Brandon Bailey

In this day and age, an athlete sporting tattoos is nothing unusual. Brandon Bailey’s tattoos, though, are not usual.

On his left arm, the former major-league pitcher sports a grizzly bear surrounded by various symbols, a depiction of a Native American warrior, a bison, and a chain of triangles. On the other, he has a tattoo of a woman wearing a bear headdress and painted mask, along with a howling wolf. The difference is that these are not just random pieces of artwork; instead, they reference Native American culture and act as a tribute to Bailey’s Chickasaw ancestry.

In a video, Bailey said, “Basically, this represents seven generations of native family. I need to honor the people that came before me. … And anything I do will impact the people that come after me.”1

“It’s something we are very, very proud of,” said Bailey, who is enrolled as a citizen of the tribe and wants to use his position in the game as a platform to support Native American issues. “For me, it’s trying to keep my family heritage alive, but it’s also trying to give back to the people, who, over the course of time, were told their background was wrong.”2

“It doesn’t matter if you’re one-sixteenth, one-eighth [Chickasaw] or whatever. This is who we are as a family,” he said. “This is where we came from, and we should be proud of that.”3

Bailey, a pitcher who was part of three major-league organizations and appeared briefly in the big leagues with Houston in 2020, is one-eighth Chickasaw. According to family oral history, his great-great-great-grandmother, Matahoya, walked the Trail of Tears.4 Her son George, Bailey’s great-grandfather, was full-blooded Chickasaw. He was born and raised in Oklahoma and attended boarding schools there to become “Americanized.” He served in World War II, married a non-native, and later moved the family to Colorado.

Bailey’s father, Brad, began looking to connect with his roots not long before Brandon was born in 1994. Though he raised his family far from Chickasaw Nation’s headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, Brad Bailey made it a point to continually expose Brandon and his sister Bri to native culture.

“When my grandfather [George] left Oklahoma, he was 18 years old, and he said he would never go back,” Brad Bailey said. “[But] it was important for me because the traditions were kind of lost between my dad [Keith] and me. … Now, it’s coming full circle [with Brandon].”5

Cultural identity, though, wasn’t the only thing imbued in Bailey from an early age. There were also sports, particularly baseball. Brandon David Keith Bailey was born to Brad and Antoinette Bailey on October 19, 1994, in the Denver suburb of Westminster, Colorado. His father was a software engineer, and his mother worked for grocery stores. He was given the native name of Nita’ Iskanno’si, which translates to Little Bear, because he had hair from the start. He recalled that his “very first memory was of a ball in my hand.”6 Another of his earliest recollections is when his father took him to a Colorado Rockies game for the first time. “I fell in love with the game then. I wanted to be just like them.”7

And it was clear early on that he might be able to do that.

“When he was three years old, we’d get out in the yard and play catch,” father Brad recalled. “He’d watch something on TV, then go outside and do it … exactly like what he saw. He’d have a correct windup, over the top, and hit what he was aiming at.”

“For his entire career, since T-ball, I’ve never seen a ball come to him that he didn’t go to the right bag with,” Brad said. “A lot of kids, especially that young, don’t know where to throw it. It was always natural to him. By the time he was 11, he knew more about the game than I ever did.”8

As a high-school junior in 2012, Bailey was 11-0 with a 1.02 earned-run average and led Broomfield High School to the Colorado Class 4A state championship. He was a first-team all-state selection, was named player of the year in Colorado Class 4A, and was tabbed state player of the year by BoCoPreps.com. All that brought Bailey some national recognition: Under Armour included him on a preseason All-America team for the following year.

“I was definitely coming off a high and feeling on top of the world going into summer ball with my travel team,” he said. “I had just committed to Gonzaga University on a baseball scholarship and was feeling pretty confident about where things were going. Things couldn’t get much better.”9

But, in fact, they initially got worse. 

His elbow started bothering him in summer ball, but he pitched through it. Then, in July 2012, he went to a showcase event in which a good performance could have gotten him an invitation to the Under Armour All-America game to be held at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

“Playing in that game was a big goal because I wanted to show that guys from Colorado can really play, and that short athletes like myself [he’s officially 5-feet-9] can compete at the highest level with some of the most elite prospects,” Bailey said. However, his velocity – as high as 95 mph during his junior season – was significantly off.

