The Biggest Mystery of MLB's Steroid Era

[@JollyOlive]

It's been over a year since this video was made, and it's blown up! Thanks for that. That being said, I hate the 50-HR to No-Hitter comparison. Should've been the cycle. Hindsight is 20/20. Hope you still enjoyed the video.

[@SportsCenter27]

Aaron Judge at 53 homers

[@-mv1sd]

well ok i dont think brady anderson is all that huge a mystery he had huge protection in that lineup thats it

[@Embargoman]

The empty seats with 100 homerun games era is coming soon.

[@bezllama3325]

WHy did your brother narrate half the video?

[@anthonyrowland9072]

@@Embargoman I barely know any players names now... Also, the O's gotta go back to those hats, the cartoon trucker hats have never been it. Also also, remember when Cecil Fielder went crazy for 3 seasons out of nowhere?

[@benestrada5589]

Brady Anderson is the only player ever to have a 20/50 and 50/20 season

[@JP-ib9kk]

That is awesome

[@firstnamelastname-up6ni]

Barry bonds would've, if he wouldn't have been walked so much.

[@ericvogt3313]

Great trivia question

[@anthonyzheng7274]

20/50 honest season, 50/20 juiceeeeeeeeeee 💪

[@gavinsheridan4680]

@@firstnamelastname-up6ni he wouldn’t have been walked so much if he hadn’t been bunting balls over the CF fence.

[@CycloneBurnesMusic]

You should talk about Bret Boone's forgotten 140 RBI season in '01

[@notsauer]

Miguel Tejada had a 150 RBI season for a team that finished below .500 That’s forgotten

[@baloothepibble8421]

YEEES!

[@Rubberfooted]

Maybe just one big video about the 01 Mariners. What a team.

[@shermanngjazz]

@@Rubberfooted That team had such a disappointing and back-breaking ending.

[@nohootshuncho6545]

They still haven't really recovered from that team not winning in Seatle

[@theb.a.r.strategy7254]

Brady Anderson may have actually been eating a balanced breakfast.

[@richardthegingerbo909]

He was eating his Wheaties.

[@chuckeecheeze4649]

Yeah, nah, everyone knows it was the 90210 sideburns that gave him his incredible power.

[@richardthegingerbo909]

@@chuckeecheeze4649 I have to agree with you on this.

[@TheBgoodheyhey]

He actually did say in an interview that he had put a lot more bacon back into his diet during that season

[@CB-ke7eq]

He took his vitamins, like any good Hulkamaniac.

[@paysonfox88]

Roger Marris was a similar case. He was hitting 25 -- 30 HR a season, with 39 being his best. Then in 1961 he hit 61 HR to break Babe Ruth's single season mark. Marris only hit 275 HR in his career in 12 seasons, yet almost 25% of them came in 1 season. Ricky Henderson had 25 yrs in baseball MLB, yet only 3 or 4 good power seasons with 20+ HR. He averaged about a dozen per season.

[@mikemyers1912]

He didn't get to play in Yankee Stadium with that enticing short right field porch for too many years

[@jakeyrunescape9219]

ricky also claimed he later “learned how to hit homeruns”

[@dougbrowne9890]

Maris benefitted from expansion. Throughout professional sports, many record setting seasons have happened as a result of expansion. The American League increased by two teams, for the 1961 season. Two other players come to mind, that had career years in 1961. Norm Cash of Detroit and Jim Gentile of Baltimore. Both crushed the ball that season. Cash hitting .361 with 41 HR and 132 RBI. He never came close to those numbers again, as he never hit .300 again and only hit 30+ four more times, over 17 seasons. Jim Gentile hit .302 with 46 HR and 141 RBI. His numbers fell off fast, and he was out of MLB after the 1966 season.

[@jayritchie851]

Maris was a good hitter who benifitted from expansion, a friendly right field porch at Yankee Stadium and most of all....batting 3rd in the Yankee lineup, just ahead of Mantle. That being said, he was good enough to step up and make the most of his days as a Yankee.

[@acb9896]

One "R", dude.

[@CSick27]

Watching Brady and Cal as a kid kind of tainted my view of sports in general. Two of our best players were actually from MD, they were best friends, good dudes, and kept a life-long connection to the team and city even in retirement. You pretty much never see any of that with modern day players in any sport

[@chadnewfield8866]

The last of great fan base was the 1980's and 1990's. You can count close to 10 ball players that will be on the same team for five years or more. The Royals you had George Brett, Dan Quinsenberry, Frank McRae, Willie Wilson and Bret Saberhagen. The Brewers were Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Paul Monitor, Dan Pleasc, and BJ Surhoff for atleast six seasons. The Giants ran steady with Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams, Jose Uribe, Robby Thompson, Don Robinson, Kirk Manwurring for atleast five years. A's had Canseco, McGwire, Dave Stewart, Bob Welch, Carney Lansford, Dave Henderson, Walt Weiss, Dennis Eckersley, Curt Young, Terry Steinbach and Rick Honeycutt for atleast five straight seasons. Expos had Tim Wallach, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter for atleast seven seasons. Astros went atleast seven seasons with catcher Alan Ashby, outfielder Terry Phul, Bob Kneeper, Mike Scott I believe closer Dave Smith, Nolan Ryan, Glenn Davis, Bill Duran and Kevin Bass. This is why baseball will never, never be the same again. Because fans can't get familiar with their teams anymore. It's incredibly rare that five players on the same team, well let's say five players in the starting lineup and pitching rotation stay on the same team for four years. These days it just doesn't happen. Your team had Cal Ripken Jr, and Eddie Murray. Two hall of famers that were teammates for 13 seasons! And ofcourse Ripken played on one team his whole career. My team when I followed baseball for over 20 years was the Oakland A's. But I really quit being a fan of MLB around 2010. Just wasn't my baseball anymore. But from 88 to 2010 I was a fan, win or lose. The Dodgers, Cardinals, Braves, Padres, really before the strike in 1994, almost every team had close to a dozen players (lineup and bench players) that were on the same club for five straight seasons or more. There is just no loyalty anymore. It's all about revenue and 30 million a year contracts! I'm sure baseball has Always been a business, no doubt. But baseball also had that wonderful combination of respect for the fans and profit. Now there is very little respect for the ticket buyer. Just my opinion.

[@weetahd2309]

I missed one season and when I started watching again it was pretty much a whole new team

[@michag4337]

@@chadnewfield8866 I think it's more about how guys didn't stick around because of loyalty they stuck around because they didn't have an option. Look at the NFL, free agency changed the nfl. Players didn't stay because of a love of the team, they stayed because they literally had no other option. I think if the same options were available back then, you'd see the same thing you see today. Loyalty is nice, but teams use that to low ball players, the teams have 0 loyalty, players shouldn't either. IMO

[@chadnewfield8866]

@@michag4337 There we're options in the 1980's. Not as much as 2022, but players could of signed one to three year contracts. Free agency was found around 1974 after Curt Flood was upset with his situation and then stood up for his case. He maybe was a casualty from doing so, but this paved the way for free agency. I do believe that players were more loyal in the 1980's then any other decade after the birth of free agency. Expecially after that strike in 1981. I'm sure that Tim Raines, and Tim Wallach signed a few times with the Expos. But I believe more options came to players after Jose Canseco complained that he was getting paid less then Wally Joyner, what Jose called as a singles hitter. This is only one example, perhaps a small one. I'm sure other factors came into play. As for the strike in 1994, come on, that was just for more money for the players, plain and simple. Back then in 94, five to seven million a year just wasn't enough. They wanted more cash. Just my opinion.

