Thomas Andrew Brunansky (born August 20, 1960), nicknamed "Bruno", is a former

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. 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 (A ...

who played from 1981 to 1994 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 ...

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 ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. In a 14-season career, he batted .245 with 271

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 919

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 1800 games. Brunansky averaged 24 home runs per 162 games. He finished his career with 1543

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 s ...

in 6289

at bat 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 ...

s, 69

stolen base 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 o ...

s, and 306

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

Professional career

After being drafted in the first round (14th pick) of the 1978 amateur draft by the

' organization after his senior year at

West Covina High School West Covina High School (WCHS) is a four-year comprehensive secondary school located in West Covina, California, USA. History West Covina High School opened in 1956 on the old Covina High School campus on Citrus Ave. and Puente Ave. as the Spar ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Brunansky spent the next four years working his way up the Angels' minor league system before appearing in 11 games in 1981 after making his major league debut on April 19. On May 11, 1982, he was traded by the Angels, along with pitcher Mike Walters, to the

for pitcher

Doug Corbett Douglas Mitchell Corbett (born November 4, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins, California Angels and Baltimore Orioles between 1980 and 1987. Early years Doug Corbett was ...

and infielder

Rob Wilfong Robert Donald Wilfong (born September 1, 1953) is an American professional baseball scout (sports), scout and a former Major League Baseball second baseman for the Minnesota Twins (1977–1982), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California Angels (19 ...

. The 21-year-old Brunansky was then inserted into the Twins' lineup, where he saw time at all three outfield positions and slugged his way to the first of his eight consecutive seasons in which he hit at least 20 home runs. Following the 1982 season, Brunansky became a fixture in right field for the Twins, starting there through the 1987 season. In 1982, Brunansky became the only Twin in franchise history to hit a grand slam,

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score ...

. He accomplished this in a July 19 home game at the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...

in the third inning off the Brewers' Jerry Augustine. Ironically, all four runs were considered unearned because of two Brewers' fielding errors earlier in the inning. Only 40 major league players have hit a grand slam, inside-the-park home run since 1950. Brunansky was the Twins' sole All-Star representative in 1985 and was a starter for the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

1987 Minnesota Twins The 1987 Minnesota Twins won the World Series for the first time since moving from Washington in 1961, the second time that the franchise won the World Series (the Washington Senators won it in 1924). Having won only 85 games during the 1987 reg ...

during what was arguably his best overall season (hitting .259, with 32 HR, 85 RBI and 83 Runs). Brunansky helped the Twins upset the

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 the American League Championship Series by hitting .412 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI in the five-game series. He then had a somewhat invisible World Series, only hitting .200 with one RBI. Just months after playing each other in the World Series, the Twins shocked both their fans and Brunansky by trading him on April 22, 1988, to the St. Louis Cardinals for second baseman Tom Herr. Although the move was meant to strengthen the top of the order, Herr spent one lackluster season with the Twins, during which he complained about being in Minnesota, while Brunansky continued his home run hitting ways for six more seasons. On May 4, 1990, he was traded by the Cardinals to the Red Sox for closer Lee Smith. Brunansky played three seasons for the Red Sox, and is best remembered by Boston fans for his diving catch of an

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for 16 seasons, primarily with the Chicago White Sox, from 1985 to 2000. During tha ...

line drive in the ninth inning of the season ending game that preserved the Red Sox victory, sending them to the 1990 ALCS. However, Brunansky hit .083, and the team as a whole hit a pitiful .183, as the

Oakland A's 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 ...

swept the Sox in four games (before being swept themselves by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in the 1990 World Series). At the end of the 1992 season, he became a free agent and signed with the

on January 28, 1993. Brunansky struggled with the Brewers, batting just .183 with six home runs over 80 games that season. He played only 16 games the following season before being traded back to the Red Sox on June 16, 1994, for

Dave Valle David Valle (; born October 30, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Texas Rangers from to . He attended ...

. He put up decent power numbers in Boston, hitting 10 doubles and 10 home runs in 48 games, but the strike-shortened 1994 season would be his last in the majors.

Retirement

Following retirement, Brunansky was hired in 2004 as the coach for the

Poway High School Poway High School is a four-year secondary school in southern California accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Established in 1961, its approximately 2,408 students are from the city of Poway and the community of Rancho Be ...

baseball team in

Poway, California Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The unincorporated community became a city on December 1, 1980. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city has a population of 49,701 as of ...

. In July 2010 after finishing his sixth season at Poway, Brunansky accepted a job as the

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the Twins' Rookie League team, the

Gulf Coast League Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, th ...

. At the end of the season, he was promoted to be the hitting coach for the Twins' AA League team, the

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado Rockies for one. They played ...

. On November 1, 2011, Brunansky was again promoted to become the hitting coach for the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field, located in downt ...

where he would help the team to their best season since 2008, finishing 72-72. On October 22, 2012, Brunansky was promoted to be the Twins' hitting coach. He was fired after the 2016 season. On May 9, 2012, the Boston Red Sox honored Brunansky for his diving catch that helped the Red Sox clinch the AL East in 1990. Since 2017 Brunansky has been the hitting coach at the

University of Saint Katherine The University of Saint Katherine (USK) is a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate university located in San Marcos, California. Founded by Frank J. Papatheofanis, MD, PhD, It opened in 2011, and has grown each year in enrollment from its ...

in California.

References

External links

Tom Brunansky
at Sons of Sam Horn {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunansky, Tom 1960 births Living people American people of Russian descent California Angels players Boston Red Sox players Minnesota Twins players Milwaukee Brewers players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball right fielders Baseball players from California People from Covina, California Idaho Falls Angels players Salinas Angels players El Paso Diablos players Salt Lake City Gulls players Spokane Indians players Minnesota Twins coaches

Professional career

Retirement

See also

References

External links