Brady Anderson
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| Brady Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Center fielder / Left fielder | |
| Born: January 18, 1964 Silver Spring, Maryland |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| April 4, 1988 for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 20, 2002 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .256 |
| Home runs | 210 |
| Runs batted in | 761 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Brady Kevin Anderson (born January 18, 1964 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is a former center and left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians.
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[edit] Early life
Anderson attended Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California. After graduating, he went on to study economics the University of California, Irvine where he played outfield and first base for the Anteaters. Anderson would leave college following his junior season after being drafted in the 10th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft by the Boston Red Sox. his parents died when he was only 16.
[edit] Baseball career
[edit] 1988-1991: Early years
Anderson made his major league debut on April 4, 1988. On July 30, he and Curt Schilling were traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker. Anderson hit his first major league home run on August 6 off of Milwaukee's Tom Filer at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
[edit] 1992
In only his first season as a full-time player in 1992, Anderson played in all but three of the Orioles games and led the major leagues with 749 plate appearances. He earned his first of three All-Star nominations by playing in th1992 All-Star Game at San Diego on July 14, 1992.
Anderson became the first player in American League history to reach 20 homers, 50 steals and 75 RBI in a season...had one of the most productive seasons in major league history for a lead-off hitter... Finished in the American League Top Ten in Five Offensive Categories: Runs (8th with 100), Triples (3rd with 10), Stolen Bases (3rd with 53), Walks (6th with 98) and Extra Base Hits (10th with 59). Finished 15th in American League Most Valuable Player Voting. Reached base 276 times...only two in the American League reached more - Chicago's Frank Thomas (312) and Detroit's Tony Phillips (282). Quadruple Double: On the last day of the season he hit is 10th triple to be only one of three in the Major League to reach double figures in doubles, triples, homers and stolen bases. Was toughest to double up in the American League - grounded into only two double plays in 623 At-bats. Defense: In a pool of Major League Managers, Brady placed third among the American League Best Defensive Outfielders behind Toronto's Devon White and Seattle's Ken Griffey, Jr.
[edit] 1993
Despite missing 15 games with chicken pox and patellar tendinitis in both knees that plagued him throughout the first half of season, Anderson led all American League lead-off hitters in extra-base hits (56) and RBI (62). Led the Orioles in 8 offensive categories including runs (87), stolen bases (24), hit by pitch (10), walks (82), triples (8, tield for 6th in the League), and extra base hits (57). Batted .571 (8-14) with the bases loaded - 4th highest in the American League.
[edit] 1994
Although the 1994 season was cut short two months by the strike, Anderson led the Orioles in at-bats (453), triples (5) and hit by pitches (10). He also led all American League left fielders with a 1.000 fielding percentage, and his 31 stolen bases in 32 attempts was a major league record for 25 or more steals.
[edit] 1995
On June 12, Anderson set an American League record with 34 consecutive stolen bases. The streak ended on July 3 at 36 when he was caught by Minnesota Twins catcher Matt Walbeck. His record was eclipsed by Chicago's Tim Raines later in the year and matched by Toronto's Paul Molitor. Anderson was the hardest to double up in the American League, grounding into only three double plays on the year - once every 184.7 at-bats. Hit two home runs on September 5, the night Cal Ripken, Jr. tied Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record of 2130. On September 6, Anderson spoke on behalf of his teammates at a post game ceremony honoring Cal Ripken Jr.'s 2131st consecutive game.
[edit] 1996
Anderson went into the final game of the season with 49 home runs. In his first at-bat, he hit his 50th homer off Cy Young winner Pat Hentgen, joining an elite club of power hitters and breaking Frank Robinson's record for most home runs in a season by a Baltimore Oriole. He also became the only player in major league history to be in the 50–20 club and the 20–50 clubs. Anderson also shattered the major league record by leading off four consecutive games with a home run. The previous mark was two straight games done 33 times. In the annual Baseball America "Tools of the Trade" poll, Brady was named as the league's 3rd best defensive outfielder behind only Seattle's Ken Griffey, Jr. and Cleveland's Kenny Lofton. Anderson also hit 37 doubles and five triples and led the American League in extra base hits with 92, breaking the Orioles club record previously held by Cal Ripken, Jr.
"Because I only hit 50 home runs once, it was, in fact, an aberration. However, it was not a fluke," he told the Baltimore Sun (March 20, 2004). "Nothing can be considered a fluke that takes six months to accomplish. Rather it was a culmination of all my athleticism and baseball skills and years of training peaking simultaneously... Hitting in front of [Roberto] Alomar, [Rafael] Palmeiro, [Bobby] Bonilla and [Cal] Ripken didn't hurt, either."
