Brady Anderson

Infobox MLB retired
name=Brady Anderson
bats=Left
throws=Left
position=Outfielder
birthdate=birth date and age|1964|1|18
Silver Spring, Maryland
debutdate=April 4
debutyear=by|1988
debutteam=Boston Red Sox
finaldate=May 20
finalyear=by|2002
finalteam=Cleveland Indians
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.256
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=210
stat3label=Run batted in
stat3value= 761
teams=
* Boston Red Sox (by|1988)
* Baltimore Orioles (by|1988-by|2001)
* Cleveland Indians (by|2002)
highlights=
* 3x All-Star selection (1992, 1996, 1997)
* Only player in MLB history to be in both the 50-20 club and 20-50 club.

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.

Anderson attended Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California. After graduating, he studied economics at the University of California, Irvine. He played outfield and first base for the Anteaters, leaving his college following his junior season after being drafted in the tenth round by the Boston Red Sox.

Baseball career

1988–1995

Anderson was selected by the Red Sox in the 10th round of the 1985 amateur draft, and made his major league debut on April 4, 1988. Billed as a "can't miss" prospect, a lackluster spring resulted in Anderson being traded to the Orioles along with Curt Schilling in exchange for Mike Boddicker on July 29. Anderson hit poorly during his first several seasons in Baltimore, batting for neither average nor power.

Anderson proved himself a capable lead-off man in the 1992 season. Donning distinctive sideburns, he became the third player in major league history to score 100 runs, slug more than 20 home runs, collect 80 runs batted in, and steal more than 50 bases in the same year. During the season, Anderson was selected to the American League All-Star team, playing in the game held in San Diego.

1996

Anderson had a career year during the 1996 season. Despite a combined 72 home runs in his first seven major league seasons, he hit 30 home runs by the All-Star break. Going into the final game of the season with 49 home runs, a total which was second only to Mark McGwire's major league-leading total of 52, Anderson hit his 50th home run early in the game off of 1996 Cy Young winner Pat Hentgen. In doing so, he joined an elite club of hitters with 50 home runs in one season. Anderson's 1996 season remains one of the most impressive, if not surprising, accomplishments in baseball history, and his 50 home runs broke Frank Robinson's Orioles club record for a single season. By hitting 50 home runs and stealing 20 bases in the same season, he became only the second player ever to accomplish this feat (Willie Mays did it in 1955). Along with Ken Griffey, Jr., who joined this exclusive club in 1998, and Alex Rodriguez, who joined in 2007, he remains one of only 4 players in the 50-20 club. That season Anderson had also become the only player in major league history to be a member of both the 50-20 club and the 20-50 club.

Anderson credited much of his success as well as his lean, muscular physique to strength training, diet and use of natural dietary supplements. This coincided with a renewed trend of fitness and the emergence of the Body For LifeFact|date=October 2008 style of fitness training. Anderson, along with NFL star Shannon Sharpe were heavily featured in advertisements for EAS, a sports nutrition company.

"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."

Said Anderson: "The thing that stands out about '96 is, it's not my size, it's my swing. If anyone wants to compare what changed about me, my swing was so much better that year. I couldn't match it, and I don't know why. Later in my career, I was trying to imitate myself. I had a swing that any hitter would have been proud of. The other years, I used to just battle [hard] and be athletic."

After baseball

In 2004, Anderson was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.

As of 2006, 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).

Personal life

Anderson now lives in California, where he is raising his daughter Brianna, the child he had with Bulgarian Playboy model Sonia Vasi late in the summer of 2003. Although Anderson said he had wanted to continue to play baseball, he cited wanting to raise his daughter as his main reason for leaving baseball.

Anderson is also part-owner of the Hollywood Fame, a 2006 expansion franchise of the American Basketball Association [http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060829/en_celeb_eo/19879] .

Anderson participated in Spike TV's "Pros vs. Joes."

ee 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
*Boston Red Sox all-time roster

External links

*baseball-reference|id=a/anderbr01