Happy 36th Birthday Chad Bradford!

Chad Bradford pitched for the Sox during the 2005 season. The sidearmer pitched in 31 games for the Sox that year. His 23.1 innings pitched clearly displayed his specialist role.

That was certainly the case in the only game I saw Bradford pitch live. On October 1, 2005 he started off the top of the ninth inning for the Sox against the Yankees. He got John Flaherty to pop up to the catcher, and allowed a single to Derek Jeter. He was then pulled from the game, even though another righty was coming up.

The Yankees ended up winning the game, and clinching the division in the process. It wasn’t all bad, however, since the Red Sox would clinch the wild card the next day. It still wasn’t much fun watching the Yankees celebrate.

I always wondered why there weren’t “righty specialists” like there were for lefthanders. Why are there so many left handed pitchers who are just deadly to lefties, but you never see righthanders that are poison to righties? Chad Bradford might be the closest I’ve seen to a true righty specialist. If nothing else, It was fun to watch that goofy delivery.

Happy 36th Birthday Chad Bradford!