“I was throwing 86 or 87 and getting hit around pretty badly,” he recalled. “I went back out and threw a pitch and felt a pop. I knew deep down what had happened, but I tried to throw one more pitch, and it went like 50 feet at like 65 miles an hour.”10

Hello, Tommy John surgery. Goodbye, senior season.

On July 26, 2012, Dr. David Schneider, formerly the head surgeon for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers, and Kings, performed the procedure.

“When I found out I needed the surgery, I broke down crying,” Bailey said. “Our high school team had 10 of 16 guys coming back and was fully geared to make another run, so it was really hard not to be able to help us defend our championship. And you hear the horror stories about high school guys getting injured and colleges taking their scholarships away.”

Luckily, that did not happen in Bailey’s case – “I was very scared when I had to call the coach at Gonzaga and tell him the news, but everyone on the coaching staff from Coach [Marc] Machtolf on down told me to just do everything I could to get healthy and be as close to 100 percent as I could by the time I stepped on campus. That says a lot about the type of people they are.”11

The doctors grafted a ligament from Bailey’s left hamstring, the recovery from which was more difficult than from the elbow procedure. “I couldn’t walk even two weeks after the surgery. After that, I was on a crutch with my left arm, and I couldn’t use my right elbow. Getting around school was a struggle, and I couldn’t write with my right arm. I went to physical therapy every day after school.”12

But it worked. It can take as much as 18 months for a pitcher to come back from Tommy John surgery, but Bailey said he “started tossing a ball around” six months after the procedure and made 20 pitches in a game – “all fastballs” – 11 months after surgery. Working with his trainers, he slowly increased his pitch count over the summer and “felt really good … heading into my freshman year at Gonzaga.”

That wasn’t false optimism, as Bailey posted a 6-7 record and a 3.69 earned-run average over 102⅓ innings and made the All-West Coast Conference first team. He got stronger as the season went on, posting a 6-2 mark with a 2.85 ERA in conference play.

“The initial speculation had been that I might redshirt since I was coming off Tommy John surgery, but I went into my freshman year and earned the Friday night starting job,” he said. “That was extremely exciting because your ace is the one who usually pitches on Friday nights. There was really no gap in my performance from high school to college.”13

He later recalled that “as I got older, I started to realize that there was something that separated me – the ability to throw hard and put the ball where I wanted it to go. As I started to develop in my freshman year, I began to think that … maybe I could be dominant.”14

And Bailey’s performance steadily improved over the next two seasons. As a sophomore in 2015, he was 8-3 with a 3.72 ERA and significantly improved his hits- and strikeouts-to-innings-pitched ratios. He also earned honorable mention all-academic recognition. That summer, Bailey played for Yarmouth-Dennis in the prestigious Cape Cod League, posting a 2-4 mark and a 3.03 ERA.

Bailey really broke out in his junior year at Gonzaga, winning 10 of 13 decisions with a 2.42 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 100⅓ innings. He was first-team all-conference, second-team all-West Region, and academic all-region. He struck out 17 batters in a complete-game victory over Brigham Young in the West Coast Conference championship tournament.15

That set Bailey up for the 2016 major-league draft. He had been worried that his history of Tommy John surgery might give some clubs pause, but that was not an issue. There was some concern about his height, as Bailey was listed at 5-feet-10, which may have been generous. In fact, one Colorado Rockies scout used a tape measure to record his height and then rejected him on the spot.16

In a March 2020 tweet, Bailey revealed that “HS teammates told me I’d never achieve my dream of playing pro ball. Travel coaches told me to go to a JC b/c I wasn’t a D-1 talent. Scouts told me I was too small & I would never be considered a prospect.”17

Nonetheless, the Oakland Athletics selected Bailey in the sixth round,18 setting up a major decision. Though his dream had been to play baseball professionally, he had shortly before the draft been chosen over thousands of applicants for an internship with Nike’s N7 Fund, which raises funds to promote health and disease-prevention programs among Native tribes. He said he would have taken the job if the Athletics had not agreed to his $300,000 asking price.