[@gavinsheridan4680]

Mario Lemieux.

[@michaelvincent843]

The fact that a 1.034 OPS only translated to a 155 WRC+ in 1996 makes me chuckle when you consider the state of offense today.

[@oldfrend]

the fact that pedro martinez pitched a sub 2 ERA to those monsters is fucking crazy.

[@dukedematteo1995]

1996 was a crazy offensive environment. Baseball completely changed in 93/94 with the introduction of a livelier ball. Btw 92 and 94 there was a 34% increase in HRS and Runs/Game jumped 0.8 of a run. HRS stayed at around that level for another 20 years.

[@dukedematteo1995]

@@oldfrend Another ridiculous pitching stat of that era that totally baffles me.....In 1997 Clemens gave up 9 HRS in 264 innings in the American League. That's a HR or 2 a month.

[@jak1165]

My favorite stat is Rey Ordonez putting up a 3 WAR season with an OPS+ of 64 in 1999. That was fuckin mental

[@TheChainChasers]

That's 200+ today easy

[@CycloneBurnesMusic]

Another thing to point out is that while most steroid users lost most of their baserunning ability and weren't able to swipe as many bags, Anderson was 21 for 29 in stole base opportunities

[@Karmy.]

But then there's also Dee Gordon...

[@danielwarren3138]

And Jose Canseco...

[@benriffle104]

And Alex Sanchez, the first player suspended for steroids.

[@BriggsSeekins]

Wrong. They didn't lose their base running ability, the power surge just changed their offensive role so they didnt steal a lot. Fast explosive athletes who do steroids dont suddenly become slower and less explosive

[@roejogan5094]

Hanley Ramirez was also stealing 50 bases in a season when he was younger. Steroids don’t necessarily make you slower. They actually make you faster

[@brentb2228]

IIRC, Brady's defense for steroid use was that if he wanted to juice for 1 season he would have done it in his contract year, which was the season after he hit 50 homers.

[@sneersh9107]

Yeah that's a good point why would he just use for one year but not any other year after having such great results? Doesn't make much sense

[@GoodbyeThisWeek]

He probably had bad side effects and stopped using them.

[@GoodbyeThisWeek]

Or he lost his access to them.

[@falseprophet1024]

Or he was trying to prove a point..

[@111highgh]

Or his balls shrunk.

[@jimroberts9327]

Luis Gonzalez’s 50 home run season seemed weird as well.

[@Junkiescum]

Yeah I’ve always thought that was his roid season, he was a pretty skinny dude and he hit like 57 that year

[@codyharris4750]

Yes. Good one.

[@codyharris4750]

Him and Greg Vaughn.

[@thebloodysock9594]

Gonzalez seemed to really move those hips when he swung. He might have invented twerking.

[@rorye6952]

@@codyharris4750 maybe, but Greg Vaughn had a lot of power for a long time

[@thegamingpigeon3216]

The crazy thing? In 1996 he batted .297/.396/.637 to the tune of a whopping 1.034 OPS with 50 homeruns, 110 RBI's and 172 hits in 149 games (687 plate appearances) which comes out to a 6.9 WAR (7.4 oWAR). . . . . . . . and got *9th* in AL MVP voting

[@VonRye]

That's because no one was using WAR back then. It may show on his baseball reference page, but WAR was not a commonly used "stat" back in '96.

[@thegamingpigeon3216]

@@VonRye I am very much aware, I was simply pointing out both with his WAR and standard stats that he finished 9th in MVP voting with a monster season like that, implying 8 others before him put up even crazier seasons as well.

[@selfdo]

The various stat sites don't even agree on what WAR should be, why use it as some form of metric?

[@ryangale3757]

Great vid. Admittedly, when I first heard about Anderson's 50 home run season, my immediate first thought was "STEROIDS!!" too. However, the more I think about it, the less it makes sense for him to have been juicing I think: 1. Why only juice for one season (since he went back to career norms after that season, which wouldn't make sense if he was still using)?, 2. Why not juice in a contract year (the following season)?, 3. Why did his physical shape and abilities not seem to change at all during this sudden power surge?, and 4. It's not like this was the only time this has ever happened. Davey Johnson obviously had a similar case, Roger Maris was another famous case, and to pick a more recent example, Jacoby Ellsbury had a very similar sort of career year for an otherwise speedy leadoff hitter in 2011, so it's not like a guy can't have a great year power-wise out of the blue. Not to say he was 100% was clean, but there's very little to suggest to me that he wasn't, which is a surprising conclusion to come to considering the opinion I came in with.

[@justinlast2lastharder749]

Ichiro in Batting Practice would launch absolute Bombs. He's admitted he could easily hit 35-40 HRs a year but it would come with a lower batting average and that wasn't his role on the team. Ichiro...all 5 ft 11 inches and 175 lbs of him.

[@TheGodYouWishYouKnew]

@@justinlast2lastharder749 Yes but Ichiro had once-in-a-lifetime talent. The other guys that were mentioned did not.

[@mattray9904]

The problem is the assumption he only used for one year. If he did use, I'd bet it was more than one year. Other than that, you raise some good points, which is why I'm not as convinced he used as Bret Boone or Luis Gonzalez. Of course, there's always a decent chance for a player heavily into bodybuilding who spent as much time in the gym as Brady considering how prevalent steroids are in that world. The apparent lack of a sudden or dramatic physical change is a good point. However, I'll play devil's advocate and say that since Brady was ahead of much of the league in nutrition by the time he entered the majors so it could be that he was also using earlier to get to the majors and therefore did not change as much physically once he was a starter. Brady did mention in 1992 that he had to work to maintain his weight so there's a decent chance he'd experiment with steroids for that reason. You're also obviously correct that fluke seasons do happen without steroids, sometimes due to the ball such as in 1987. Though Maris is not really a good comparison since he had established himself as a power hitter with 39 home runs the year before he hit 61 and 33 the year after. He was also uniquely protected by Mickey Mantle when he hit 61 and surprisingly didn't draw a single walk that year. As for Brady's numbers, it is somewhat unusual that Brady's second best season, including his second best season for power and home runs, came in 1999 when he was 35. Not unheard of, but much more common in the steroid era.

[@erkuza9220]

It was a contract year.

