Former All-American Andy Phillips Playing in Japan
6/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 27, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Former Alabama All-American Andy Phillips signed a one-year deal Friday with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese Central League.
Phillips, 32, has played Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets. He hit .248 with 11 home runs and 64 RBI in his 218-game MLB career.
“I'm really looking forward to playing for a team that has a long history in such a great country,” Phillips said on the team's official Web site. 'I'll do everything I can to help the team win a championship.”
The Carp, managed by American Marty Brown, are in fourth place in the six-team Central League, nine games behind the first-place Yomiuri Giants.
He hit .300 with six home runs and 29 RBI in 56 games in the Triple-A International League this season, splitting time with the Indianapolis (Ind.) Indians (Pittsburgh affiliate) and Charlotte (N.C.) Knights (Chicago White Sox affiliate). He was granted a release from the White Sox organization on June 15.
A four-year letterman and three-year starter for the Crimson Tide from 1996-99, Phillips played on three College World Series (1996, 1997 and 1999) teams. He hit .365 (322-for-905) with 61 home runs and 224 RBI in 244 career games.
In 1999, Phillips hit .398 with 22 homers and 66 RBIs. He set the SEC record with a 36-game hitting streak. Phillips hit .407 with 17 home runs and 45 RBI during the streak.
A two-time All-American, Phillips is still the school’s all-time leader in hits (322), home runs (61) and total bases (590). He holds single season records for games played (70, 1997), starts (70, 1997) and total bases (203, 1999).
