Lions’ Miah Bradbury Has Better Things to Do at Bat Than Bunt

You wouldn’t ask the Mighty Casey to bunt. And you don’t ask Miah Bradbury to either.

Bradbury, Loyola Marymount’s deluxe junior catcher, is a legitimate line-drive hitter. Rockets jump regularly off Bradbury’s bat into the alleys. And at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, the big backstopper has the bulk to send his share of baseballs screaming over the fences.

But still, on one lazy February afternoon last season, during a game between Loyola and Cal State Los Angeles, a devilish notion somehow crept into Bradbury’s head. A notion to bunt for a base hit. That’s right, bunt .

The line drives hadn’t been falling in lately for Bradbury, and he was in a bit of a slump. And Bradbury figured that dumping a baseball down in the thick grass along the third base line might be the right antidote for his sagging batting average.

“The third baseman was playing me way out in left field,” Bradbury said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

So Bradbury squared around. And the pitcher, Bill Bene--the first-round pick of the Dodgers in last year’s free agent draft--uncorked a fastball.

Bradbury got the bunt down. But unfortunately, Bene’s fastball smashed into Bradbury’s right hand, which he’d somehow wrapped too far around the barrel of the bat.

Bradbury needed surgery to mend his broken right index finger, and one of Loyola’s most dangerous bats was missing from the lineup for three weeks. But when Bradbury came back, he returned a wiser man--and recovered to hit .486 down the stretch in West Coast Athletic Conference games.

Bradbury has picked up this season where he left off. He’s batting .381, and his 20 doubles are only three shy of Don Sparks’ school record. And he’s third in the WCAC with 59 hits.

None of them are bunts.

“I don’t do that anymore,” Bradbury said.

But it’s what Bradbury does do on the baseball field that has professional scouts flocking. Before this season, Bradbury was ranked among the top 20 college prospects in the nation by both Sport Magazine and Bill Mazeroski’s Baseball Annual. And it’s a good bet that Bradbury will be drafted high this season and will forfeit his final season at Loyola to join the pro ranks.

“It’s time to go out and see what pro ball has to offer,” Bradbury said. “I’d like to give it a shot. You know, ever since you’re a little kid you want to play pro ball. So it’s time to go out and start playing it.”

Bradbury was drafted once before--in June, 1986, by the Philadelphia Phillies, after he wrapped up a stellar prep career at San Diego’s Mt. Carmel High School. In his three years at Mt. Carmel, Bradbury hit .427 with 17 homers and 87 RBI.

But Bradbury said no to the Phillies and said yes to Loyola Marymount, then ranked No. 1 in the nation.

“At the time, I just didn’t think I was ready for the pros,” said the 21-year-old Bradbury. “The people here gave me a family type atmosphere that I don’t think I would have found in pro ball. There were people here I could relate to, people all working hard and coming from the same point.”

Bradbury hit .345 with four homers his freshman year. The next year, after the slow start and injury, Bradbury posted an identical .345 average, with 10 home runs.

He started off a bit slowly this season, but Bradbury admitted it may have been because he was pressing too much with all the attention focused on him.

“I was feeling a lot of pressure,” he said. “But I had a talk with God and realized that all the little things--like all of the scouts, worrying about how high I would be drafted--were all gonna take care of themselves.”

So Bradbury, a very serious and religious young man, is set about trying to help his team win the WCAC title and earn another trip to the NCAA Regional playoffs.

Loyola couldn’t find a hotter man to ignite their offense from the middle of the batting order. Bradbury is 10-for-20 over the last six games, and has hit four of his five home runs in the past two weeks.

The Lions (22-18 overall, 6-1 in the WCAC) are coming off a four-game sweep of the University of San Diego and a split against UC Irvine. Loyola plays St. Mary’s at Moraga this weekend in a four-game WCAC series.

“We started off shaky, but we’ve got as good a chance as anyone to win our conference,” Bradbury said. “When we’re playing like we can, we’re as good as anybody in the country.”

Bradbury wasn’t the only Loyola player pressing at the beginning of this season.

“We had new coaches and new players coming in,” Bradbury said. “It was a transition stage for everyone. But we’ve overcome the adversity. It was a blessing in disguise that we struggled so much at the beginning. We already know how to deal with it.”

Bradbury experienced a similar early slump this summer in the Alaskan Summer League, when he and Loyola third baseman Rick Allen were teammates on the Fairbanks Goldpanners. But Bradbury fought off some nagging injuries to have a solid summer.

“The best thing I learned in Fairbanks was how to take care of my body,” Bradbury said. “I was catching every day, so I was learning what I could do--and what I couldn’t do--to stay in shape.”

Bradbury even got to do a little pitching in Alaska. He concedes that he doesn’t have much more than a fastball and a change-up. But at 6-4, 210, sometimes all you need is intimidation.

“I love catching, being involved, getting dirty,” Bradbury said. “But I wouldn’t mind pitching. I guess it’s the same old scenario where all the pitchers wish they could hit and all the players wish they could pitch.”

Just don’t let him bunt.