[@davidjohnson7622]

Great video, I was playing JUCO baseball during this time and are coach used Brady Anderson as an example for proper dieting and so on. Another two weird 50 homerun seasons were Greg Vaugn and Luis Gonzalez. Great video.

[@dkroll92]

Vaughn at least had two other 40+ homer seasons in there, two consecutive. There was a huge dip between his first and second along with missing about 25% of the season. I'd chalk that up to injury

[@zlinedavid]

@@dkroll92 That’s exactly it. Vaughn was very injury prone later in his career. When he was able to play in 140-150 games, he was good for 35-40 HRs pretty consistently.

[@rheasilverstorm6366]

I actually like what Brady Anderson himself said about it. He pretty much said that the difference between his average season and that 50-homer season was essentially one more good swing per week. I won’t say that he did or didn’t juice, but that’s a pretty chill, non-sensational way to put it.

[@bullshark3771]

reminds me of Bull Durham when he talks about the difference between a .250 hitter and .300 1 extra hit a week a ground ball with eyes. Sometimes they doubt a players ability and get lazy on the pitches they throw him. Around this point in time the enforced strike zone was starting to reel in a bit too.

[@kirklamb3270]

No, not buying it. He was juicing like most of the others at the time.

[@brianstrutter1501]

Yea but that one more good swing doesn't necessarily equal a HR. Unless you're juicing

[@slabathonfury3879]

That is a generic statement any player can make. All the sudden at age 32, whilst facing a league of juiced pitchers, Mr. Anderson found a magic swing and couldn't stop knocking them out of the park. lol

[@kirklamb3270]

Funny that it was a contract year, and he never came close again. He was one of the fittest guys out there and would have "remembered". He juiced. Look at the difference in juicing Bonds and non juicing. 30 to 35 homers a years, 60 plus.

[@HHL-qt2xb]

Great video. I think a key component was that Brady was leading off for a team where all 9 starters had 20+ HRs by season’s end. It was a powerful, “pick your poison” line-up with lots of stars, and pitching staffs felt compelled to go after Brady rather than Alomar, Palmeiro, Bonilla, etc. By 1997 the Oriole line-up was still good (went back to the ALCS), but not as powerful (i.e. lost Bonilla, Ziele, etc. in offseason), and Brady reverted to back to what he had always been. By 1998 the Orioles were old, and their window was closed. In any event, never been any substantive reason to paint him with the steroid brush IMHO…

[@neilsander7348]

This is a point I always try to make. In 1995, Anderson was hitting in front of Bret Barberie. In 1996, he was hitting in front of Roberto Alomar.

[@N1120A]

Cal Ripken also said something important about Anderson's 1996 - there was some luck involved. He apparently put excellent swings in an above average number of balls, resulting in better contact for power.

[@rileysmith5925]

Wow never would’ve guessed that accounted for more homeruns

[@slabathonfury3879]

lol, and he also had access to illegal drugs that increase strength, durability, recovery and stamina.

[@captainwesker1234]

I've always thought something was up with Brady Andersons 50 hr season, another one that is crazy is Greg Vaughn when he was with the Padres.

[@captainwesker1234]

Dang, looks like I needed to do more research, thanks for the info.

[@jonnuanez2843]

Remember that his Padres teammate, '96 MVP Ken Caminiti, admitted to using steroids during said season.

[@captainwesker1234]

@@jonnuanez2843 yea, that is my concern about that season for vaughn.

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

@@jonnuanez2843 Caminiti said he'd take handfuls of drugs including roids.

[@adamclark9004]

@@captainwesker1234 greg Vaughn was a decent player, he had multiple 40+ home run seasons. The year he hit 50 he basically played a full season so it wasn't that strange

[@zenmar2415]

I dont think it was forgotten, people actually always brought it up when talking of the injection era,fairly or unfairly.

[@ProdRhom]

Jolly the videos keep getting better stay on your grind man

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Great job covering this topic, there's definitely more outlier seasons that you can take a look at similar to this. I personally don't think he was juicing simply because there would be no reason to stop juicing right before a contract season and he would probably want to continue helping his team that nearly made the World Series if it was working with no repercussions.

[@slabathonfury3879]

We're not talking about Barry Bonds here. Brady was a very solid player (with a career average near 200). Getting on the juice may have propelled him to one great season and that's all he had. EVERYbody started using in the late 90s, he may have just had a jump start.

[@patrickmorgan4006]

Yes. The first thing I think of when Brady Anderson's name comes up is Davey Johnson's one big HR season. Of course, Johnson was playing in Atlanta that year, and their stadium was nicknamed "The Launching Pad" for all of the HRs hit there.

[@TigerofRobare]

Brady Anderson is one of the great all-time trivia question players: in 1988 the Red Sox traded him and Curt Schilling to the Orioles for Mike Boddicker.

[@CasiodorusRex]

If it's any conciliation the Orioles traded Schilling, Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch to the Astros for Glenn Davis three years later in 1991.

[@casonschingoethe]

Yeah, I really think this season was just a magical baseball moment. Just because some guy had a breakout season doesn't mean he used

[@notsauer]

We’ve seen this before with Davey Johnson, and most recently, Ketel Marte. Juiced balls have a hell of an effect.

[@davidmayberry3190]

Look at Roger Maris.

[@notsauer]

@@davidmayberry3190 that was due to an expansion year. Norm Cash batted .361/.487/.662 with 40+ bombs that year, and never came close to those totals again.

[@easy-jay]

The odd thing was how much muscle he put on in just one season

[@notsauer]

@@easy-jay not Brady Anderson, he didn’t weigh in any differently than his previous season, and gained a total of 5 pounds since his rookie season to 1996

[@-mv1sd]

Don't forget that members around you in the lineup have a lot to do with it. That year the orioles added Roberto Alomar and Maris had Mantle in 1961. In 96 the orioles had many players hitting 20 homers or more: Surhoff-21, Ripken-26, Zeile-25, Alomar-22, Murray-22, Bonilla-28 all up and down the line up the orioles were stacked! Anderson was legit Palmeiro was not. The crazy thing about this is Brady is not my ideal lead off. Ty Cobb Mantle Mays or Ricky would be fantastic !

[@samuelperezgarcia]

I think that Orioles team was the first in history to have their entire lineup hit for double digit HRs in a season. Perhaps the entire lineup having over 20 HRs in a season, although only Brady Anderson hit over 30.

[@HHL-qt2xb]

Yes. This was the biggest factor I remember from that season. Teams gave Brady something to hit in hopes he’d make out- rather than be on base for Zeile, Alomar, Palmeiro and/or Bonilla coming behind him. Talk about protection…

[@csgolf24]

This. All of this. This is the one thing that never gets talked about with this season. Teams had to pitch to Brady. Major contributing factor

[@bullshark3771]

Sometimes it leads to having to pitch differentlly to players in ways you might not want to. Making it easier to predict pitch placements. I noticed many of the homers seemed to be on low and away pitches.

