Brad Mills

Brad Mills may refer to:

Brad Mills (manager)

James Bradley Mills (born January 19, 1957) is a former manager of the Houston Astros and a former Major League Baseball (MLB) player. He currently serves as a third base coach for the Cleveland Indians. He is the father of retired professional baseball player Beau Mills.

Early life

Mills was educated at Exeter High School in California, College of the Sequoias, and the University of Arizona, where he was drafted in the 17th round by the Montreal Expos.

Baseball career

Playing career

Mills reached the major leagues in 1980 and went on to post a .256 batting average with one home run and 12 RBI in 106 games played 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, he also saw time at first base and second. Mills became forever a part of major league history, when in 1983 he was Nolan Ryan's 3,509th career strikeout victim, lifting Ryan past Walter Johnson as the all-time strikeout leader.

Brad Mills (pitcher)

Bradley Aaron Mills (born March 5, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is with the Seattle Mariners organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Oakland Athletics and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Orix Buffaloes.

College, draft, and minor-league career

Mills pitched collegiately for the University of Arizona Wildcats. Mills was originally selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round (660th overall) in the 2006 amateur draft. Mills, however, chose not to sign with the Jays and instead returned to school for his senior year to complete his degree in civil engineering. After completing his senior season at Arizona, Mills would once again be selected by the Blue Jays, this time in the fourth round (145th overall) of the 2007 amateur entry draft. He began his professional career later in 2007 with short-season Class A Auburn, posting a 2–0 won-lost record in 18 innings, striking out 21 with an ERA of 2.00. In 2008, Mills achieved the best record by a pitcher in the entire Blue Jays' minor league organization. Splitting his season with three teams (A Class Lansing, Advanced A Dunedin, and AA New Hampshire), Mills was 13–5 in 27 games (all starts), with 159 strikeouts over 147.1 innings pitched, with an ERA of 1.95. He was chosen a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star at Lansing. Advancing to AAA Las Vegas 51s for 2009, Mills at the time of his promotion was leading the team in innings pitched with 76.1, and had a 1–8 record, a 4.48 ERA, and 65 strikeouts.