby Madritsch (1997, 1998), who was drafted and played in the MLB. Budding worked tirelessly to make sure Madritsch finished his education after Moraine Valley and was scouted. The current Moraine Valley head baseball coach, Hugh Dennehy, also played for Budding. For a few years during his tenure, Budding coached internationally, including with the Junior Pan Am and in Germany. He and a Moraine Valley player represented the United States on U.S.A. Athletes, a college all-star team that competed in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2003 for a tournament during Prague Baseball Week.

“When I got the position at Moraine Valley, I knew it was going to be a lot of work. It’s coaching, putting the program together, planning, field work, which most people aren’t ready for, a lot of dreaming and your visions for the program. There was a lot of dreaming, and I really enjoyed that part of it. I had lots of visions. We had a lot of fun,” Budding said.

“Al really built our baseball program. It’s exciting to induct him and the others in this illustrious group. I love it when we can go back through our rich athletic history and for one day each year relive some of the amazing contributions that have set the stage for what Moraine Valley Athletics now offers our community,” said Bill Finn, Moraine Valley Athletics director.

Budding was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame along with soccer players Alex Duncan and Erin Duncan, football player Harvie Herrington, basketball player Shane O’Donoghue and cross country runner Lisa Pollard.

Video of HOF inductee Al Budding