[@brianstrutter1501]

Anderson was no more legit than a fake $100 bill. And Palmeiro only used steroids to heal his knee quicker. He never hit 50 HR's in that small ballpark nor in Texas where the ball flew out of the ballpark. I have minimal issues with Palmeiro because he didn't abuse steroids like MANY others did. Same with Andy Pettitte. Used only to heal an injury. Raffy lied but he was a hell of a player

[@jrosa1028]

Totally thought you were gonna go with Greg Vaughn but definitely anderson too

[@wabbittwacks3173]

That's exactly what I thought, too! You = Great Baseball Knowledge!!

[@chance2413]

He was a beast though. Like Big Papi and The Big Piece (Ryan Howard), he hit HRs clean and sober. Which is why Junior is always top 3 all time to me. In the steroid era, when pitchers were juicing crazy, The Kid jacked 50hr routinely with the prettiest swing in baseball history. He wasn't huge like Howard or Ortiz, and he wasn't juicing like Mcgwire or Sosa. He was just THAT DAMNED GOOD.

[@futuregohan4837]

@@chance2413 Ryan Howard's Nickname Was Rhino Because Of How Big He Was

[@righteous_factz5875]

What about Javy Lopez's 43 homerun season? I feel like people forgot about that one

[@thecman26]

Dude was one of the best hitting catchers!

[@iamhungey12345]

Contract season.

[@chickenfkeryay]

Lopez was a power hitting and lots of Ks catcher. Knowing baseball he was probably on steroids too

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@chickenfkeryay considering two of his teammates were Palmeiro and Canseco…it’s assured he probably did

[@williamsnike452]

@@bostonrailfan2427 He never played with Canseco and didn't play with Palmeiro till 04. Plus Lopez hit 34 in '98.

[@memeteam2692]

fun fact: Brady Anderson has as many 50 home run seasons as Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron combined

[@wabbittwacks3173]

My God that is a great point. You = Genius!!

[@oldfrend]

huh. talk about outlier. i knew hank never had a monster HR year, but bonds, i thought no way. turns out yeah, never hit more than 49, then 73!

[@franram7426]

@@oldfrend Why is that????? I'll tell you. For several years Barry watched the media get on their knees and perform lewd acts on Sammy and Mark who weren't a 10th the ball player he was.... AND he knew it was for one reasons.... ROIDS. So...... Barry, justifiably, decides to do the same. Except a couple things worked catastrophically against him.... 1st. MLB and it's fans had lost the luster of "WOW, look at it go." and were turning against roids. 2nd.... Barry is so much better at hitting that Sammy and Mark combined, that Barry made a mockery of the game. 3rd.... Barry already had a horrible relationship with the writers. It took him by surprise when they gave him the opposite of the love they gave Mark and Sammy. 4th..... MLB was looking for a way to execute this steroid FRANKENSTEIN it had created. Attacking Barry was their way of getting the village to attack FRANKENSTEIN who had done NOTHING wrong. Hank and Barry are top five in my 63 years of living and 57 of watching. Hank is #1. Ichiro #2 Alex #3 Rickey #4 Barry #5

[@dlsoh]

@@oldfrend when they start walking you 1/3 of the time you step up to the plate its hard to bit home runs.

[@samuelperezgarcia]

@@oldfrend nobody would pitch to him after that 73 HR season.

[@reubensandwich9249]

The biggest thing I think you forgot was the line-up the Orioles had that year. When you have a heart of a line-up like they did, the lead-off hitter gets less balls and more fastballs to lessen the risk of getting on base. The only case I have of him maybe on steroids is being on the same team as Palmero. Baseball in the 90s was complicated. My team, the Phillies used a 4-man pitching rotation for a portion of a year in the 90s.

[@BensPitchingClips]

Its strange to see players like this guy peak (in terms of homerun total) early in their career, and never come close to it again. Its happening more and more and it makes it pretty hard to project careers. Great video again, Jolly.

[@JeffyPDiddy]

I’d attribute it to the amount of video and analytics out there for pitchers to study. Every season that goes by they have more data and video to study.

[@GroovyBabyYeah]

As an Orioles fan thank you! And thank you for your willingness to let us have this season!

[@briancoyne6700]

Thank you for not tarnishing Brady's name. He was so exciting to watch win the 90s. He was a huge part of the team back then. He's a stand up guy.

[@seanleigh]

My favorite player of all time. Saw him hit a home run at my first MLB game. Great video, thanks for the memories.

[@TheTEN24]

Wow what a crazy season I’ve never heard of, thanks for the vid my man

[@BKF0]

Looking under the hood, this season looks like things just came together well for a season. He was pulling the ball at a career-high rate, and also increased his fly balls while cutting ground balls. Most of all, though, the usual suspect of HR/FB tells the story. In 1996, his HR/FB was 21.6%, over twice as high as his next highest season. League average is usually ~10%

[@bullshark3771]

on the homers the pitch placement seemed to be in very similar spots low and away. He haad good teammates so i think they were trying to get him to ground out but he was dipping his shoulder some and went for fly balls.

[@Lyrici17]

I like the idea that he did it clean; it makes it a lot more fun.... Sometimes players just have fluke seasons. It kind of reminds me of a 35-year old A.J. Pierzynski hitting a career high in HRs, 27, his previous high being only 18 (7 seasons earlier). It's not as extreme as Anderson, but still pretty outlier-y, with only 4 total seasons in his 19-year career with HR totals 16+ (18, 16, 27, 17).... Thanks!

[@brandongell35]

A video about an oriole 🔥🔥🔥

[@jacksonfriedman8676]

A rarity these days

[@terrymcsparrin3682]

I know I’m biased, he was one of my favorite players in the 90’s. I really think he was clean, he just had a lifetime season. Ripken was right, he was way ahead of the curb with diet and his workout routine.

[@dkroll92]

there is historic comparison for this kind of thing... Nolan Ryan threw harder than anyone else in his prime while still racking up impressive innings. What was special about him? He lifted weights in an era when almost no one else did

[@ToxicAvengerCleanYourMind]

BS...the guy was on steroids and you know it

[@harper-leightonscott4566]

@@ToxicAvengerCleanYourMind lmao don't be mad

[@cinch1619]

I look back at this season fondly. However, I don't look through rose colored glasses. I look through the lens of truth and realize that there's only a 0.00000000000000000001% chance that Brady Anderson was juicing that year. As you pointed out, he didn't show up that year as a Hulk version of himself, and he also didn't lose his physique the following years. My opinion is that the league got too comfortable with him and he went off by changing a little something in his swing, that pitchers started countering in 1997. Look back at 1995 and compare the approach to 1996, and there is a difference. I'm a southpaw, so I've always taken notice of the lefties in the league.

[@99bimmer]

Another sort of outlier season was Jacoby Ellsbury's 30 HR season when he was with Boston, very similar to Anderson's season

[@99bimmer]

Another sort of outlier season was Jacoby Ellsbury's 30 HR season when he was with Boston, very similar to Anderson's season

[@jamiealexander7065]

It's the opposite, the chance is super low that he wasn't taking stuff.

