Thaddis Bosley Jr. (born September 17, 1956) is an American former professional baseball
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 ...
for the
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
(, ),
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 ...
(–),
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 ...
(),
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 ...
(),
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
(–),
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
(–1988) and
Texas Rangers (–).
Playing career
Bosley was called up to the Angels after hitting .326 in 69 games for the
Salt Lake City Gulls
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
of the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
(PCL), and made his Major League debut on June 29, . He was traded along with
Bobby Bonds
Bobby Lee Bonds (March 15, 1946 – August 23, 2003) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball from to , primarily with the San Francisco Giants. Noted for his outstanding combination of power hitting and speed, he was the first pl ...
and
Richard Dotson
Richard Elliott Dotson (born January 10, 1959) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1980s. He is best noted for his 22-7 performance of , helping the Chicago White Sox win the American League West Division championship ...
to the White Sox for
Brian Downing
Brian Jay Downing (born October 9, 1950) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from to , originally as a catcher before converting to an outfielder and designated hitter later in his career. Downin ...
,
Chris Knapp and
Dave Frost
Carl David Frost (born November 17, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player and a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The , right-hander was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 18th round of the 1974 Major League Base ...
on December 5, 1977. He remained with the White Sox organization for three years and later played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Chicago Cubs, distinguishing himself as one of the best pinch hitters in the majors.
During the 1985 season, Bosley hit .328 and was voted the best pinch hitter in baseball. After being traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1987, Bosley returned again to the California Angels in 1988. In 1989, he signed with the Texas Rangers and ended his playing career on June 1, 1990.
He appeared with two division champions, the Brewers and the Cubs. Both teams lost their respective
League Championship Series
The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...
, however, so Bosley never played in a
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
. Bosley played fourteen major-league seasons, appearing in 784 games with 1,581 at-bats, a .272 batting average and twenty home runs.
Coaching career
Bosley was a
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
for 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 ...
from 1999 to 2002. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons Bosley served as an assistant coach and then as the head coach for the baseball team at the now defunct
Bethany University
Bethany University was a four-year private coeducational Christian university located in Scotts Valley, California, in Santa Cruz County. It operated from 1919 until closing in 2011 and was endorsed by the Assemblies of God USA, a Pentecostal d ...
in Scotts Valley, California. Bosley was announced on June 24, 2009, as the head coach at
Southwestern College in Phoenix, Arizona. After one season at Southwestern, Bosley accepted the hitting coach vacancy for the most recent American League champion, the
Texas Rangers on November 23, 2010.
He was fired as the Rangers hitting coach on June 8, 2011.
Personal life
Bosley was briefly a member of a
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
group called Ballplayers which featured former Major League Baseball journeyman
Lenny Randle
Leonard Shenoff Randle (born February 12, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was the first-round pick of the Washington Senators in the secondary phase of the June 1970 Major League Baseball draft, tenth overall.
Early years
Born ...
. Some of their music can be heard on a compilation called "Family Album", which was released in 2010 on the DC-based music label, People's Potential Family.
References
External links
RetrosheetPitchfork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosley, Thad
1956 births
Living people
African-American baseball coaches
African-American baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Baseball coaches from California
Baseball players from California
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Edmonton Trappers players
Idaho Falls Angels players
Iowa Cubs players
Iowa Oaks players
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball first base coaches
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Major League Baseball outfielders
Milwaukee Brewers players
Oakland Athletics coaches
Oklahoma City 89ers players
Quad Cities Angels players
Salinas Angels players
Salt Lake City Gulls players
Seattle Mariners players
Sportspeople from Oceanside, California
Texas Rangers coaches
Texas Rangers players
Vancouver Canadians players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople