Brad Fischer

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Bradley James Fischer (born June 28, 1956 in Blissfield, Michigan) is a major league coach for the Oakland Athletics. Joined the A's in 1995 as the bullpen coach, then moved to first-base coach in 1997, shifted back to the bullpen in 1998, shifted back to first base in 2003 and finally back to the bullpen in 2006.

1 Playing career
2 Managing/Coaching Career
3 References
4 Sources

[edit] Playing career

Fischer was not drafted; he signed with the Oakland Athletics as a free agent out of Western Michigan University in 1978. A catcher, he played just one season in the minors, hitting .267 in 160 at-bats for the A's rookie league club in Bend, Oregon.

[edit] Managing/Coaching Career

After spending 1979 out of baseball, the 23-year-old Fischer was hired to manage the A's Single-A team in Medford, Oregon in 1980. In 1981, he piloted Medford to a Northwest League championship and earned Manager of the Year honors.

After the season, he ran into Billy Martin at the Phoenix airport. Fischer recalls the encounter with the A's manager: "Billy saw me and said, 'Great year, kid. Where do you want to manage next year?' I said I had heard of an opening in Madison, Wisconsin. He said, 'The job's yours.' ... I was just glad he remembered it the next day." [1]

Fischer would take the Madison club to a league championship as well, and in 1984, added another playoff appearance.

From 1985 to 1987, Fischer managed the Double-A Huntsville Stars to three playoff appearances and a Southern League championship, with the likes of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire on his roster (albeit briefly).

He was promoted to the Triple-A Tacoma Tigers in 1988, where he would manage for three seasons. In his final season, 1990, he took the Tigers to the postseason.

Fischer's final managerial record: 743-670, seven total postseason appearances.

From 1991-1993, Fischer worked as an instructor in the A's minor-league system, after which he spent two years as assistant director of player development, working alongside Keith Lieppman (who is still working in the same capacity today).