[@Paulafan5]

There are many types of PEDs and have different effects on the body. Cyclists are skinny and the sport had a major PED issue. Brady's weight isn't proof of anything.

[@jamiealexander7065]

@@Paulafan5 exactly, most of these people are clueless.

[@WWTormentor]

Let not forget that roger maris was not really a power hitter until 1960 when he hit 39 and 1961 when he hit the famous 61, and 1962 when he hit 33. Before snd after that he always hit less than 30.

[@Jabbersac]

1:44 Barry Bonds actually only had 1 50 homer season in his career, and it was in 2001. The most he ever had in the 90s was 46, in 1993.

[@darius410]

Growing up in baltimore Brady was my favorite player long before the 50 HR season. My friends would tease me that he was my favorite player. The 1996 season happened and I was bragging so much lol. I honestly don't think he was juicing he had the most amazing body for a baseball player I've ever seen completely ripped. Think it really was just luck. He hit alot of homeruns just barely over the fence that year. Baseball is one of those things where the difference between allstar and minor leagues is a 10% difference. So the smallest of things can just go right and amazing thing happen.

[@mullaneymike79]

mines was mike devaraux

[@antmothirteen6540]

Didnt he hit like 20 or more leadoff homeruns that season?

[@darius410]

@@antmothirteen6540 not sure 20 but it was alot

[@tomhansen6115]

Thanks for this video. The general consensus, which I had bought into, is that Anderson was on steroids. I have seen people say that he physically blew up in 96 and many other things that actually aren't true. In this day and age where so many people are deemed guilty by accusations it's nice that you provided this video to counter at least one unfairly maligned player

[@bostonrailfan2427]

his arms were bigger…the previous year and year after they were smaller. if he wasn’t juicing that year, then why the abrupt change?

[@slabathonfury3879]

He didn't counter anything, he "decided to remain optimistic." Brady Anderson didn't naturally turn into Hank Aaron overnight at age 32.

[@scottbaldwin6763]

I think Brady Anderson is kinda similar to Ichiro. Ichiro said that he could’ve been a power hitter if he really wanted to, but wasn’t. Maybe Anderson was the same way, but actually tried it one year, and it worked.

[@JamesACosby]

1) Anyone ever *ask him* to explain such an insane jump? Or anyone around him? 2) You said his isolated power "eventually" came back down...it went down immediately. 3) He ate well: okay, still doesn't explain the bizarre one-year jump. Ask him. 4) Davey Johnson: guys used to cork bats a lot. I think George Foster admitted his his best year came with cork, and I *think Joe Torre as well).

[@ringoneedsmoney9623]

Love this video, i notice this in alot of players and it makes me wonder. There's a couple of players from the 70's and 80's that crazy homer seasons out of nowhere. One that always makes me think is Roger Maris's 61hr season, dude only hit 30 twice in a season before and after.

[@len9518]

Wrong. Maris hit 39, the season before. Also, to those that claim Yankee Stadium helped him, he hit more homers on the road, when he hit 61.

[@73Trident]

In Rogers 61 season he was never intentionally walked with Mantle in the lineup batting behind him. You going to walk Roger to pitch to Mickey? Roger was seeing a lot of good pitches.

[@PotrzebieConolly]

In 1960, Maris played 72 road games and hit 26 home runs in those games. This average over 160 games would be almost 58 home runs. But he only hit 13 home runs in 64 Yankee Stadium games. He was losing home runs at home. In 1961, his road game HR/G average went up a little, but his Yankee Stadium HR/G average almost doubled, like he figured out what he needed to do to hit more home runs there.

[@lucasmembrane4763]

They told him to go for the homers. Stengel even batted him leadoff to give him more chances to hit them.

[@PotrzebieConolly]

@@lucasmembrane4763 Until a late season injury Mantle was hitting home runs at about the same rate as Maris, so why would Stengel decide to give Maris the advantage? For that matter Mantle being so much faster than Maris would be a better choice for leadoff anyway.

[@patrickstrahm05]

You should do a video on Albert Belle, the only 50 double 50 home run season in 95

[@adamclark9004]

Yeah in only 140 games

[@patrickstrahm05]

@@adamclark9004 Forgot about that the Indians won 100 games I think as well

[@adamclark9004]

@@patrickstrahm05 so many mlb records could have been made if 94 and 95 were full seasons

[@jirikurto3859]

@@adamclark9004 Matt Williams was having his greatest season. I remember that one. Too bad for him.

[@mj21576]

This 50 homer season was like baseballs way of admitting full guilt over PEDs. Anderson was a great player but ALL cheaters need a separate category labeled "asterisks section"

[@drewskidayosh]

Ok, now this is a good one. I've heard of Anderson before but had no idea he'd had a 50 HR season. Honestly never would have guessed he did. But a very cool video and my favorite "forgotten" yet.

[@chuckwagon9973]

I only knew about becuase of this season lol

[@drewskidayosh]

@@chuckwagon9973 Nice. I turned 3 in December of 1996 so don't remember much that I witnessed. But a lot of people in my mom's family live near Baltimore and are huge Orioles fans. Pretty sure at least one of my uncle's has a Brady Anderson jersey lol

[@Karmy.]

I like to think this guy was legitimately eating a balanced breakfast everyday I also find it weird when players who never really hit for power used roids, like Dee Gordon or Jhonny Peralta

[@rico9163]

roids are useful for a lot more than just muscle building, the increased recovery rate is super helpful during the 162 game grind season that baseball has

[@moeball740]

@Y4123 I think Everth Cabrera of the Padres got busted for steroids when he only hit 2 homers in a season. After the news came out that he had tested positive for steroids fans started showing up at Petco Park with signs telling him he should get his money back!

[@ryanjacobson2508]

@@rico9163 The thing is, though, that putting an unnatural level of mass on your skeleton is not healthy in the long run. Steroids actually stress and weaken joints that were not intended by nature to handle a roided up physique. Pro wrestler and body builder Superstar Billy Graham said that his body really broke down from the strain caused by steroids.

[@MeneTekelUpharsin]

@@ryanjacobson2508 Steroids causes heart problems. These guys are not thinking in the long run.

[@NatTurnerswitBurnerz]

Luis Gonzalez hitting 57 home runs in 2001 is no less strange than Brady Anderson's 50 in 1996. A guy having 50 or so good swings at the right launch angle, out of 500+ at-bats for one season, isn't noteworthy.

[@bradyknouse1591]

Great vid man! I even forget about his season sometimes, and I’m an Orioles fan who even has the same name

[@54raynor]

If you think steroids weren’t really a thing in MLB in the 1970s, then you didn’t pay attention to the Mitchell Report. One of the historical docs it cites is a 1973 government study that revealed “alarming” levels of PED usage in MLB clubhouses, with both steroids and amphetamines specifically identified.

[@salutations5749]

I saw a Doc on Dave Parker and surely believe that there was plenty of illicit use throughout, especially uppers of any kind.

