Mark Bradley, who played 90 major league games across parts of three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, has passed away. He was 68.
According to the News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Bradley was found dead in his Louisville apartment by a family member Monday after he missed a doctor's appointment. The report notes Bradley had undergone chemotherapy for colon cancer late in his life.
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Bradley, who was born in Elizabethtown, was a first-round pick by the Dodgers in 1975. He debuted six years later, seeing action in nine games with the eventual World Series champion Dodgers.
Bradley spent most of the 1982 season with the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes but also saw action in eight major league games with Los Angeles.
In March 1983, Bradley was hitting .353 in spring training when the Dodgers traded him to the New York Mets for Steve Walker and Jody Johnston. In 73 games with the Mets in 1983, Bradley went 21 for 104 (.202) with three home runs, five RBIs, and four stolen bases.
The Mets released Bradley in Feb. 1984, effectively ending his major league career. Bradley played 40 games for the advanced Class-A San Jose Bees that year before retiring as a player.
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According to the News-Enterprise, Bradley's post-playing career included "some brushes with the law." Online records indicate he was the subject of multiple arrests in Hardin County, where Elizabethtown is located.
In April 1983, he was reportedly involved in a brawl after a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, after he said he was the target of racial slurs.
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"He didn't handle adult life," Elizabethtown High School boys' basketball head coach James Haire, who grew up with Bradley told the paper, "but he never made excuses."
"Everybody has their own trials and tribulations," Bradley's friend Richard Thomas told the News-Enterprise. "He did and he owned up to it. He was like anybody else, you have some things that happen in life, but not many are walking around being a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers and trying to handle that."
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According to the News-Enterprise, Bradley was a multi-sport star in his hometown before committing to baseball as a career. He also excelled in football and basketball at Elizabethtown High School, and was offered a scholarship to play quarterback at Western Kentucky University.
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