“Something like 11,000 people applied for about a hundred internships,” Bailey said, “so it was a real opportunity that I debated for a long time.”19

Bailey’s father acknowledged that “all of us were torn, but we also knew Brandon had dreamed of playing pro ball since he was three years old.”20

After signing with Athletics scout Jeff Coffman, Bailey began living out the dream in 2016 with the Athletics’ team in the Arizona Complex League, starting two games and putting up a 1.80 ERA in five innings. He then moved up to the Vermont affiliate in the low-A New York-Pennsylvania League. In 38 innings there, he was 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA while striking out 42 batters and walking just 9.

“I was definitely nervous as I transitioned from college to the professional ranks,” Bailey said. “You don’t truly understand [what is necessary] until you immerse yourself in it. The minor-league experience helped establish who I was as a competitor. You have to have that internal flame.”21

The next season Bailey advanced to Beloit (Wisconsin) in the Class A Midwest League. Appearing in 15 games (11 starts), he was 1-1 with a 2.68 ERA and struck out 73 batters in 57 innings. That earned him a boost to Stockton of the high-A California League. There, he was 2-1 with an ERA of 4.24, not a bad mark in a very hitter-friendly league. He struck out 47 batters in 34 innings.

Despite his positive results, Bailey got a brush with the business side of baseball when the Athletics traded him to the Houston Astros on November 20, 2017, for outfielder Ramon Laureano. According to Bailey, Oakland general manager David Forst regretted losing him but said, “[T]he Astros were dead set on me. They said, ‘Either Bailey, or no deal’”22

Bailey reached a milestone in a February 26, 2018, preseason matchup against the New York Mets when he made his first appearance for and against a major-league team. He entered the game with two out in the fourth inning and pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings.23

Bailey split the 2018 season between Buies Creek (North Carolina) in the high-A Carolina League and Corpus Christi of the Double-A Texas League. He was 5-8 with a 2.49 earned-run average in 20 games (16 starts) at Buies Creek and got a big boost after a heart-to-heart talk with manager Morgan Ensberg.

Ensberg asked him, “Why are you still here? In my opinion, you should be in Double-A or Triple-A, dominating those hitters, or potentially knocking on the door of the big leagues, right now.” Bailey later called that discussion “a turning point,” as he reaffirmed a commitment to improvement, pitched 30 consecutive scoreless innings, and cut down on his walks allowed. A month and a half later, he was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi, where he got into five games (one start), going 1-0 with a 4.01 ERA.24

Bailey spent the entire 2019 season at Corpus Christi (4-5, 3.30). After that season, the Astros made him available in the Rule 5 draft, and he was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles.

Bailey at the time was considered the most big-league ready of the three prospects Houston lost in the draft. His changeup was considered a “plus” pitch.25

Since Baltimore had hit rock bottom with just 54 victories in 2019 and 47 the year before, it seemed like a good opportunity for Bailey. “We’re excited about the pitch mix he has. He has five really good weapons,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said, alluding to Bailey’s fastball with good spin rate, changeup, spike curve, slider, and cutter.26

Nonetheless, Bailey failed to make the club in spring training and was returned to Houston on March 6, 2020.27 That actually turned out well for him.

Covid-19 restrictions, put in place shortly after he went back to Houston, forced cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season and shortened the major-league season to 60 games. But while the pandemic cast a pall over so much of daily life, the year proved to be the brightest part of Bailey’s baseball career, as the Astros put the 25-year-old on the July 23 Opening Day roster.28

“When Covid hit, I went home to Colorado and continued to train and be ready,” Bailey said. “I then got a call in June that I was on the 60-man roster and needed to be in Houston, so I went with zero expectations of getting onto the active roster. But I pitched really well in the alternative camp against a lot of major-league hitters like Yuli Gurriel, Martin Maldanado, and others and caught the attention of [manager] Dusty Baker and pitching coach Brent Strom.”