[@sheyanderson4371]

Left it open ended, as it should be. It was the definition of just having a career season that any player wants to have. That season where everything clicks and goes your way. That's what I think of when I see his '96 season and fans shouldn't tarnish it.

[@slabathonfury3879]

I have no issues with wanting to keep it positive, I do however think you're protecting a guy that cheated (like everybody else did).

[@sheyanderson4371]

@@slabathonfury3879 It's not a matter of protecting him, just basing my opinion off what we actually know and not assumptions. I don't assume or even let PEDs change how I see players or the game. PEDs have been around since the beginning of the game and we will never know who took PEDs and who didn't. So to pick and choose who you think cheated and who didn't, or what stats are valid and not, is pretty irrational in my opinion.

[@slabathonfury3879]

@@sheyanderson4371 i think they ALL count in the 90s/early 2000s. It's still foolish to think a below average hitter suddenly became top .1% at age 32, naturally, and in the middle of the steroid era withOUT cheating himself.

[@sheyanderson4371]

@@slabathonfury3879 I think our debate is more a matter of whether we think he cheated or not. I think it was a fluke first and foremost because there are no accounts of him actually cheating whatsoever. He is already the top 1% in world, so chances of him having such a season are higher than we would think. Then even assuming you are right and he was on PEDs, I would still argue it wasn’t cheating. PEDs randomly taking effect to have one, and only one such season, then drop right back off doesn’t seem logical at all to me.

[@MeneTekelUpharsin]

@@sheyanderson4371 Brady was known as a gym buff. You should be asking why would Brady Anderson not be juicing? Are you sure you're not in denial because of your emotional attachment?

[@BadVibesStoryTelling]

Brady Anderson went to the same high school i went to, so he is innocent. I also remember this season and had no doubt he was on the juice lol.

[@bennylevine387]

I remember smashing the "Lancers" repeatedly. Didn't hurt that we had future bug leaguers like Dave Roberts.

[@danzo3471]

Is innocent because he was the same high school as you that's priceless

[@slabathonfury3879]

Wow, it took a lot of scrolling to find a Baltimore fan capable of being honest with themselves. LOL. Props.

[@MeneTekelUpharsin]

Even back then many people assumed Brady Anderson and Rafael Palmero were juicing.

[@gregroeper2976]

I always figured that Brady was juiced that year by the sudden increase in power. You make some good points that it could have been a lot of things that led to that career year. But on the other hand , Rafael Palmeiro was on that team...

[@carteljameson8395]

"12 of the 36 fifty home run seasons that I mentioned before since the expansion era took place in the 1990s, by far the most of any decade. The names of those who accomplished this feat are exactly who you'd expect. Barry Bonds-" I'm gonna cut you off right there. Barry Bonds had a grand total of zero 50 home run seasons in the 90s.

[@marcusnunes7256]

That's why I hate the whole "everyone was one the juice" argument. Mitchell report had about 220 names, not all active major league guys. With 25 man rosters and 30 teams that's still under a third. Its not fair to the other players to assume they were cheating.

[@DPK365]

I remember when Brady was doing that.....I remember how no one saw it coming and all the PED allegations that came with it. I liked Brady as a player outside the 50 HR season that he had. In regards to this year, I think the best shot we have is Acuna and Vlad.....if they can avoid the IL.

[@ringoneedsmoney9623]

Here are some more weird homer seasons. Tommy Harper in 70' hit 31hrs, his next best is 17hrs Davey Johnson in 74' hit 43hrs, his next best is 18hrs. Jacoby Ellsbury in 11' hit 32hrs, his next best is 16hrs then 9hrs. Probably plenty you can find on baseball references.

[@JollyOlive]

I mention Davey at the end of the video

[@ringoneedsmoney9623]

@@JollyOlive maybe Hank Aaron rubbed off on him that year. Who knows, lets watch this Mets Diamondback slugfest

[@gregrowe1168]

Matt Carpenters 2018 season, hit 36 hr and never close before or after,. By 2020; he only hit 4 hr as a part time player.

[@johnmuse6626]

A sudden, massive power number increase at age 32 = juicing. One of the most overlooked aspects of jucing is that it reportedly improves eyesight. Which is the key to hitting in mlb.

[@highwaymaintainer]

MLB lost all integrity years ago, it’s just a matter of time before it dissolves into nothingness, it deserves what it’s getting

[@TiagoGomez-hb9te]

Explain why do you say MLB has lost integrity...

[@jimroberts9327]

The fact that Bonds only made the 50 homer club once but managed to set the single-season record is cool as well.

[@TheBurn0820]

That’s cause the pitched around him or walked him intentionally nearly every at bat after that season. He was once walked intentionally with the bases loaded, to ensure he couldn’t hit a walk off grand slam

[@ahogg5960]

@@TheBurn0820 Yeah Greg Maddux joked once that Bonds was the easiest hitter to face because if it mattered, you just put him on first with a walk.

[@gregrowe1168]

Funniest stat ever is Sosa hit 60 hrs twice and still wasn’t good enough either season to lead the league. Everyone knows about the 1998 season but he hit 60 in 2001 too and nobody even noticed because of Bonds hitting 73.

[@BillyHannon14]

The fact that he lost it so quickly with no injuries is another check in the no steroids column. It would be bizarre to only take steroids for one season and then stop after seeing those results.

[@SmoothCriminal12]

Another thing to consider is how stacked that Orioles lineup was around Anderson. Ripken, Bonilla, Palmeiro, Alomar, Surhoff and more could all rake in that lineup. So you can make the argument that maybe he got easier pitches to hit due to the lineup around him.

[@Mrlouis512]

I remember watching this season unfold and looking for Anderson rookie cards. I don't think he was juicing in 96 or ever really. No real weight or muscle mass gains to show for it.

[@Paulafan5]

Cyclists aren't massive hulks, even the ones juicing. It depends on the PED and how someone trains.

[@aaronsanborn4291]

I honestly don't think Anderson was on steroids. I think he just had an incredible season. There are tons of examples throughout baseball history of an average player going crazy for a season.

[@distantgalaxymusic1447]

Anderson was the most relaxed at the the plate that season. I don’t think he had an “increase” in power, he had his timing dialed in and he was covering more of the plate with his bat. What an incredible season.

[@thequixoticangler3364]

Right. He found it that year. Just a one off season. Doubt he juiced. He was a base stealer with power, not the other way around. Had one year where the ball was just huge to him. Also, that was the juiciest ball ever in 96. Look at the numbers. Everybody hit better for power that year. That ball was helium. You saw guys hit pop ups into the 5th row. The ball was extremely hitter friendly.

[@distantgalaxymusic1447]

@@thequixoticangler3364 the ball was certainly juiced. Even Players like Randy Velarde doubled their single season HR totals.

[@TiagoGomez-hb9te]

​@@distantgalaxymusic1447 Why do you say the baseball was juiced like crazy back then?