Anderson added that while the 50 homers may have been 26 more home runs than he hit in any other season, "that's just one more home run per week, just one more good swing. That is the data that simultaneously comforted me and haunted me, the small difference between greatness and mediocrity."
Added former teammate Ripken: "Brady always had a much more advanced concept of cross-training and plyometrics and his diet. He was just ahead of the curve... To me, (that season) was all about him being locked in. He had good swings every at-bat. Bearing witness to it all year, he was a marvel to watch. I don't remember him ever being in a slump... Brady always had a fly-ball swing, which he was criticized for as a leadoff hitter, but that year he was right on the ball. He was just in one of those grooves. There were a couple of instances in my career when I seemed to pick up the next day where I left off. It's hard to explain. You wish you could do that every year."
[edit] 1997
Despite playing most of the 1997 season with a broken rib, Anderson led the Orioles to a wire-to-wire American League East Pennant with a record of 98-64. Anderson made his third All-Star appearance at the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland, where he played the entire game in the leadoff spot for the American League and went 2/4 with a double high off the left field wall against pitcher Curt Schilling.
Anderson led the Orioles in 13 offensive categories: Batting Average (.288), On Base Average (.393), On Base + Slugging (.862), Plate Appearances (696), Runs (97), Hits (170), Doubles (39), Triples (7), Walks (84), Stolen Bases (18), Extra Base Hits (tied with Rafael Palmiero - 64). His he hit-by-pitch a league leading 19 times, marking the second straight year he led the league.
[edit] 1999
Rebounded from an injury plagued 1998 campaign for one of the best all around seasons of his career. Led American League lead off hitters with a .408 on base percentage. Reached base 279 times, 9th most in the League. For the season, Anderson batted .282 with 28 doubles, 5 triples, 24 home runs, 109 runs scored, 36 stolen bases, 96 walks, 24 hit by pitch and 81 RBI. He became the only lead off hitter in history with three 75 RBI seasons to his credit. On May 23, Anderson became the first player in American League history to be hit by a pitch twice in the same inning. He broke his own American League record for hit by pitch in a season by a left-handed batter, set in 1996. The previous record was held by Washington's Harry Gessler who was hit 20 times in 1911. In a post season statistical analysis by Baseball America, Anderson was rated as the best lead off hitter in the American League.
[edit] Legacy
Anderson was not able to duplicate his 50 home run season; however, for a nine year stretch from 1992–2000, Brady averaged 21 home runs, 6 triples, 31 doubles, 96 runs scored, 70 RBI, 27 stolen bases, a .376 on base average, a .462 slugging average and 14 hit by pitch per year as a lead off hitter despite one season shortened two months by a player strike (1994) and another shortened one month by owner lock out (1995).
[edit] Post-season
In four post game series, (Cleveland Indians & New York Yankees in 1996), (Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners in 1997) Anderson had 80 at bats, 16 runs scored, 4 doubles, 6 home runs, .300 batting average, .380 on base percentage and a .575 slugging percentage.
In 1997 playoffs, Anderson hit .353 batting average against Seattle with a .588 slugging average and a .360 batting average against Cleveland with a .680 slugging average.
[edit] After baseball
On August 21, 2004, Anderson was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. Cal Ripken Jr. introduced Anderson and called him "the greatest lead off hitter in Orioles baseball and the best athlete I have ever played with". During Ripken Jr.'s induction ceremony to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, he described Anderson as "simply my best friend".
He still ranks among the Top Ten in Orioles Career Batting Leaders for Games (1759), At Bats (6,271), Runs (1.044), Total Bases (2,698), Hits (1,614), Doubles (329), Triples (64), Home Runs (209), RBI (744), Extra-Base Hits (602), Stolen Bases (307) and Walks (927). He holds the Season Title in Batting Performances for Total Bases (369 in 1996), Home Runs (50 in 1996), Extra Base Hits (92 in 1996) and Hit by Pitch (24 in 1999).
In 2006, Anderson became a co-owner of the ABA's Hollywood Fame. He also served as Chairman of the ABA Sports and Entertainment Advisory Committee.
As of 2008, Anderson is one of only two players (the other being Barry Bonds) to have stolen 50 or more bases in a season (53 in 1992) and hit 50 or more home runs in a season (50 in 1996).
In 2004 Hall of Fame Oriole pitcher Jim Palmer speculated that Brady Anderson used performance enhancing drugs during his 50 home run season of 1996, as Anderson never hit more than 24 home runs in a season ever again. Palmer later backed off those comments, however.[1]
[edit] See also
- MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break
- 50 home run club
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Brady Anderson at the Internet Movie Database
