Anthony Garet Phillips (born 11 April 1990) is a former South African baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He has been a member of the Seattle Mariners,

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Colorado Rockies organizations. He bats and throws right-handed. He has been compared to a "young Chuck Knoblauch" by the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer''. José Moreno, Phillips' former manager, compared his style of play to that of David Eckstein. While not officially retired, Phillips is now a minor league coach.

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Born in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa, Phillips was scouted by Pat Kelly and Phillip Biersteker to sign with the Seattle Mariners at age 16 after his participation in the 2006 World Baseball Junior Championship. He began his professional career with the rookie-level Arizona League Mariners. Phillips batted .279 with 24 runs, 34

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 1 double, 9 RBIs and 5

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

in 45 games. In the next season, he played with three levels of the Mariners' organization including the rookie-level Pulaski Mariners, the Class-A Short Season Everett AquaSox and the Class-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks. With Pulaski, he batted .196 with 7 runs, 11 hits, 1 double, 4 RBIs and 4 stolen bases in 14 games. He played 51 games with the AquaSox and batted .187 with 23 runs, 28 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 17 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Finally, with the Mavericks, Phillips batted .111 with 1 hit and 1 RBI in 3 games. He hit his first career home run on 10 July against the Tri-City Dust Devils. He spent the 2009 season with the Class-A Short Season Everett AquaSox and batted .247 with 29 runs, 59 hits, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 7 home runs, 28 RBIs and 3 stolen bases in 68 games. He was first on the AquaSox in

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

(8) and second in

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

(239), home runs and strikeouts (65). He began the 2010 season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers but, after just one game, he was assigned to extended

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

Philadelphia Phillies

Phillips signed a minor league deal with the

in December 2013. Over the course of the 2014 season, he played with three different teams in the Phillies' minor league system.

St. Paul Saints

For the 2015 season, Phillips played for the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

in the independent American Association.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Phillips returned to Minor League Baseball in 2016, playing for the Arkansas Travelers, the AA affiliate of the Angels. He elected free agency on 7 November 2016.

Colorado Rockies

On 10 January 2017, Phillips signed a minor league deal with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

. He was released on 15 June 2018.

Return to St. Paul

On 21 June 2018, Phillips signed with the St. Paul Saints. He was released on 6 August 2018.

Kansas City T-Bones

On 17 August 2018, Phillips signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association. He was released on 14 November 2018.

Coaching career

In December 2018, Phillips became the bench coach for the

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

, a minor league affiliate of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

International career

He was selected to play in the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

for South Africa. He played two games and batted .222 with 1 run, 2 hits and 1 RBI. He competed at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019.

Personal life

His father, Alan Phillips, played in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

at age 44, making him the oldest man ever on an Olympic baseball roster. His brother, Jonathan Phillips (born 16 April 1986), played in the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

organization in 2003. Growing up, Phillips was a fan of

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Marin ...

and played rugby and badminton. He is not related to Tony Phillips.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Anthony 1990 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Arizona League Mariners players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball second basemen Baseball shortstops Baseball third basemen Clinton LumberKings players Clearwater Threshers players Everett AquaSox players Hartford Yard Goats players High Desert Mavericks players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Kansas City T-Bones players Lakewood BlueClaws players People from Bellville, South Africa Pulaski Mariners players Reading Fightin Phils players South African expatriate baseball players in the United States St. Paul Saints players Tacoma Rainiers players White South African people 2009 World Baseball Classic players Sportspeople from the Western Cape