FOREST GROVE – The longest tenured baseball coach in the
Northwest Conference and one of two 300-game winning coaches in
Pacific baseball history will make the 2014 season his last.
Greg
Bradley announced last week that he will retire from
coaching after the 2014 campaign. The move is necessitated by
the advancement of Parkinson's Disease. Bradley was diagnosed
with the disorder four years ago and the progression of the disease
has made some of its outward signs more visible in recent
months.
“The support of my family and my coaching staff have helped
me make some adjustments that have been necessary for me to
continue coaching this year,” Bradley said.
“Despite the progression of the disease, I believe that with
the continual support of those at Pacific and my family that I can
continue to coach for one more year. It was important to me
to let my players know first what my decision was and what the
circumstances are. I am looking forward to my last year as
head coach at Pacific.”
Currently the longest tenured coach in the Pacific University
athletic department and in Northwest Conference baseball, Bradley,
60, won his 300th game this last spring with a 19-3 blowout of
Lewis & Clark on Mar. 16. Despite the departure of two
starting pitchers and most of his starting outfield from the 2012
season, Bradley led the Boxers to a 17-23 record and a fourth place
finish in the NWC standings. He will enter his 19th campaign
as head coach with a 310-362-2 overall record.
While stepping aside as head baseball coach, Bradley said he hopes
to remain involved with the program as long as he can to continue
working with his son, Donnie, who is entering his junior season
with the Boxers as a starting infielder. He will also
continue his duties as the university's athletic facilities
manager.
“Greg has built the Pacific baseball program to a high level
of excellence and continues to provide great support to our other
athletic programs as our facilities manager,” said Pacific
Director of Athletics Ken Schumann. “We all give Greg our
unconditional support as he moves into this transition period and
wish him nothing but the best in his final season on the
diamond. Greg has been, and continues to be, a key member of
our athletic staff.”
Bradley hopes that the way he has managed his struggle with
Parkinson's will be an inspiration to his athletes and to
others. “I tell my players all of the time that
adversity is part of the game of baseball and of life. You
can't pick where or when it will occur, but you do have control
over your response,” Bradley said. “I hope to
respond to this in a way that will be a good example for all of my
players.”
Bradley has built the Pacific baseball program to a level of
success not seen in over three decades. Under his leadership,
the Boxers have won 20 or more wins six times over the last decades
and have finished fifth or better in the NWC standings in six of
the last eight years. The success reached its pinnacle in
2012 when Pacific shared the NWC championship, the program's first
since 1979.
Over 50 of Bradley's players have been named to All-NWC squads,
with a total of 24 first team selections, and nine players have
been tabbed for all-west region squads by the American Baseball
Coaches Association or D3Baseball.com over the last nine
years. He has also seen three players receive Rawlings
All-West Region Gold Glove awards, has had players named as NWC
Player of the Year (Kevin Roth in 2002) and Pitcher of the Year
(Rob Dittrick in 2011) and one named a CoSIDA
Academic All-American (Ryan Joy in 2003).
Bradley began work with the Pacific baseball program in 1993,
working two seasons under Hall of Fame coach Chuck Bafaro after a
successful high school coaching career at Sunset High School.
Bradley took over as head coach prior to the 1996 season. He
retired as a physical education teacher at Sunset in 2010 to assume
duties as Pacific's athletic facilities manager.
A native of Pasadena, Calif., Bradley and his wife, Brooke, reside
in Beaverton. He is the father of four children, Kyle, who
played two years under his father at Pacific, Ryan, Megan and
Donnie.
May 20, 2013
Bradley to retire after 2014
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