Philip Poole Bradley (born March 11, 1959), is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL)

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 ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL)

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 ...

, from to . He also played 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 ...

(NPB) for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

, in .

Career

Bradley played

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

baseball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Macomb, Illinois Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois, southwest of Galesburg. The city is about southwest of Peoria and south of the Quad Cities. A special census held in 2 ...

for the Macomb High Bombers. Due to his success there, the Macomb High School baseball field was later dedicated in his name. Also a talented football player, he played college football at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

and was their starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

from 1978 through 1980. One of the most decorated athletes in MU annals, Bradley lettered in football at MU from 1977–81, and in baseball in 1979-80-81. Bradley quarterbacked the Tigers to three bowl games. He was a three-time Big Eight Conference "Offensive Player of the Year" and set the conference total offense record at 6,459 yards which stood for 10 years. In baseball, he starred as an outfielder on MU teams that won the Big Eight championship in 1980, and went to the NCAA Tournament in 1980 and '81. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft and made his Major League debut on September 2, 1983, as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. Bradley became Seattle's regular left fielder in 1984, batting .301 in 124 games, but did not show any power, hitting no home runs and only three in his career in the minors to that point. In 1985, he hit .300 in 159 games, adding a surprising 26 home runs, and was selected to the

All-Star team. Bradley was a productive player in Seattle, never hitting below .297 in four full seasons while also

stealing Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

107 bases. On April 13, 1985, at home against pitcher Ron Davis of the Twins, with two outs in the ninth inning, Bradley hit a walk-off grand slam home run to win by one run, becoming the third American League player to do so (ninth player in the majors). On April 29, 1986, Bradley was

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

' 20th and final strikeout as the pitcher set a major league record for strikeouts in a game. Bradley was dealt along with

Tim Fortugno Timothy Shawn Fortugno (born April 11, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and current scout, working for the New York Mets as of November 2015. Career He graduated in 1980 from Uxbridge High School (Uxbridge, Massachusetts). Fortug ...

from the Mariners to the

for Glenn Wilson, Mike Jackson and

Dave Brundage David Charles Brundage (born October 6, 1964 in Portland, Oregon) is an American professional baseball manager. In , Brundage spent his first season as manager of the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. His de ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 9, 1987. He hit a respectable .264 in his only season with the Phillies. While with Philly, Bradley was hit by a pitch 16 times during the season which set a Phillies team record. Bradley was acquired by the

for

Ken Howell Kenneth Howell, Jr. (November 28, 1960 – November 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the National League (NL) Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies (- ...

and

Gordon Dillard Gordon Lee Dillard (born May 20, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1988) and Philadelphia Phillies (1989). His 1988 season was split between the Charlot ...

on December 9, 1988, exactly one year to the day of his trade to Philadelphia. The transaction addressed the Orioles' need for right-handed hitting and the Phillies' for starting pitching. Back in the more familiar

, his batting average rose to .277 in his first season in Baltimore. He was the starting

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and oldest everyday player with the "Why Not?" Orioles of which he said, "On paper, that was probably the worst team I ever played for and, as it turned out, it was the best team I ever played with." After batting .270 (78 hits in 289 at-bats) with 4 home runs, 26 RBI and 10 stolen bases through the first four months of the 1990 season, Bradley was traded from the Orioles to the

for

Ron Kittle Ronald Dale Kittle (born January 5, 1958) is an American former left fielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was known for his home run hitting power, and was named the 1983 Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award, ...

on July 30.Sheinin, Dave. "Orioles Strike Deal Bradley Traded for Kittle," ''The Washington Post'', Tuesday, July 31, 1990.
Retrieved December 7, 2021 His $1.15 million salary at the back end of a two-year contract was almost double the $550,000 that Kittle was earning.
Retrieved December 7, 2021 He had rejected the Orioles' one-year $1.3 million contract offer which he called "a humiliation" a week prior to the trade. Baltimore general manager

Roland Hemond Roland A. Hemond (October 26, 1929 – December 12, 2021) was an American professional baseball executive who worked in Major League Baseball. He served as the scouting director of the California Angels, general manager of the Chicago White Sox ...

was criticized by the '' Daily Press'' for bringing on too many ex-White Sox like Kittle, Greg Walker,

Kevin Hickey Kevin John Hickey (February 25, 1956 – May 16, 2012) was an American left-handed pitcher who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago White Sox (1981–1983) and Baltimore Orioles (1989–1991). It was with the White S ...

, Tim Hulett and

Dave Gallagher David Thomas Gallagher (born September 20, 1960) is an American former professional baseball journeyman outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven teams, during his nine-year big league career (–). Early life Gallagher w ...

. Bradley's final major league appearance came on September 29, 1990, as he drew two walks and scored a run in a 5-2 White Sox win over the Seattle Mariners. Shortly after retirement, he was hired as the baseball coach at Westminster College in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, the city is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri, Metropolita ...

. He also taught classes there, including upper-level classes on sports history. In September 2009, Bradley was named as a volunteer assistant coach of the

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

team for the 2009-10 season. He is currently a Special Assistant to the Executive Director for the

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...

.MLBPA Contact Information http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/info/contact.jsp

Career statistics

References

External links

Phil Bradley
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Phil 1959 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players African-American players of American football American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American football quarterbacks American League All-Stars Bakersfield Mariners players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Indiana Baseball players from Indiana Bellingham Mariners players Chicago White Sox players Edmonton Trappers players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball outfielders Missouri Tigers softball coaches Missouri Tigers baseball players Missouri Tigers football players People from Macomb, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Players of American football from Indiana Salt Lake City Gulls players Seattle Mariners players Softball coaches from Indiana Westminster Blue Jays baseball coaches Yomiuri Giants players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople