Photo by Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
It’s not every day that a player who figured prominently in a famous book, and later a movie based on that book, comes knocking on your door. But that’s exactly what happened to the New York Mets when they signed Chad Bradford as a free agent before the 2006 season. Bradford, never known for his athletic ability, relied on his unorthodox submarine-style delivery to get major league batters out mostly in situational relief roles. He also excelled in the post-season where had an ERA of below 1.00.
Chad Bradford came up in the Chicago White Sox organization but was thought of more as a Triple-A pitcher. Even though the right-hander pitched well for the Sox in the 2000 ALDS, he was only a September call-up for them in 2000 and made only three appearances with the team the year before. He was traded to the Oakland Athletics before the 2001 season and spent four seasons with the A’s.
His best year with Oakland was in 2003 when he had a 7-4 record, with a 3.04 ERA, an opponents batting average of .236 and a WHIP of 1.26. he was effective especially against right-handed hitters who had trouble picking up the ball, which seemed to nearly scrape the mound with his unusual delivery.
It was during Bradford’s tenure at Oakland that Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis was published (2003). It’s a lengthy treatise on the sabermetric approach the A’s had in the early 2000s on building and fielding a competitive team while not spending wildly on salaries.
By re-evaluating their strategy as to what is and is not important when evaluating talent, the A’s, with approximately $44 million in salary, were competitive with larger market teams such as the New York Yankees, who spent over $125 million in payroll in the early 2000s. Because of its smaller budget, Oakland had to find players undervalued by the market, and their system has proven itself thus far. The approach brought the A’s to the playoffs in 2002 and 2003.
In Moneyball, Lewis tells the story of Bradford in the chapter “Anatomy of an Undervalued Pitcher.” In 2011, the now famous (infamous?) book was made into a movie where Casey Bond played Bradford in the film.
The Boston Red Sox acquired Bradford in a trade for Jay Payton in July 2005. Unfortunately, he was beset by injury problems and only pitched 23.1 innings. He became a free agent in the off-season and signed with New York in 2006.
With the Mets, Bradford was reunited with an old friend as he told ESPN, “New York is a great situation for me.”
“I worked with [Mets pitching coach] Rick Peterson in Oakland and I know what he can do. With all the offseason additions, I’m sure the Mets will be contending for a playoff spot, and I want to do all I can to help,” Bradford said.
And help he did, as he had a solid 2006 season and post-season with the Mets. In 70 appearances in the regular season, Bradford went 4-2 with a 2.90 ERA (2.53 FIP), 45 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 62 innings of work. Against the L.A. Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs, he added 5.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Chad Bradford was, at times, a savior for the Mets in middle relief. especially against right-handed batters. He held them to a .331 slugging percentage, which is basically like facing pitchers for an entire season.
His playoff performance was not a surprise as Bradford finished his career with a 0.39 ERA in ten post-season series spanning 24 games.
Bradford cashed in on his success with the Mets in the off-season by signing a three year, $10.5 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. His time with the O’s was marked by him giving up the 500th career home run to Manny Ramirez. Two years later, he was traded to Tampa Bay where his post-season success continued as he allowed only one run in the 2008 playoffs culminating in his only World Series appearance.
Bradford retired after the 2009 campaign due to recurring injuries and questionable effectiveness. He went on to coach college baseball upon leaving the Majors.
Chad Bradford had a 12-year career in MLB and only one with the Mets. But it was much more than a cup of coffee as he was a mainstay in the middle of the bullpen which turned out to be a major strength for the 2006 Mets. He will be remembered for his solid pitching, especially in the post-season, and for a chapter devoted to him in a well-known baseball book. He is the very definition of a one year wonder for the New York Mets.
