Tony Phillips, who played nine seasons with the Oakland A's as part of an 18-year career, passed away on Wednesday in Arizona. He was 56 years old.
"The Oakland A's lost another member of our family this week with the unexpected passing of Tony Phillips," said Michael Crowley, president of the Oakland Athletics. "We all have fond memories of Tony making the final play in the A's 1989 World Series. He was a remarkable player. Our thoughts are with his family."
Phillips made his Major League debut with the A's in 1982 and spent eight seasons with Oakland through 1989. He followed that with a five-year stay with Detroit from 1990-94 and also played for California (1995), Chicago-AL (1996-97), Anaheim (1997), Toronto (1998) and New York-NL (1998) before concluding his career with the A's in 1999. Phillips hit .266 with 160 home runs and 819 RBI in 2161 career games. He was a member of the A's 1989 World Series Champions as a valuable utility player who played every position except pitcher and catcher in his career. Phillips batted a career-high .313 with Detroit in 1993 and hit a career-high 27 home runs with the Angels in 1995.
Funeral services are pending.