Tony Phillips Marquee

b. April 25, 1959 · Oakland Athletics 1982–1989, 1999, Detroit Tigers 1990–1994, California Angels 1995, Chicago White Sox 1996–1997, Anaheim Angels 1997, Toronto Blue Jays 1998, New York Mets 1998

He walked 1,319 times, led the American League twice, and led it in runs in 1992 with 114. Eighteen seasons gave him 2,023 hits, 160 home runs, 177 stolen bases and a .266 average — and 786 games in the outfield, 778 at second base, 428 at third and 294 at shortstop.

Oakland used him as a utility infielder for eight years and Detroit made him a leadoff man at thirty-one; he then had the best six seasons of his career, batting .281 with a .400 on-base percentage across them. He won the World Series with the 1989 Athletics.

He was arrested for buying cocaine in 1997 and spoke about the addiction afterward. He played independent-league ball into his fifties, for the fun of it. He died of a heart attack in 2016, at fifty-six. The 2005 ballot gave him one vote of 516.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Player of the Week	2	1986, 1991

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1982	OAK	40	81	11	17	2	2	0	8	12	26	2	.210
1983	OAK	148	412	54	102	12	3	4	35	48	70	16	.248
1984	OAK	154	451	62	120	24	3	4	37	42	86	10	.266
1985	OAK	42	161	23	45	12	2	4	17	13	34	3	.280
1986	OAK	118	441	76	113	14	5	5	52	76	82	15	.256
1987	OAK	111	379	48	91	20	0	10	46	57	76	7	.240
1988	OAK	79	212	32	43	8	4	2	17	36	50	0	.203
1989	OAK	143	451	48	118	15	6	4	47	58	66	3	.262
1990	DET	152	573	97	144	23	5	8	55	99	85	19	.251
1991	DET	146	564	87	160	28	4	17	72	79	95	10	.284
1992	DET	159	606	114	167	32	3	10	64	114	93	12	.276
1993	DET	151	566	113	177	27	0	7	57	132	102	16	.313
1994	DET	114	438	91	123	19	3	19	61	95	105	13	.281
1995	CAL	139	525	119	137	21	1	27	61	113	135	13	.261
1996	CHW	153	581	119	161	29	3	12	63	125	132	13	.277
1997	ANA/CHW	141	534	96	147	34	2	8	57	102	118	13	.275
1998	NYM/TOR	65	236	34	59	16	0	4	21	47	50	1	.250
1999	OAK	106	406	76	99	24	4	15	49	71	94	11	.244
Career	—	2161	7617	1300	2023	360	50	160	819	1319	1499	177	.266

On this day & linked events

1959

Born April 25, 1959

Atlanta, GA, USA

2016

Died February 17, 2016

1982

Major-league debut: Tony Phillips

Tony Phillips made a major-league debut on May 10, 1982.

1986

Tony Phillips Hits for the Cycle, 1986

Tony Phillips hit for the cycle for the Oakland Athletics against the Baltimore Orioles on May 16, 1986.

1999

Final major-league game: Tony Phillips

Tony Phillips played a final major-league game on August 15, 1999.

Image: Mother's Cookies, public domain