Scott Bradley Remembers His Big Catch: M's No-Hitter

Scott Bradley couldn't have sounded happier.

Happy because he, his wife, Mary, and their three sons are settled in a community - Pennington, N.J. - they believe is conducive to raising a family. Happy because he has been named head baseball coach at Princeton University, a job that appears to satisfy all his employment desires.

"I didn't really want to coach at a big-time, Division I, baseball factory," said Bradley, a Seattle Mariner catcher from 1986 until he was released early in the 1992 season.

"I wanted to coach at a school where the kids you're dealing with are in class all day and have other interests, but for the 2 or 2 1/2 hours that they're on the ballfield every day, they really want to work and have fun."

The hiring of Bradley to replace Tom O'Connell, who retired, makes Scott the second member of his family to coach at Princeton. An older brother, Bob, was the Tigers' soccer coach for 14 years before he left in 1995 to become an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic team and, now, head coach of the MLS' D.C. United.

Bradley said he began thinking about college coaching when he was with the Mariners. To that end he used an offseason to complete a needed semester of work for a business degree from the University of North Carolina, where he played for four years on a baseball scholarship.

Bradley's first coaching job came in 1994 as the result of a telephone call from Dick Balderson, director of minor-league operations for the Colorado Rockies and a former Mariner general manager. Bradley spent the season with the Rockies' Class AA farm team in New Haven, Conn.

"I did it for that year and they asked me to come back," Bradley said. "But at this point we'd had the first of our three boys and the second was on the way. I was just sort of tired of the professional baseball lifestyle . . . of the moving around."

So the family moved to New Jersey, near Princeton, and Bradley became an assistant coach at Rutgers, about 40 minutes from home.

"I knew the Princeton coach was older, and had heard rumors that he was going to stay for only a year or two more," Bradley said. "At the time, I started thinking, `boy, what a great opportunity.' "

The opportunity became reality on May 27, when Bradley accepted Princeton's offer.

"I absolutely love baseball," Bradley said. "The thing I have an opportunity to do now is share my passion for the game with some great kids and, hopefully, when their four years are up, I will have given them some appreciation for the game."

Bradley said the Mariner moment most special to him was catching the Mariners' first no-hitter, pitched by Randy Johnson on June 2, 1990 against Detroit.

"But probably the most important and special part of being in Seattle was when I first came there," Bradley said. "We had a bunch of guys who were at the same stages of their careers and their lives."

Bradley mentioned pitchers Mark Langston and Billy Swift, first baseman Alvin Davis, infielder Harold Reynolds and outfielder Phil Bradley.

"We were all very close and became good friends," Bradley said. "Probably the friendships I made with those guys are what I remember most.

"On the field, it's tough to top catching a no-hitter and watching Ken Griffey Jr. play every day for three years.

"He's a guy who really respects the game," Bradley said. "I'm probably more proud of him than anything."

------------- Scott Bradley -------------

Age: 37.

Home: Pennington, N.J.

Family: Scott and his wife of six years, Mary, have three sons - Kevin, 3 1/2; Kyle, 20 months; and Scott, six weeks.

Occupation: Head baseball coach at Princeton University.

Major-league career: nine years, 604 games (.257, 18 home runs, 184 RBI)

Seasons with M's: seven (1986-92).

Best year: 1987 (.278, five HR, 43 RBI)