According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, former big league player and coach Mike Brumley passed away on Saturday in a vehicle accident. Brumley was sixty-one.
Brumley was a 1983 second-round selection of the Red Sox, and he participated in 295 major league games throughout portions of eight seasons (1987–1995). His involvement in two future Hall of Famers trades shaped his early professional career: in May 1984, the Red Sox moved Brumley and Dennis Eckersley to the Cubs in exchange for Bill Buckner, setting up Brumley’s 1987 MLB debut in a Chicago uniform.
later, in February 1988, the Cubbies traded Brumley and Keith Moreland to the Padres in exchange for Goose Gossage and Ray Hayward, who were later traded to Chicago.
Over his journeyman career, Brumley was traded four times in all. At the major league level, he played for six different clubs. In 1989, he played in 92 games with the Tigers, which was the most playing time in a season. Brumley was a player for the Mariners, Red Sox, Astros, Athletics, and Cubs in addition to the Tigers and Cubs. In addition, he played for four other teams (the Padres, Orioles, Angels, and Marlins), though he never made an appearance in a major league game with any of them.
Playing predominantly shortstop but also moving about the diamond as a second baseman, third baseman, and all three outfield positions, he hit.206/.261/.272 during 697 plate appearances.
After his playing days were over, Brumley embarked on a lengthy coaching career that included positions as a minor league manager for affiliates of the Dodgers and Angels, as well as roving instructor for the Dodgers and field coordinator for the Rangers. Two of his previous clubs were the ones where Brumley gained experience in a major league dugout: the Mariners, where he served as both the third and first coach from 2010 to 2013, and the Cubs, where he served as the assistant hitting coach in 2014.
After serving as a minor league hitting coordinator for the Braves in 2021, Brumley formed enduring relationships with a number of players in the Atlanta team that extended far beyond his one and only season in the position. On Sunday, Austin Riley talked extensively about his friendship with Brumley and acknowledged that, second only to Riley’s father, Brumley was one of his biggest “role models in my baseball career.”
MLB Trade Rumours extends its condolences to Brumley’s friends, family, and coworkers.
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