Headlines

  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Dave Parker Passes Away
  • Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles
  • Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline
  • Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tony Phillips Passes Away At 56 Years Of Age

By Jeff Todd | February 19, 2016 at 1:00pm CDT

Long-time big leaguer Tony Phillips has died in Arizona of an apparent heart attack, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Phillips was just 56 years old.

His former teammate and current Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart conveyed the news. He noted the sad fact that Phillips was preceded in death recently by two other prominent members of the A’s 1989 championship club — Bob Welch and Dave Henderson.

Phillips was taken in the first round of the 1978 draft, cracked the majors in 1982 with the Athletics, and didn’t play his last MLB game until 1999 — at forty years of age. It took a broken leg in his final season to stop him, Slusser notes. Indeed, he put up a sturdy .244/.362/.433 batting line with 15 home runs and 11 steals in 484 plate appearances that year.

As Slusser notes, Phillips battled through drug problems (and resulting legal troubles) late in his career. But he seemingly bounced back and remained active in the game, even suiting up for some independent league action in recent seasons.

All told, over parts of 18 seasons in the majors, Phillips entered the batter’s box 9,110 times and contributed a .266/.374/.389 slash, 160 home runs, and 177 stolen bases while walking nearly as often as he struck out. He played all over the diamond, racking up significant innings at second, third, short, and all three outfield positions. The net output was worth fifty wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, most of it coming with the A’s and Tigers. Phillips also spent time with the Angels, White Sox, Mets, and Blue Jays.

There has been an immediate outpouring of sympathy from around the game for the highly-respected Phillips. MLBTR joins in celebrating his legacy and offering its sympathy to his family, friends, and former teammates.

Share 441 Retweet 7 Send via email0

Uncategorized

Royals Sign Mike Minor
Main
Cubs Sign Aaron Crow, Release Luis Cruz
View Comments (10)
Post a Comment

10 Comments

  1. tycobb016

    9 years ago

    crazy tony phillips. loved him with sox in 96-97. on base machine.

    Reply
    • 2ndlifebaseballfan

      9 years ago

      Crazy runs scoring machine hitting in front of hurt, ventura, tartabull that 96 season. RIP…

      Reply
    • 2ndlifebaseballfan

      9 years ago

      Crazy run scoring machine hitting in front of hurt, Ventura, tartabull that 96 season.. RIP

      Reply
  2. SoCalShu

    9 years ago

    No doubt the stress on his heart from his crack addiction. I liked him too as a Halo…sad that the biggest memory I have of him is getting caught smoking crack in hotel room in Anaheim.

    Reply
    • baseballrat

      9 years ago

      I wish you were a “Sad” memory for this site, so no one would to read your garbage

      Reply
      • terrymesmer

        9 years ago

        But it’s true.
        articles.latimes.com/1999/may/04/sports/sp-33923

        Reply
  3. 8791Slegna

    9 years ago

    Great player. Loved watching him when he was an Angel in 1995 and 1997.

    Reply
  4. neoncactus

    9 years ago

    I enjoyed watching him as a player. The memory I have of him is from an afternoon game while I was in college and he was with the A’s. He was shagging fly balls in batting practice and he would turn and lob the balls up to fans in the top deck.

    Reply
  5. Monkey’s Uncle

    9 years ago

    He really developed as a player. Early in his career, he looked like a light-hitting, mediocre-fielding middle infielder, a dime a dozen player who didn’t do anything special. He constantly reinvented himself: 3B, OBP machine, LF, and a little power to boot. A very nice career, and he really seemed to love to play.

    Reply
  6. Soxman81

    9 years ago

    My lasting memory of Phillips was from the “Champions By The Bay” DVD narrated by Bob Costas. It detailed the 1989 champion A’s. One of the more charming behind the scenes moments was of Phillips, Dave Parker, and Rickey Henderson playing dominos together. Tony was a versatile player, and a refreshingly honest voice in a sea of bland sound bites. He will be missed.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    A.J. Puk Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Gabriel Moreno Diagnosed With Fractured Finger

    Braves To Select Didier Fuentes

    Anthopoulos On Trading Chris Sale: “Will Not Happen”

    Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg In “Advanced” Talks To Sell Team

    Recent

    Orioles Place Zach Eflin On Injured List

    Rockies Expected To Promote Yanquiel Fernandez

    Yankees Select Geoff Hartlieb, Place Fernando Cruz On 15-Day IL

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Chicago White Sox

    Trade Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Today At 3:30pm CT

    Padres Designate Logan Gillaspie For Assignment

    Phillies Reinstate Bryce Harper, Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

    Athletics Select Colby Thomas

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version