Brad Wilkerson

Stephen Bradley Wilkerson

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.
• School University of Florida
• High School Apollo High School (Owensboro)
• Debut July 12, 2001
• Final Game September 28, 2008
• Born June 1, 1977 in Owensboro, KY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Brad Wilkerson won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was MVP of the 1995 World Junior Championship, hitting .360 with 7 runs, 8 RBI, 3 doubles and 3 home runs and going 3-0 on the mound with a 0.90 ERA, 11 hits allowed, 3 walks allowed and 26 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched. He drove in the winning run in the semifinals against Australia, then pitched a three-hit shutout against Taiwan to give the US the Gold Medal.

He is often cited as being the last Montreal Expos player because of his appearance during the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series shortly after the 2004 regular season wearing his Expos uniform. He was the final winner of the Expos Player of the Year award in 2004, when he scored 112 runs and hit 32 homers as the Expos' lead-off hitter; he also drew a career-high 106 walks that season. Wilkerson moved with the Expos franchise to Washington. An established starter from his time in Montreal, he was inserted as the leadoff hitter and center fielder on Opening Day for the Washington Nationals on April 4, 2005. He singled to start the contest against the Philadelphia Phillies' Jon Lieber, making him the first National to get a base hit.

Wilkerson was traded on December 7, 2005 by the Nationals to the Texas Rangers with OF Terrmel Sledge and RHP Armando Galarraga for 2B Alfonso Soriano.

Wilkerson retired in 2009 while playing for the Boston Red Sox' Triple-A team, the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Brad hit for the cycle twice in his career: on June 24, 2003 for the Expos against the Pittsburgh Pirates and on April 6, 2005 as a newly-minted National against the Phillies just two days after the Nats' inaugural game.

Wilkerson joined the coaching ranks in 2014 as leader of The King's Academy middle school team. The next year he moved to head coach of the varsity team where he remained through 2019. Wilkerson then moved to the college level in July 2020 as an assistant coach & recruiting coordinator for the Jacksonville University Dolphins. He continued with the Dolphins through 2022.

In 2023, he returned to the major leagues as an assistant hitting coach for the New York Yankees.

Notable Achievements

• 2002 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2002, 2004 & 2007)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2004)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (2004)

Further Reading

• Norm King: "Wilkerson Rides 'le Carousel'; June 24, 2003: Montreal Expos 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 4 At Olympic Stadium", in Norm King, ed.: Au jeu/Play Ball: The 50 Greatest Games in the History of the Montreal Expos, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2016, pp. 130-131. ISBN 978-1-943816-15-6
• The King's Academy Bio