Brian Finley

Brian Lee Finley

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lb.

• School Contra Costa College

• Born May 18, 1963

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Brian Finley played eight seasons in the minors and for parts of two seasons in AAA. He twice had 100 runs in a season.

The Milwaukee Brewers chose Finley in the 6th round of the January 1982 draft. He hit .230/.348/.297 in his pro debut for the Beloit Brewers, with only 12 steals in 23 tries. He did show off a good arm, with 10 assists in 64 outfield games. Back with Beloit in '83, he improved to .254/.366/.332 and stole 28 bases in 39 tries. He drew 75 walks and scored 78 runs. He was 7th in the Midwest League in walks. He returned to Beloit for a third go-around in 1984 and posted a career-best .288/.411/.378 line with 113 runs, 11 triples, 66 steals (in 88 tries) and 93 walks. He also had 12 outfield assists and 4 double plays (tied for second among MWL flyhawks). He led the MWL in triples, steals, runs (8 more than runner-up Luis Polonia) and times hit by pitch (15). He ranked tied for second in the league in walks (7 shy of John Thornton, the leader) and was 5th in OBP (trailing Thornton, Bob Loscalzo, Edgar Martinez and Dave Clark). He joined Polonia, Dave Hengel and Mark Doran as the league's All-Star outfielders.

Moving up a level finally, he hit .243/.386/.283 for the 1985 Stockton Ports with 54 steals in 77 attempts, 112 walks to 42 strikeouts and 100 runs. He finished third in the California League in swipes (3 behind teammate and leader Matt Sferrazza), led in times plunked (15) and times caught stealing and placed second in walks (one behind teammate and leader Thornton). His defense was not as sharp, with 14 errors to 4 assists. He began 1986 with the El Paso Diablos and was at .231/.411/.262 with 39 walks after 53 games. He was then dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for Tim Barker and Tim Watkins.

After the deal, Finley was assigned to the Vermont Reds, where he batted only .183/.342/.217 in 43 games, with not much going for him other than his walks. In 1987, the Contra Costa alumnus was with Vermont (.263/.382/.358, 70 BB, 43 K, 8 3B, 17 SB, 18 CS) and the Nashville Sounds (6 for 27, 2B, 3B, 9 BB). He tied Bryan House and Dwight Smith for the most times caught stealing in the Eastern League. He tied Mark Grace and Brian Guinn Sr. for 8th in triples. In 1988, he played for Nashville (2 for 13, BB) and the Chattanooga Lookouts (.273/.385/.330, 31 SB, 8 CS). He tied for 10th in the Southern League in bases pilfered. After not appearing in Organized Baseball in 1989, he returned to the Lookouts as a starter in 1990 but hit a pitiful .192/.337/.233 with 9 steals in 23 tries. He pitched two innings, allowing five hits, five walks and seven runs. The only bright spot offensively was his walk total, still strong at 71.

Sources: 1982-1985, 1989 and 1991 Baseball Guides, 1986-1987 Baseball America Statistics Reports, 1988 Baseball Almanac