BALTIMORE, Nov. 16 -- Brady Anderson, a fixture in the Baltimore Orioles' outfield for a decade of highs and lows, was released Friday.
Anderson, 37, hit just .202 with eight home runs and 45 RBI in 131 games this past season -- his 14th in the major leagues. He had one year remaining on a five-year contract.
The three-time All-Star has spent all but 41 games of his big league career with the Orioles. He was drafted by Boston in 1985 and involved with an infamous deal with Baltimore in 1988.
What the Orioles got was a steady center fielder with speed and flashes of power. After finally landing a starting job in 1992, Anderson became the only player in major league history to have both a 50-homer and a 50-stolen base season.
Anderson had 209 home runs and a club-record 311 stolen bases with Baltimore, and played in the 1992, 1996 and 1997 All-Star Games.
Along with his franchise-record stolen base total, Anderson ranks in the club's top six in games, at-bats, runs scored, total bases, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, extra-base hits and walks.
The decision to release Anderson was a difficult one for vice president of baseball operations Syd Thrift, who has been with the team seven years fewer than the aging outfielder.
"This is a very difficult thing for us because there is no question that Brady has epitomized what being an Oriole is all about," Thrift said.
Anderson's best season came in 1996, when he set career highs with a .297 average, a franchise-record 50 home runs and 110 RBI. He had more than 24 homers just once in his career.
Anderson stole a career-high 53 bases in 1992.
In 1996, Anderson helped the Orioles to their first postseason appearance in 13 years. Baltimore eventually lost the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees.
Anderson was in center field for Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, when Derek Jeter hit a homer aided by young fan Jeffrey Maier in the right-field seats at Yankee Stadium.
A native of Silver Spring, Md., Anderson played on bad Orioles teams in late 1980s and early 1990s but helped stem the tide before the team moved out of Memorial Stadium and into Camden Yards in 1992.
The Orioles had among the highest payrolls in baseball in the late 1990s but never were able to advance to the World Series. They also made it to the ALCS in 1997 but lost to Cleveland.
The past few seasons, Anderson has been part of the rebuilding process. Baltimore went just 63-98 in 2001, posting the team's worst record since 1988 -- Anderson's first year with the club.
"I personally appreciate the support he has given us and I feel confident that he'll continue his baseball career elsewhere," Thrift said. "We just felt the direction we're going did not guarantee a position for Brady on next year's team."
Anderson is a lifetime .257 hitter with 209 home runs and 756 RBI. He is second all time to Rickey Henderson (79) with 44 leadoff homers, including a major league-record 12 in 1996, and has been hit with a pitch 152 times, ranking 13th.NEWLN: Content: 15007000
