- Brad Fischer
Bradley James Fischer (born
June 28 ,1956 inBlissfield, Michigan ) is a major league baseball coach who spent most of his career with theOakland Athletics . He joined the A's in 1995 as the bullpen coach, then moved to first-base coach in 1997, shifted back to the bullpen in 1998, shifted back to first base in 2003 and finally back to the bullpen in 2006. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, the A's announced that he would not return, thus ending a 29-year relationship that began in the A's minor-league system (see below).Playing career
Fischer was not drafted; he signed with the
Oakland Athletics as a free agent out ofWestern Michigan University in 1978. A catcher, he played just one season in the minors, hitting .267 in 160 at-bats for the A's rookie league club inBend, Oregon .Managing/Coaching Career
After spending 1979 out of baseball, the 23-year-old Fischer was hired to manage the A's Single-A team in
Medford, Oregon in 1980. In 1981, he piloted Medford to aNorthwest League championship and earned Manager of the Year honors.After the season, he ran into
Billy Martin at the Phoenix airport. Fischer recalls the encounter with the A's manager: "Billy saw me and said, 'Great year, kid. Where do you want to manage next year?' I said I had heard of an opening inMadison, Wisconsin . He said, 'The job's yours.' ... I was just glad he remembered it the next day." [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/07/SPGEBOGJ5F1.DTL]Fischer would take the Madison club to a league championship as well, and in 1984, added another playoff appearance.
From 1985 to 1987, Fischer managed the Double-A
Huntsville Stars to three playoff appearances and a Southern League championship, with the likes ofJosé Canseco andMark McGwire on his roster (albeit briefly).He was promoted to the Triple-A
Tacoma Tigers in 1988, where he would manage for three seasons. In his final season, 1990, he took the Tigers to the postseason.Fischer's final managerial record: 743-670, seven total postseason appearances.
From 1991-1993, Fischer worked as an instructor in the A's minor-league system, after which he spent two years as assistant director of player development, working alongside
Keith Lieppman (who is still working in the same capacity today).As of 2008, he is manager of the
State College Spikes , a single-A club affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.References
"2006 Oakland Athletics Media Guide". Pg. 22. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.
ources
1. [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/07/SPGEBOGJ5F1.DTL SFGate.com: Fischer A Lone Constant With A's - John Shea]
2. [http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20071006&content_id=2254033&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak OaklandAthletics.com: A's Announce Coaching Staff Changes]
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