“T.P. was like my little brother,” said former teammate Dave Stewart, who is now the Arizona Diamondbacks’ general manager.
Mr. Phillips, who threw out Brett Butler at first base for the final out of the 1989 World Series between the A’s and Giants and also homered in Game 3, had been living in Scottsdale.
“I’ll never forget Tony; because he threw me the ball for that last out, we always had a connection,” A’s Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley said.
“Tony will forever be remembered by the fans because he made that last out, and it was a tough groundball he made a great play on,” said then-A’s manager Tony La Russa, who is now Arizona’s chief baseball officer. “He had so much energy. He was so feisty, full of piss and vinegar — nothing fazed him.”
Former A’s slugger Jose Canseco said he played golf with Mr. Phillips in Las Vegas last week and he was in terrific shape. “He kicked my ass,” Canseco said. “He was healthy as a horse, hitting it a mile. He had a real good attitude. He was real happy. I can’t believe this. He was only 56, and he seemed like a teenager.”
Like his friend Rickey Henderson, Mr. Phillips played for multiple independent league teams because he was determined to stay in the game. “Tony would have rolled around in a wheelchair thinking he could still play,” Hall of Famer Henderson said Friday.
The A’s 1989 championship club has lost three members in the past two years: pitcher Bob Welch, outfielder Dave Henderson and Mr. Phillips.
“You wonder why,” Rickey Henderson said. “That was just a great bunch of players. In your career, you hope to find the type of group that always enjoys one another and can smile and laugh. It was a great bunch of guys, and we always said we’re going to a greater place and will see you again there.
“Three of them left us in a short period of time, and it’s a shame. We hurt for them. We feel for them. But we believe they’re always around us.”
“Oh, my gosh, it’s not just the talent, but the personalities,” La Russa said. “These guys were beloved, Bobby and Hendu and Tony. They were right in the middle of all the fun we had.”
A chatterbox with a delightful cackle of a laugh, Mr. Phillips always was one of the most popular members of every team he played for.
“You always knew when he was in the house. He was just a little sparkplug, fiery,” Stewart said. “Just a good, good friend.”
“The time I spent with him was always a blast,” said Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas, who played with Mr. Phillips on theChicago White Sox and remained close to him. “He was the man — and he loved the game, he had that passion.”
Mr. Phillips spent his first eight years in the big leagues with Oakland and also spent his final major-league season with the A’s in 1999. A broken leg, suffered while sliding into second base, ended his career at the age of 40. The 10th overall pick in the 1978 draft, by the Expos, Mr. Phillips finished his 18-year career, which also included stints with the Tigers, White Sox, Angels, Blue Jays and Mets, with 2,023 hits and 1,300 runs. He twice led the league in walks, and he played every position except catcher and pitcher.
“He was a manager’s dream,” Eckersley said.
Mr. Phillips played for independent league Yuma in 2011-12 and last year, at the age of 56, he played in a handful of games for the independent league Pittsburg Diamonds. A hothead on the field, he was in numerous brawls and even had a dustup with former Dodgers outfielder Mike Marshall while playing for Yuma four years ago. In 1996, in Milwaukee, Mr. Phillips allegedly punched a fan in the stands in the face after enduring what teammates described as racial slurs from the fan. Phillips and the fan were charged with disorderly conduct and ordered to pay fines.
“He was a little red-ass, loud, major high-energy, perfect for that team,” Eckersley said. “He could drive you nuts, but he was funny as hell. One of a kind.”
“You could hear him coming two miles away,” Thomas said. “And he wouldn’t let you slide — he was tough. He came to play every day and he expected you to, too. He was really one of the best, and no B.S. He’d call a squirrel a squirrel and a mouse a mouse.”
Drug and legal problems nearly ended Mr. Phillips’ career in 1997. He was arrested for cocaine possession in August, entered a guilty plea and underwent counseling. In their leadoff hitter’s absence, the Angels fell out of the pennant race.
Mr. Phillips’ brother, Craig, said services have not yet been scheduled but probably will be held in Mr. Phillips’ hometown of Roswell, Ga.
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