James Bradley Mills (born January 19, 1957) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, coach, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who is currently the bench coach for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played in MLB as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

from 1980 to 1983. He managed the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

from 2010 to 2012, and served as a coach in MLB for the Expos,

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Early life

Mills was educated at Exeter Union High School in Exeter, California,

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally es ...

, and the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. He was drafted in the 17th round by the

Baseball career

Playing career

Mills reached the major leagues in 1980 and had a .256

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and 12

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 106

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

for the Expos (1980–83). He divided his time between Triple-A and the majors in each of those seasons, and sustained a right knee injury that ended his playing career at the age of 29. A full-time left-handed hitter and primarily a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

, he also saw time at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

. In 1983, Mills was

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New Yo ...

's 3,509th career

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

victim, lifting Ryan past

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

as the all-time strikeout leader.

Post-playing career

Mills managed eleven seasons in the minors in the Cubs, Rockies and Dodgers organizations (1987–2002), and also served as an advance scout for the Cubs. Mills was

Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously managed the Cleveland Indians/G ...

's first-base coach with the

in 1997–2000. In 2003, Mills served as the

bench coach. From 2004 to 2009, Mills was teamed again with Francona when he served as the bench coach for the

Houston Astros manager

On October 27, 2009, Mills was named manager of the

, replacing interim manager Dave Clark; he was hired after Manny Acta declined (he elected to manage the

). The 2010 season, the first under Mills, was a year of transition for the Astros as they traded away franchise stars Lance Berkman and

Roy Oswalt Roy Edward Oswalt (; born August 29, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Oswalt played for the majority of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Houston Astros. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texa ...

at the trade deadline, following an underwhelming start, which included an 0–8 start to the season, and 17–34 record through the end of May. However, they would finish the season strong, going 59–52 the rest of the way, and 34–27 after the trade deadline, finishing with 76–86 record, good enough for fourth in the NL Central. This strong finish earned Mills a single third place vote in

National League Manager of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Manager of the Year Award is an honor given annually since 1983 to two outstanding managers, one each in the American League (AL) and the National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), ...

voting, in which he finished sixth. The 2011 season was much less appealing for both Mills and the Astros, as they suffered the franchise's first ever 100-loss season, finishing with a dubious record of 56–106, as the team traded away more former All-Stars to slash payroll such as Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn, opening up opportunites for future All-Stars such as Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez. The 2012 season was eerily similar to the previous season as the Astros once again struggled to win games, never rising above .500 after April, and by the summer, rumors spread of a potential firing of Mills. The team had new ownership during the year as

Jim Crane James Robert Crane (born January 17, 1954) is an American businessman from Houston, Texas. Crane is chairman and chief executive of Crane Capital Group, Crane Worldwide Logistics, and Crane Freight and Shipping. He is also the owner and chairman ...

purchased the team from previous owner Drayton McLane the previous fall. Mills was fired on August 18, 2012 along with hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham. He was succeeded on an interim basis by Oklahoma City RedHawks manager Tony DeFrancesco, as named by first-year general manager Jeff Luhnow. For his part, Mills stated that some of the responsibility was on his part for how the team did, not wanting to point the finger at anybody. The team would go on to finish the season with 100+ losses for the second consecutive year.

Cleveland Indians

On October 31, 2012, Mills was hired as the third base coach of the

, to work with Francona again. Mills was reassigned as the Indians bench coach in 2014. While coaching for the

under Francona from 2004 to 2009 he was in the same position. On July 11, 2017, Mills managed the American League All-Star team while Francona dealt with a health issue. On July 5, 2020, Mills announced he would be opting out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The Indians subsequently announced on October 30, 2020 that Mills will not return as bench coach for the 2021 season, but would remain with the club in an undetermined role.

Cincinnati Reds

On November 12, 2024, Mills was hired to serve as the bench coach for the

Managerial record

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Brad 1957 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Wildcats baseball players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Tulare County, California Boston Red Sox coaches Chicago Cubs scouts Cleveland Indians coaches Cincinnati Reds coaches College of the Sequoias Giants baseball players Colorado Springs Sky Sox managers Denver Bears players Houston Astros managers Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs managers Iowa Cubs players Las Vegas 51s managers Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Major League Baseball third basemen Memphis Chicks players Montreal Expos coaches Montreal Expos players People from Exeter, California Philadelphia Phillies coaches Seton Hall University alumni Tucson Toros players West Palm Beach Expos players Wichita Aeros players 20th-century American sportsmen