It’s March 16, 1996, and though the Orioles lost to the defending champion Braves, 7-4, there were positive signs. Scott Erickson pitched another solid five innings. Tony Tarasco got his first hit since the O’s traded for him. And Chris Hoiles finally started squaring the ball up — though his throwing is still leaving something to be desired, as he has only thrown out one out of six base stealers. (Baltimore Sun, p. 5D, March 17, 1996) But all in all, things are still feeling pretty good in Birdland.

At leadoff and in centerfield — as he has been all spring — is one of the O’s most recognizable players. With his chiseled physique and sideburns, he looks like someone took Luke Perry out of Beverly Hills 90210, inflated him to 1.5 the size, and gave him a baseball uniform. And then when the equipment manager proclaimed, “But those are the tightest pants we have, sir,” swole Luke said through gritted teeth, “Tighter.” That is Brady Anderson, and aside from being a sex symbol (more on that later) he’s one of the most important players on the team.

Brady Anderson was born 3 months prematurely in January of 1964 in Silver Spring, Md. Before you get carried away — “OMG, a local guy!” — Brady moved to Carlsbad, Ca., when he was an infant. His parents divorced when he was young, and Brady was mostly raised by his father, Jerry, who had run track at UC Santa Barbara. Jerry’s brother, Kevin, played world-class fast-pitch softball, which I guess is a thing. Kevin was 16 years younger than Jerry and was essentially like an older sibling to Brady. 

“Brady was 5 or 6 years old, and Kevin had a big, hard rubber Voit football,” Jerry once recalled. “He would send [Brady] on a pass pattern to my mom’s rose bushes, then rifle the thing as hard as he could to see if he could knock him into the bushes.” (Baltimore Sun, p. D1, April 3, 1997) 

“We were awfully rough with him when he was a kid, awfully rough,” admitted Kevin. “It was all in good fun. But he learned to play hurt.”

Brady would go on to play baseball and basketball at Carlsbad High School and starred on the baseball team at UC Irvine before being drafted in the 10th round in 1985 by the Boston Red Sox. He tore up the minors for three years and made his MLB debut with the Sox in 1988. He played 41 games in Boston before being traded at the deadline — along with inveterate Facebook Uncle Curt Schilling — to Baltimore for pitcher Mike Boddicker.

Brady struggled mightily in Baltimore for three years, never hitting better than .231 and shuttling back and forth between the minor leagues. He even contemplated going to Japan to play regularly, but the deal with the Japanese team fell through. 

But then he showed up to spring training in 1992 with sideburns, and something clicked. As he told former Baltimore Sun beat writer Tim Kurkjian for a 1992 Sports Illustrated feature, “I’ve never seen that show [Beverly Hills, 90210]. I’m not trying to look like Luke Skywalker in Beverly Hills Cop.” (“Going Batty for Brady,” Sports Illustrated, June 22, 1992) Well, I guess that settles it.

Manager Johnny Oates put Anderson at leadoff and kept him there. It paid off. At 28, Anderson finally broke out, hitting .271 with 21 home runs, 28 doubles, 10 triples, and 53 stolen bases. He made the All Star team and even got votes for American League Most Valuable Player. He has been a generally solid player in the three years since, playing mostly left field. 

Now would be as good a time as any to point out that Brady has a lot of fans. (Full disclosure, we will bend the purview of this discussion beyond 1996, but these are such rich texts, they need to be shared.) These are the early days of the internet, but Brady has generated quite a bit of interest among all those who enjoy looking at conventionally attractive buff guys. In 1997, a poster published for local Baltimore-area stores could best be described as a “thirst trap.” In it, Brady is wearing nothing but undershorts and sneakers. He looks casual leaning with his right hand on a bat, but the amount of flexing he is doing — particularly in his abs — is far from casual. The poster becomes a sensation within a very specific subset of baseball fans.

In the August 1999 issue of Out magazine, Cary Wong writes under the header “Eyes on the Ball: Is Oriole Brady Anderson Gay? In Your Field of Dreams”:

So you get the picture, Brady is very popular. This year, Orioles new manager Davey Johnson has indicated Anderson will be his leadoff hitter and centerfielder. “He’s my leadoff hitter, no question,” Johnson said. “I’ve expressed that to him.” When asked how he expressed it to Brady, Johnson replies simply: “He can read the lineup.” (Baltimore Sun, p. 4D, March 17, 1996)  

Brady and his tight pants, big biceps, and iconic sideburns will be a regular fixture at the top of the order this season. He’ll be getting on base for guys like Cal Ripken, Jr., Rafael Palmeiro, and Bobby Bonilla to drive him in. They are the sluggers on the team, Brady is just the table setter.  If there’s one takeaway you should have at this point, it’s that Brady has never hit more than 21 homers in a season. That is very important to remember.

Welcome to a recurring segment where I find fun things in today’s (in 1996) Baltimore Sun!

Hmmm… seems legit!