[@distantgalaxymusic1447]

@@TiagoGomez-hb9te a few years before the strike in 94 baseball was in decline. A great way to have fans show interest is HRs. The Babe saved baseball in 1921 because of that. Fielder hit 50, the Anderson. When Major League Baseball almost died after the strike, Fans blamed the league not the players. 96-99 there were huge numbers being put up by everyone except a few guys. Not everyone was on steroids and guys that hit 6-9 HR’s a season suddenly hit 15-20. Then in 2000 they went back to hitting 6-9 HR. The majority of the league doubled their HR totals. McGuire was averaging 35 a season hit 70, Sosa averaged 28 a season hits 66. Now those guys were on roids, but Aaron Boone wasn’t. Just go to baseball reference and see for yourself. Players in the era were claiming the balls were juiced.

[@TiagoGomez-hb9te]

@@distantgalaxymusic1447 MLB should seriously start juicing up the baseball and lowering the mound again to raise up HR and most importantly raising up Batting Average and Bases on Balls. Way higher Batting Average = More action that the sport of baseball badly needs since there's hardly any action during innings anyway. I miss when everyone and their uncle could hit .300+ BA. MLB's so boring now with it's 3 Outcome model (HT

[@f2afinito983]

We can’t ignore that Baltimore has a small ball park. A lot of Orioles players have random power surging seasons Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, Nelson Cruz etc.

[@dkroll92]

that's true, but remember that Cruz did get caught juicing, lol

[@jonathandempsey9228]

His 50 home run season is when I knew baseball had a steroid problem. His healthy diet was like Hulk Hogan saying to eat your vitamins.

[@misterx6276]

*Always inject your vitamins.

[@Galantski]

Is Orel Hershiser's 59 straight scoreless innings set in 1988 going to end up as the pitching equivalent to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak as "unbreakable" ? Before one answers "no" too quickly, take a look at some of the great pitchers who were pitching contemporaneously with him or who have come after, but didn't tie or break his mark: Jacob deGrom, Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Madison Bumgarner, Mike Mussina, Greg Maddux, Mariano Rivera, Randy Johnson, Justin Verlander, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, David Cone, Zack Greinke, Kevin Brown, Dennis Martinez, Stephen Strasburg, Curt Schilling, and Aroldis Chapman. Yes, I know I'm leaving some out, but that's the point. Many great pitchers have come and gone since Orel's phenomenal record, and yet he still holds it. Bottom Line: It's not easy, folks! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orel_Hershiser%27s_scoreless_innings_streak

[@vinman5432]

Most of us that have played baseball beyond little league and such know that every once in a while you get into the zone and do so most of the time w/o any knowledge of what we did to get there. Why can't this happen in a whole season?

[@stemogstel22]

I had his jersey when I was a kid. We used to drive down from Philadelphia regularly to watch the O's play in the late 90s and early aughts. Ripkin, Mussina, Anderson, Alomar, Palmero, and a host of other noteworthy players. I was born under a bad sign to grow up rooting for the O's and Mets only to move to Kansas City in time to see one not make a WS and the other lose a WS.

[@lla788]

I agree--I don't think Brady was on steroids. Yes, I'm an Oriole fan. But, as you said, his body never changed at all. He looked exactly the same. In fact, the last time I saw him at the stadium (which was maybe 5 yrs ago) he still looked exactly the same.

[@billslocum9819]

Davey Johnson is a good comparison. He was nearly as old as Anderson when he had his big HR season, too, and actually blew up his prior career high by a larger percentage total than Anderson.

[@Glornt]

Davey's explosion is easy to explain -- he was playing in Atlanta. The Braves had three players with 40+ that year, it was a home run park.

[@billslocum9819]

@@Glornt 40 is still 40. One of those other guys was Darrell Evans, a lifetime 414 HR hitter. The other guy was the non-steroid-era HR king.

[@Glornt]

@@billslocum9819 What I'm saying is that he was playing in a home run park.

[@stillaboveground2470]

1996 was a great year for Brady Anderson. It was also a great year for me. If I could re-live any year, it would be 1996. I would "Groundhog Day" that whole year.

[@akadjadikt]

O’s fan here. It’s not always easy but when we have someone special they’re REALLY SPECIAL

[@Osiris3657]

I feel like you could make this same video about Luis Gonzalez and his 56 home run season

[@thebookdoc.writing.and.editing]

I like that you picked this out. I'm a 50-year O's fan. I also like the follow, that Davey Johnson hit 43 in one year and was not a power hitter. Both good picks. The interesting thing about the 'anomaly' is that Anderson had no reason to stop juicing if he was. Also, I do not believe juicing canges your ability to make contact. It is why I don't care what Bonds was taking. He had to have the talent to see and hit the ball.

[@Fater4511]

i agree that is why I never thought anderson was juicing... if he had juiced, why would he stop? they weren't doing anything about it.

[@ryanjacobson2508]

The dumb thing about Bonds is that he was probably a HOF player before the steroids. But the steroids added power for a lot of home runs.

[@thebookdoc.writing.and.editing]

@@ryanjacobson2508 He is still a HOF player. Do you even realize that steroids were used in the 1800s and CELEBRATED?! Check into Pud Galvin. I wrote a book called 25 Extreme and he was using long before BABE RUTH who also injected sheep nuts. Stop buying into the media-driven hype. There were probably fewer players not using performance enhancement in the HOF than using. Look into drugging as a part of the regimen of military, then get back with your holier-than-thou BS. It is like saying runners can't drink water or some other nonsense. Players want to perform. Duh.

[@MeneTekelUpharsin]

He probably experienced side effects and got scared.

[@Mma-basement-215]

Wow Brady Anderson I was in 7th grade when he hit 50 home runs everyone thought he was the next big-time player !! For a few years he was very cool

[@quiveringmoist7558]

In most of these highlights we see Brady pulling the ball into right field. Camden Yards right field was very short. Davey Johnson was interviewed during the '96 season and said that Brady was focusing on getting under the ball for more fly balls (launch angle).

[@dkroll92]

check out his Baseball Reference, he pulled the ball more that season than any other in his career. And he hit more fly balls than he usually did as well, although not a career high

[@LEVIJmusic]

Growing up I was lucky enough to have Orioles season tickets for this season - I can say that Brady Anderson was a fan favorite and just balled out (defense too) and the team was stacked: Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmero, Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Mussina, Bobby Bonilla(lol) Disappointing this team never got a ring (see: Jeffrey Maier) - glad to see Brady Anderson get some respect. Great team and era for baseball PS. Camden Yards is one of the best stadiums in baseball⚾

[@JonathanMartin884]

I was 12 years old back in 1996, and I was a huge Cal Ripken fan. I watched pretty much every single Orioles game I could, whether they were out this way playing the Angels or whether they were on ESPN. Anderson was locked in that year, and if you look at his swing, he had an uppercut style of swing that produced really good launch angle before that was even a thing. I don't think he was using, I think he was just feeling really good. This is why baseball, unlike any other sport, is all about getting in a groove and staying in that groove as long as possible. Some guys can do it for an entire season. It's just baseball.

