Brad Penny
From BR Bullpen
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 200-260 lb.
- High School Broken Arrow High School
- Debut April 7, 2000
- Born May 24, 1978 in Blackwell, OK USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Brad Penny, a major league pitcher since 2000, was a key part of the World Champion Florida Marlins, for whom he won 2 games in the 2003 World Series.
Penny went to Broken Arrow High School. In 2005, he and Jim Brewer, also an alumnus, had their uniforms retired in a joint ceremony.
At the age of 18, Penny was picked in the 5th round of the 1996 amateur draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the rookie league that year, he went 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA.
In 1997, he was with Single A South Bend in the Midwest League, going 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA. Moved up to Single A High Desert in the California League in 1998, he was 14-5 with a 2.96 ERA. He won a plethora of awards for that performance, including Baseball America First Team Minor League All-Star Starting Pitcher, Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year, and A Level Player of the Year.
Next year, 1999, he started at Double A El Paso of the Texas League, where he went 2-7 with a 4.80 ERA. The Diamondbacks, in spite of his previous year, were willing to trade him to the Marlins in a deal for Matt Mantei, who was already a major leaguer and could help them immediately.
He finished up 1999 at the the Florida Marlins affiliate in AA Portland in the Eastern League, going 1-0 with a 3.90 ERA in 6 games. In the 1999 Pan American Games, Penny was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. He lost the Gold Medal game against a tired Jose Contreras, failing to make it through the fifth inning.
2000 found him pitching only 5 games in the minors at two locations, with an ERA under 2.00 in both places. Most of the year, he was up with the Marlins as a starting pitcher.
Penny was 22 in 2000. He went 8-7 with an ERA of 4.81, on a team whose ERA was 4.59. Preston Wilson had 31 home runs and 121 RBI for the team, and Derrek Lee added 28 home runs. Luis Castillo hit .334.
The next year, 2001, Penny improved his ERA to 3.69, and his win-loss record was 10-10. The Marlins, however, slipped from 3rd in the division in 2000 to 4th in 2001.
Penny went 8-7 in 2002 as the Marlins stayed in 4th place.
In 2003, Florida acquired catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Penny went 14-10 with a 4.13 ERA. In the 2003 World Series, which the Marlins won in six games, Penny won game one and game five.
Penny did well in 2004, with a 3.15 ERA. He was traded near the end of July to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He suffered a bicep injury in August and re-hurt it in September.
In 2005, after starting the season on the disabled list with the previous year's injury, the Penny went 7-9 with a 3.90 ERA. MLB.com says he became "the only pitcher in the Major Leagues who pitched more than 175.0 innings this season who posted so low an ERA on his way to so few victories".
Penny became somewhat famous for an incident in 2005 with a batboy. Penny bet the batboy that he could not down a gallon of milk in an hour. The batboy succeeded in doing so, but threw it up. When the team found out, they suspended the batboy. Penny was quoted as saying "It's kind of ridiculous that you get a 10-game suspension for steroids and a six-game suspension for milk."
On July 31, 2006, he was 10-5 with a 3.53 ERA. He was the starting pitcher in the 2006 All-Star Game.
- As of August 2005, he was dating actress Alyssa Milano.
- He likes to fish and hunt, and owns race horses.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 1998 MVP California League High Desert Mavericks
- 1998 Pitcher of the Year California League High Desert Mavericks
- 2-time NL All-Star (2006 & 2007)
- NL Wins Leader (2006)
- NL Winning Percentage Leader (2007)
- 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (2006 & 2007)
- 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (2001 & 2007)
- Won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003
