Phil Bradley

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title: "Phil Bradley" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1959-births", "living-people", "african-american-baseball-coaches", "african-american-baseball-players", "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-sportsmen", "21st-century-american-sportsmen", "20th-century-african-american-sportsmen", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American baseball player (born 1959)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Bradley" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (born 1959) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Phil Bradley
image	1987 Indiana Blue Sox Set Phil Bradley.jpg
position	Left fielder
bats	Right
throws	Right
birth_date
birth_place	Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	September 2
debutyear	1983
debutteam	Seattle Mariners
debut2league	NPB
debut2date	April 6
debut2year	1991
debut2team	Yomiuri Giants
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	September 29
finalyear	1990
finalteam	Chicago White Sox
final2league	NPB
final2date	September 29
final2year	1991
final2team	Yomiuri Giants
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Batting average
stat1value	.286
stat2label	Home runs
stat2value	78
stat3label	Runs batted in
stat3value	376
::

|name=Phil Bradley |image=1987 Indiana Blue Sox Set Phil Bradley.jpg |position=Left fielder |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date= |birth_place=Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 2 |debutyear=1983 |debutteam=Seattle Mariners |debut2league =NPB |debut2date=April 6 |debut2year=1991 |debut2team=Yomiuri Giants |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 29 |finalyear=1990 |finalteam=Chicago White Sox |final2league =NPB |final2date=September 29 |final2year=1991 |final2team=Yomiuri Giants |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.286 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=78 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=376 |teams=

• Seattle Mariners (–)
• Philadelphia Phillies ()
• Baltimore Orioles (–)
• Chicago White Sox ()
• Yomiuri Giants () |highlights=
• All-Star (1985) Philip Poole Bradley (born March 11, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder / designated hitter who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago White Sox from to . He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants, in . He was an MLB All-Star in 1985.

Amateur career

Bradley was raised in Macomb, Illinois, where he played high school baseball and football 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 and was the starting quarterback from 1978 to 1980.

Bradley lettered in football at MU from 1977 to 1981, and in baseball from 1979 to 1981. He 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 1981.

Professional career

Bradley was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round (53rd overall) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. He made his Major League debut on September 2, 1983, as a pinch hitter against the New York Yankees.

Bradley became Seattle's regular left fielder in 1984, batting .301 with 24 RBI in 124 games, but did not show any power, hitting no home runs. At that point in his career, he had only hit three career home runs, all in the minor leagues. In 1985, Bradley hit .300 with a surprising 26 home runs and 88 RBI in 159 games. He set career highs in several offensive categories, including home runs, RBI, hits (192), slugging percentage (.498) and on-base plus slugging (.862). Bradley was selected to the American League (AL) All-Star team, and finished 16th in AL MVP voting. Bradley was a productive player in Seattle, never hitting below .297 in four full seasons while also stealing 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 AL player to do so (ninth player in the majors). On April 29, 1986, Bradley was Roger Clemens' 20th and final strikeout as the pitcher set a major league record for strikeouts in a game.

Bradley was traded along with Tim Fortugno from the Mariners to the Philadelphia Phillies for Glenn Wilson, Mike Jackson, and Dave Brundage at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1987. In 154 games, Bradley hit .264 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI in his only season with the Phillies. While a Phillie, Bradley was hit by a pitch 16 times during the season, the most in franchise history since 1899. He also became the first player to come to the plate at night (under the lights) at Wrigley Field against the Cubs on August 8, 1988, although the game was rained out and did not officially count.

Bradley was acquired by the Baltimore Orioles for Ken Howell and Gordon Dillard on December 9, 1988, exactly one year after 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 AL, his batting average rose to .277 in his first season in Baltimore. He was the starting left fielder 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-for-289) with four 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 Chicago White Sox for Ron Kittle on July 30. His $1.15 million salary at the back end of a two-year contract was almost double the $550,000 that Kittle was earning. 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 was criticized by the Daily Press for bringing on too many ex-White Sox, including Kittle, Greg Walker, Kevin Hickey, Tim Hulett and Dave Gallagher. 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 Mariners.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Bradley became the baseball coach at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. 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 University of Missouri softball team for the 2009-10 season. He currently works for the Major League Baseball Players Association as a Special Assistant in the International and Domestic Player Operations department.

Bradley was inducted into the Missouri Tigers Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Career statistics

::data[format=table]

8	1,022	4,255	3,695	565	1,058	179	43	78	376	155	432	718	.286	.369	.421	.988
::

References

References

1. "Macomb High School (IL) Baseball".
2. Schwindenhammer, Lonnie. (January 12, 2014). "Where Are They Now? Phil Bradley".
3. "Phil Bradley (1990) - Hall of Fame".
4. "3rd Round of the 1981 MLB June Amateur Draft".
5. (September 2, 1983). "New York Yankees vs Seattle Mariners Box Score: September 2, 1983".
6. "Phil Bradley Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More".
7. (April 13, 1985). "Minnesota Twins vs Seattle Mariners Box Score: April 13, 1985".
8. "Ultimate Grand Slams".
9. (April 29, 1986). "Seattle Mariners vs Boston Red Sox Box Score: April 29, 1986".
10. Newhan, Ross. (December 10, 1987). "Mariners Trade With Orioles, Phillies".
11. "Philadelphia Phillies Top 10 Single-Season Batting Leaders".
12. (December 9, 1988). "The Philadelphia Phillies traded outfielder Phil Bradley to the...".
13. Schmuck, Peter. (August 9, 2019). "Orioles celebrate 30th anniversary of 1989 'Why Not?' season, which should provide inspiration during rebuild".
14. (July 30, 1990). "Kittle rips trade to Baltimore".
15. Sheinin, Dave. (July 31, 1990). "ORIOLES STRIKE DEAL BRADLEY TRADED FOR KITTLE". [[The Washington Post]].
16. (August 5, 1990). "EITHER ORIOLES ARE CHEAP OR THEY JUST LIKE WHITE SOX".
17. (September 29, 1990). "Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox Box Score: September 29, 1990".
18. (2011-05-20). "Former Macomb star, MLB player assisting Mizzou softball".
19. "Int. & Domestic Player Operations".

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