[@ryanlefkowitz7350]

It's not totally unheard of for a player to have an anomaly season... even a high-caliber one. See Jacoby Ellsbury 2011, doubling his highest career home run total and more than tripling his high to that point. Flukes happen.

[@joshjacobs3906]

I remember Kilborn and Oberman loved those 50 hrs on Sportscenter....cuz everynight during the O's highlights they would take turns saying " next up, A Man Named Brady".....got so old I would throw stuff at the TV.

[@689jim]

You make a good argument I watched orioles games during that season. I think he was coming up on a new contract that year which got him a good increase in pay, after that his numbers dipped so most people thought it was due to steroid use me included. Steroid use during that time was not tested until 2003 so players used it to stay in the majors or get bigger contracts.

[@legalizeweed3830]

Some players put together a great season on pain killers. Same thing in the NHL. Cheechoo scores over 50 goals out of nowhere. Never came close again.

[@slabathonfury3879]

True, the 90s were great for ball players. Pain killers, steroids, HGH. Anything they wanted.

[@stevebuchanan4829]

Anderson’s hat size didn’t change, like Bonds. He put it all together for one great year. It happens. He was a good player otherwise who caught lightning in a bottle in a lineup pitchers couldn’t pitch around.

[@reluctantczar1352]

Wow! I accidentally came across this video, and, WOW! This was exceptionally prepared, unbiased, clear and understandable, yet extremely intelligent or "smart," if you will. I subscribed immediately, and I look forward to more videos. Wow!

[@danepotmo2513]

Davey Johnson hit 43 Homers in 1973 his next most was 18. Terry Steinbach 35 HR in 1996, next most was 16. Fernando Tatis 34 in 1999, next most 18. Jay Bell 38 in 1999, next most 21. Jacoby Ellsbury 32 in 2011, next most 16. Ival Goodman 1938. Wally Moses 1937. Larry Sheets 1987. Ed Morgan 1930. David Dellucci 2006. Phil Plantier 1993. Tommy Harper 1970. Jim Hickman 1970. Tillie Walker 1922. Tommy Holmes 1945. Andre Dawson 1987. Geroge Bell 1987. Barry Larkin 1996, Bernard Gilkey 1996. Willard Marshall 1947. Bob Cerv 1958. Bert Campaneris 1970. Wade Boggs 1987. Walker Cooper 1947. Richard Hidalgo 2000. Rick Wilkins 1993. Todd Hundley 1996. Dale Sveum 1987. Kelly Gruber 1990 are some other flukey power years.

[@ronwilliams679]

I definitely remember Brady. We're big Orioles fans who named our cat after him. But yeah, he was probably on steroids that year.

[@notsauer]

I don’t think so, he batted lead off, with an uppercut swing, in a small ballpark, and protected by 3 HOFers and more All Stars. Plus the obvious juiced baseballs that year. It wasn’t like he was all of a sudden crushing 450ft bombs, he was just pulling more balls down the line that just got out.

[@notsauer]

@Catharsis 1. The only reason you have for believing that is a spike in homeruns for one season. Something that a lot of luck could be involved in. Anderson was still a professional hitter, and a good one since he was a leadoff hitter a majority of his career. And there have been huge homer spikes in baseball before. Davey Johnson hit 43 when his previous high was 14. But because he didn’t do it in the 90s, it’s not steroids. Anderson happened to have his fluke season in the 90s, which is the only reason why you’re considering this notion. Anderson was never suspected of using steroids by his peers, during his time, and never once showed any suspicious weight gain, huge veins, or other telltale signs that other users like McGwire and Bonds showed when they suddenly turned to steroids mid-career. 2. Across the AL home runs were more frequent in 1996 than at any other time in the 1990s. In '96, AL batters hit a home run on average every 28.84 at bats. In 1995 a homer was hit once every 36.45 at bats, and in 1997 once every 35.59 at bats. This was not just a phenomena limited to Anderson. These were juiced baseballs where the entire league benefited from. I will again point to the lots of ABs batting leadoff nearly every game, the uppercut swing, the small ballpark, and the juiced baseballs. It’s not like he started crushing 450 ft bombs, the ball carried just out of the ballparks. We’ve seen juiced baseballs in 1987, and we’ve seen them in 2019, this isn’t new.

[@captainsal7074]

He's not wrong about the intro, I had a Brady Anderson poster as a child for 5 years, and I'm still an Orioles fan.

[@brianstancato3945]

Luis Gonzalez too! Yes, he had a few decent seasons... but nothing close to 2001!

[@elc7795]

Just found this and it’s interesting! Jose Lima who had a 21 win season in 1999 and only had one double digit (13) win season until he left in 2006.

[@MichaelSimmons.]

Something else to keep in mind. Look at the line up hitting behind Brady that year. When you've got, Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Bonilla, Cal Ripken, Chris Hoiles, and B. J. Surhoff, hitting behind you, you're gonna see much better pitches, including more fast balls, than normal. The last thing you want to do, is walk Brady, have him steal second, and have all these hitters coming to the plate, to get him home. Make him swing the bat, and you get him out, 7 out of 10 times.

[@rachaemdea]

He also got the record for hit by pitches (19) and lead off home runs (11) that season.

[@ricardoalvarado7015]

Nobody mentioning the most underrated part of his carerr... his acting abilities. His cameo on sabrina the teenage witch is truly emmy worthy.

[@damonroger3184]

Luis Gonzalez also had a very underrated and not oft-talked about 57 home runs in 2001. Any other year he probably would've won MVP but it happened to be the year that Bonds broke the record.

[@provincialfish]

Lifelong O's fan and I remember this was so great. I don't think he was on steroids but he was very into supplements and creatine and doing ads for thst stuff around the time where he'd be shirtless and disturbingly ripped. I think it was just a combination of that and just having one of those good years. He never showed the bulk of steroids and never lost his speed or agility. He used to climb the walls at camden yards so often teams were complaining they weren't tall enough. But whatever it 96, 97 were great years for Orioles fans (as long as you try not to remember that hone run call in Yankee stadium). I had a poster of Anderson on my wall before 96 that said "Brady Punch" on it with an image of him hitting so even before then he did have a reputation for some pop but just didn't connect as much.

[@ghylock1]

Great video. I don't know if he used or not. I hope he didn't. Two additional things to point out is that the 1996 Oriole team had 7 guys with 20+ home runs and hit the most HRs in MLB that year. That team could mash the ball. Brady probably got a lot more good pitches to hit with all of those good hitters behind him in the order.

[@slabathonfury3879]

" The team could mash the ball." Think really hard about that statement.... A shitty Orioles team all the sudden started breaking team home run records.... In the steroid era....

[@krissteele4678]

Great video. I happen to remember Brady back when he was with the New Britain Red Sox. 86-87ish. When he hit 50, my friend who was the actual batboy for NB, acted the same as when we realized Wrestling was a work. Lol.