at the movies

Two questions arise about Mississippian Chad Bradford after seeing the movie “Moneyball.” First, who is that playing the part of Bradford and mimicking his submarine-style delivery? Well, the actor’s name is Casey Bond, and, yes, he was a minor league pitcher, reaching the Triple-A level with San Francisco before being released and moving on, eventually, to acting. Second, what kind of money did Bradford make during his big league career? Bradford, from Byram by way of Hinds Community College and Southern Miss, had a very good career. He was 36-28 with a 3.26 ERA and 11 saves. More impressive than that, he played in seven different postseasons with five different teams over 12 years. He pitched in the 2008 World Series for Tampa Bay. His career postseason ERA in 24 games was 0.39. With numbers like those, it’s no surprise that his value — and his salary — grew rapidly as his career progressed. In 2002, the “Moneyball” season on which the movie is based, Bradford, one of the so-called undervalued misfits the low-budget Oakland A’s coveted, made $235,000, according to baseball-reference.com. That was his second year with the A’s; they had gotten him in a trade with the Chicago White Sox in December 2000. Bradford got a raise to $331,000 in 2003, to $965,000 in 2004 and to $1.4 million in 2005. He was traded at midseason that year to Boston. In his final year, 2009 with Tampa Bay, Bradford made a reported $3.67 million. As a relief specialist used primarily in late innings to get ground balls, Bradford certainly wasn’t undervalued anymore.