Keith Anthony Phillips (April 25, 1959 – February 17, 2016) was 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 ...

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

who had an 18-year

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) career from 1982 to 1999. He played regularly at

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 ...

, but also had significant time as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

and

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 ...

. In addition, Phillips showed his versatility with over 100 game appearances in the outfield corners and as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Early life

Phillips played baseball and other sports for the Roswell High School Hornets in Roswell, Georgia. He played basketball in a brief year at New Mexico Military Institute (with teammate and former NBA player Lewis Lloyd). He is the uncle of professional football player Jermaine Phillips.

Major League Baseball career

On March 27, 1981, Phillips was traded from the Padres along with third baseman Kevin Bell and pitcher Eric Mustad to the Athletics for pitchers Bob Lacey and Roy Meretti. Phillips became the first member of the Oakland Athletics to

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, going 5-for-5 against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

on May 16, 1986. Phillips also tied the American League record for most assists in a game (12) on July 6, 1986, against the Brewers. In 1988, he had a poor year, hitting just .203 over 212 at bats, and the Athletics lost to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

with Phillips striking out against

Orel Hershiser Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a br ...

for the final out of the series. However, in 1989 he boosted his average to .262 and the A's swept the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

to win the

. Phillips made the last out of the 1989 World Series when he fielded a ground ball off the bat of Brett Butler and then threw to

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

covering first base to clinch the series. Phillips left Oakland after 1989 to join the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. His offensive production surged with Detroit: he became proficient at drawing walks, leading the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 1993 with 132 after posting 114 in 1992. His 114 runs scored in 1992 were a league best, and he followed that up with 113 runs scored in 1993. His 1993 season was recognized with a 16th-place finish in the

MLB Most Valuable Player Award The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League (baseball), National League. The award has been present ...

vote. Also, his 1993 season was unique in that he became one of only two players to ever have 100 or more of hits, walks, runs, and strikeouts in a season where the player hit less than 10 homers (the other being Chone Figgins in 2009). After hitting 19

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 ( ...

s and drawing another 95 walks in 1994, Phillips was traded to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

for

Chad Curtis Chad David Curtis (born November 6, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. Curtis played in Major League Baseball from 1992 to 2001 for the California Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New Yor ...

in April 1995, with the season yet to start due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. He set a career-best mark that year with 27 homers, but drove in just 61 runs due to batting lead-off, and walked 113 times. 1996 saw Phillips move on to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, with whom he drew 125 walks, most in the league, and scored 119 runs for the second year in a row. Phillips returned to the Angels via a trade with Chad Kreuter for Jorge Fábregas and Chuck McElroy partway through the 1997 season and drew 102 walks, his third year in a row and fifth year out of six with over 100. In 1998 he played with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, who traded him to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

for Leo Estrella, and then signed on with the A's for his final season in 1999.

Career statistics

In his 18-year, 2161 game major league career, Phillips had a cumulative

WAR War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

of 50.9 and an OPS of .763. His best one year WAR was 5.2 and his lifetime defensive WAR was a respectable 6.3. Phillips' lifetime OBP was .374. In addition, he posted a .266

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 ...

(2023-for-7617) with 1300 runs, 360 doubles, 50 triples, 160

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 819 RBI, 177 stolen bases and 1319

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. He finished his career with a .968

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

. In 13 postseason games, in 1988 and '89, he hit .217 (10-for-46) with 1 home run and 4 RBI.

Independent leagues

Phillips played third base for the Yuma Scorpions of the independent North American League until the team folded in 2012. He played alongside former Athletics teammate

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...

. In August 2011, 52-year-old Phillips was involved in an altercation with former Scorpions manager Mike Marshall, then with the Chico Outlaws. Phillips punched Marshall in the face during the incident, causing the latter to press battery charges against the infielder. He also came out of retirement to play for the Pittsburg Mettle in the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs in 2015.

Cocaine arrest

On August 10, 1997, Phillips was arrested in Anaheim and charged with buying a small quantity of freebase

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

. He had been found by police in a hotel room with $30 worth of cocaine and a pipe used to smoke it. Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of felony cocaine possession, with the charge subject to dismissal if he completed drug counseling and then stayed drug-free for a year. As Phillips met those conditions, the charge was dismissed by an

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, judge in May 1999.

Death

Phillips died in Arizona of an apparent heart attack on February 17, 2016.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Tony 1959 births 2016 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American sportspeople in doping cases Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Atlanta Baseball players suspended for drug offenses California Angels players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Diablos Rojos del México players Edinburg Roadrunners players Jamestown Expos players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball third basemen Mexican League baseball second basemen Memphis Chicks players New York Mets players New Mexico Military Institute alumni Oakland Athletics players Pittsburg Diamonds players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tacoma Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toronto Blue Jays players Venados de Mazatlán players West Haven A's players West Palm Beach Expos players Yuma Scorpions players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen