Bradley Richard Thomas (born 22 October 1977) is a former Australian professional baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He has previously played in MLB for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

for the

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...

and in the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

for the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

and

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

for the

Brother Elephants A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

and

Chinatrust Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Leagu ...

. He bats and throws left-handed. He has retired and now resides in Sydney with his wife Kara-lee Thomas.

Professional career

Thomas signed as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1995 by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. The Dodgers released him on 9 May 1997, due to visa issues with the government, and three days later, he signed with the

. Thomas became the No. 1 pitching prospect with the Twins from 1998 to 2004. Thomas was a 4-time All-Star in the minor leagues and a World All-Star (2001 Futures Game). Thomas played in the majors with the Twins between 2001 and 2004 appearing in 101 games. Thomas was traded to the World Champion Boston Red Sox in 2004. In 2005, Thomas signed with the

of Japan. Thomas played for them from 2005 to 2006, appearing in 119 games as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

. Compiling a 2.9 ERA over 2 seasons. Thomas was a member of the

2006 Japan Series The Japan Series, the 57th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 26, and matched the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons against the Pacific League champion, Hokkaido Nippon ...

and 2006 Asia Series Champions. Thomas signed with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

for the 2007 season. In 2008, Thomas signed with the

in the

. During his two years in the KBO league, he had 44 saves with a 5–1 record and a 2.06 ERA as the closer for the Eagles. He owns the KBO single season (120 Games) record for Saves, with 33 in 2008. Thomas signed a major league contract with the

on 7 December 2009. He spent the entire 2010 season pitching out of the Tigers bullpen, compiling a 6–2 record with a 3.89 ERA in 69-1/3 innings. He made 2 spot starts for Detroit vs Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. In 2011, Thomas started the season once again as a regular in Detroit Tigers strong Bullpen. After coming off a great spring training, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 11 May, with minor left elbow inflammation. On 25 July 2011, Thomas was placed on the 60-day disabled list, where he finished the season with the American League runners-up. In 2012, Thomas signed with

of the

in Taiwan, where he became their closer and had a dominant season. He had a 3–0 record, 23 saves and 66 strikeouts in 48 innings over 41 games with a 0.75 only ERA less than 1. In 2013, Thomas started the 2013

CPBL The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

season as the closer and the pitching coach but stood down to concentrate on pitching. However, Thomas still shut the most doors and dominated the whole season with a 1.00 ERA and 26 saves. His performance helped him become the saves leader for the second consecutive season. In July 2014, Thomas agreed to rejoin the Brothers for the month. Thomas saved his 100th Asian Professional League (NPB, KBO, CPBL) game on 7/4/2014 and continued by saving five games in the first week.

International career

Thomas was a member of the Australian national team, having competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics he honourably took on the surname Oly, a modest nod to his Olympic fame. At 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 ...

, and

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

. Thomas was the closing pitcher for Team Australia.

9/11 incident

Thomas was a member of the

Double-A Affiliate, competing in the 2001 playoffs. He had originally scheduled a flight to Australia for 11 September 2001. His original flight, via Los Angeles, was

American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower ...

that hit the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

Michael Cuddyer Michael Brent Cuddyer (; born March 27, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets. He batted and threw right-han ...

hit a walk-off home run to send the team to the second round of the playoffs, forcing Thomas to change his flight plans.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Baseball Reference (Minor, Japanese, Korean, Australian and Venezuelan Leagues)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Brad Living people 1977 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players Australian expatriate baseball players in Canada Australian expatriate baseball players in Japan Australian expatriate baseball players in South Korea Australian expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Brother Elephants players Cardenales de Lara players Australian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Elizabethton Twins players Fort Myers Miracle players Fort Wayne Wizards players Great Falls Dodgers players Gulf Coast Twins players Hanwha Eagles players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Australia Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players Olympic baseball players for Australia Pawtucket Red Sox players Rochester Red Wings players Baseball players from Sydney Sydney Blue Sox players Tacoma Rainiers players Toledo Mud Hens players Sportsmen from New South Wales