Keith Anthony Phillips (April 25, 1959 – February 17, 2016) was an American

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 ...

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

who had an 18-year

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) career from 1982 to 1999. He played regularly at second base, but also had significant time as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. In addition, Phillips showed his versatility with over 100 game appearances in the outfield corners and as a

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 ...

Early life

Phillips played baseball and other sports for the Roswell High School Hornets in Roswell, Georgia. He played basketball in a brief year at New Mexico Military Institute (with teammate and former NBA player Lewis Lloyd). He is the uncle of professional football player

Jermaine Phillips Jermaine Phillips (born March 27, 1979) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia. Phillips e ...

Major league baseball career

On March 27, 1981, Phillips was traded from the Padres along with 3B Kevin Bell and P Eric Mustad to the Athletics for P

Bob Lacey Robert Joseph "Bob" Lacey, Jr. (born August 25, 1953) is former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, California Angels, and ...

and P Roy Meretti. Phillips became the first member of the Oakland Athletics to

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

going 5-for-5 against the Orioles on May 16, 1986. Phillips also tied the American League records for most assists in a game (12) on July 6, 1986, against the Brewers. In 1988, he had a poor year, hitting just .203 over 212 at bats, and the Athletics lost to 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 ...

in the

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 ...

with Phillips striking out against

Orel Hershiser Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a bro ...

for the final out of the series. However, in 1989 he boosted his average to .262 and the A's swept the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

to win the

. Phillips made the last out of the 1989 World Series when he fielded a ground ball off the bat of Brett Butler and then threw to

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

covering first base to clinch the series. Phillips left Oakland after 1989 to join 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 ...

. His offensive production surged with Detroit: he became proficient at drawing walks, leading 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 ...

in 1993 with 132 after posting 114 in 1992. His 114 runs scored in 1992 were a league best, and he followed that up with 113 runs scored in 1993. His 1993 season was recognized with a 16th-place finish in the

MLB Most Valuable Player Award The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers ...

vote. Also, his 1993 season was unique in that he became the first (and so far only) player to ever have 100 or more of hits, walks, runs, and strikeouts in a season where the player hit less than 10 homers. After hitting 19

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 drawing another 95 walks in 1994, Phillips was traded to 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 ...

for

Chad Curtis Chad David Curtis (born November 6, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and convicted sex offender. Curtis played major league baseball from 1992 to 2001 for the California Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cle ...

in April 1995, with the season yet to start due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. He set a career-best mark that year with 27 homers, but drove in just 61 runs due to batting lead-off, and walked 113 times. 1996 saw Phillips move on to the

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 ...

, with whom he drew 125 walks, most in the league, and scored 119 runs for the second year in a row. Phillips returned to the Angels via a trade with

Chad Kreuter Chadden Michael Kreuter (; born August 26, 1964) is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager, and former college baseball head coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1988 to 2003 for seven different franchis ...

for

Jorge Fábregas Jorge Fábregas ( , ; born March 13, 1970) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played for eight teams during a nine-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career. Career Fábregas an alumnus of the University of Miami. In 1989, he ...

and Chuck McElroy partway through the 1997 season and drew 102 walks, his third year in a row and fifth year out of six with over 100. In 1998 he played with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, who traded him to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

for

Leo Estrella Leoncio Estrella (born February 20, 1975) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Toronto Blue Jays (), Milwaukee Brewers (), and San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseba ...

, and then signed on with the A's for his final season in 1999.

Career statistics

In his 18-year, 2161 game major league career, Phillips had a cumulative

WAR War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

of 50.9 and an

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

of .763. His best one year WAR was 5.2 and his lifetime defensive WAR was a respectable 6.3. Phillips' life time OBP was .374. In addition, he posted a .266

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(2023-for-7617) with 1300 runs, 360 doubles, 50 triples, 160

home runs 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 ...

, 819 RBI, 177

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 ...

and 1319

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. He finished his career with a .968

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. In 13 postseason games, in 1988 and '89, he hit .217 (10-for-46) with 1 home run and 4 RBI.

Independent leagues

Phillips played third base for the

Yuma Scorpions Yuma can refer to: Places * Yuma Desert, desert in southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico ;United States * Yuma County, Arizona ** Yuma, Arizona ** Fortuna Foothills, Arizona ** Marine Corps Air Station Yuma ** United States Army Yuma Proving Ground ...

of the independent North American League until the team folded in 2012. He played alongside former Athletics teammate

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

. In August 2011, 52-year-old Phillips was involved in an altercation with former Scorpions manager Mike Marshall, then with the

Chico Outlaws The Chico Outlaws were a professional baseball team based in Chico, California, in the United States. The Outlaws were a member of the Northern Division of the independent North American League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Ba ...

. Phillips punched Marshall in the face during the incident, causing the latter to press battery charges against the infielder. He also came out of retirement to play for the

Pittsburg Mettle The Pittsburg Diamonds were an independent professional baseball team based in Pittsburg, California. Originally named the Pittsburg Mettle, the club changed their name to the Diamonds in 2015. History The Pittsburg Mettle began play as a me ...

in the

Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs was an independent baseball league based in Northern California. The league was founded in 2013 by four former North American League teams. History During the initial season, two Hawaii- ...

in 2015.

Cocaine arrest

On August 10, 1997, Phillips was arrested in Anaheim and charged with buying a small quantity of freebase

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

. He had been found by police in a hotel room with $30 worth of cocaine and a pipe used to smoke it. Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of felony cocaine possession, with the charge subject to dismissal if he completed drug counseling and then stayed drug-free for a year. As Phillips met those conditions, the charge was dismissed by an

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, judge in May 1999.

Death

Phillips died in Arizona of an apparent heart attack on February 17, 2016.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Tony 1959 births 2016 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American sportspeople in doping cases Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Atlanta Baseball players suspended for drug offenses California Angels players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Diablos Rojos del México players Edinburg Roadrunners players Jamestown Expos players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third basemen Mexican League baseball second basemen Memphis Chicks players New York Mets players New Mexico Military Institute alumni Oakland Athletics players Pittsburg Diamonds players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tacoma Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toronto Blue Jays players Venados de Mazatlán players West Haven A's players West Palm Beach Expos players Yuma Scorpions players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people