Local Phillies player to pitch for real thing

Brad Baisley of the Clearwater Phillies pitches in an exhibition game for Philadelphia on Monday night.

By JOHN C. COTEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 7, 2000

Former Land O'Lakes star and current Clearwater Phillies pitcher Brad Baisley is being called up to the big show, but only for a day.

Baisley, a 6-9 righthander, will pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night in an exhibition game in Reading, Pa., against the organization's Double AA minor league team there.

"He gets to be a big leaguer for a day," said his father, Calvin Baisley, coach of the Land O'Lakes baseball team.

As opposed to using their regular starting pitchers such as Curt Schilling, Robert Person or Andy Ashby, Philadelphia will give Baisley the start, his father said. Baisley will have most of the everyday field players behind him when he takes the mound.

The game, which starts at 6:35 p.m., is sold out.

"He's excited, but he doesn't like that Clearwater has a game in Fort Myers (Saturday) and they'll get back at 1 a.m. and the Phillies said they'll be taking him right to the airport," Calvin Baisley said.

Brad Baisley was scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. flight this morning for the game.

Baisley was the Phillies' minor league and Florida State League's Pitcher of the Week two weeks ago. He is off to a 3-2 start, with 30 strikeouts in 31 innings and one save. In his last start, he won with a seven-inning, three-hit effort.

Brad Baisley will be pitching against a team he is projected to join, especially if he continues his hot start.

Baisley was a second round pick of the Phillies in the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. As a senior, he became the third pitcher in Land O'Lakes history with eight wins and established the school record for ERA (1.10) in a season.

For the Phillies' Martinsville, Va., rookie team later that summer, he was 3-2 with a 3.58 ERA, and he spent last year with the Class A Piedmont (N.C.) Boll Weevils. After a slow start, Baisley won nine of his last 10 decisions, finishing 10-7 with a 2.26 ERA.

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