A Tweet from a beat writer said Bailey had a chance to be on the roster, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. Soon after, he was awakened by a call at 7:30 in the morning and told he needed to be at the ballpark. After a half-hour wait, he was ushered into Baker’s office and encountered pitcher Blake Taylor, who had just been told he’d made the Opening Day roster.

“So I was kind of holding my breath,” Bailey said. “I knew this meeting could either be really good or really bad.”

It was the former. He had made the club.

“I just lost it then,” he said. “I started crying. I walked out of the office, and Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers – who probably didn’t know me from Adam – congratulated me.”29

Bailey made his debut three days later by pitching a scoreless ninth inning in a 7-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.30 That appearance made him one of only four people with Chickasaw heritage to play in the major leagues. (The others are catcher Wyatt Toregas, who appeared briefly for Cleveland in 2009 and Pittsburgh in 2011; pitcher Dallas Beeler of the Chicago Cubs in 2014-2015; and Euel Moore, who pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants from 1934 to 1936.31)

There were no fans in the stands that day because of Covid restrictions, so Bailey’s family members couldn’t be there in person. Nonetheless, the thrill was there.

“I was definitely nervous – sweating bullets,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘I am a major-league baseball player. I’ve accomplished my dream, and no one can take that away from me.’”32

A few years later, he recalled, “The only way I can describe it is that time [seemed to be] moving in slow motion. I was handed the ball and started fixing the dirt. I turned around and looked at the people behind me – George Springer, Jose Altuve, Josh Reddick, Michael Brantley, and others. I tried to soak up every moment.”33

Then Bailey turned back to the plate. He retired the Mariners’ Evan White on a groundout, then gave up a single to José Marmolejos, who was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. Tim Lopes then singled, but Mallex Smith grounded out to first base to end the inning. It was an efficient, 13-pitch effort.

Bailey pitched in four more games, all in relief. He appeared against the Los Angeles Angels on August 1, the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 5, Oakland on August 9, and Seattle again on August 14. Overall, he was 0-0 with a 2.45 earned-run mark in 7⅓ innings. He allowed six hits, three walks, and one home run while striking out four batters.

Those were the only games in which Bailey pitched. Rosters were trimmed from 30 players to 28 on August 6 and were set to go to 26 on August 20. On August 15, the Astros activated pitcher Joe Biagini and optioned Bailey to the alternate training site,34 where he remained for the rest of the regular season.

“I had known that when some of the veterans came off the injured list that I’d at least be a candidate to be cut,” he said. “It’s one of those things when you’re on the low rungs and fighting to keep a roster spot. After that, I always pitched in workouts following the games, just to be ready if an opportunity presented itself. That’s something I preach to all players now – you have to be ready.”35

Though eligible, Bailey was not placed on the active roster for the playoffs, in which the Astros advanced to the American League Championship Series before losing to Tampa Bay. And he never again appeared in a major-league game, as arm trouble continually played the bogeyman role.

Not long after the playoffs, on November 20, 2020, Bailey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for cash.36 But he never threw a pitch for Cincinnati; instead, he had to undergo a second Tommy John surgery just a few months later, on February 26, 2021.

“I was already on a throwing program in late November [of 2020] and preparing for spring training 2021 [and] felt a little tweak in my forearm,” Bailey said. “I went to Dr. Schneider, and he informed me that there was just a bit of fluid buildup in the elbow and a slight strain of the pronator muscle. So I thought I’d just rehab in December and return to throwing in January.”

He showed up early at the Reds training facility in Goodyear, Arizona, but didn’t feel right as he started to increase the intensity of his throws. “Something was off,” he said. After a two-week shutdown, he went for another MRI, which showed a partial tear of the UCL. The doctor recommended that he get surgery as soon as possible.37

Bailey missed the entire 2021 season. The Reds then dropped him from the 40-man roster on November 30, 2021 and re-signed him to a minor-league contract with an invitation to 2022 spring training.

“As a competitor, this one stings,” Bailey wrote on Twitter. “But I’m thankful the Reds are giving me the opportunity to prove I’m healthy and show what I can do on an MiLB deal. Adversity shows one’s true character, and my first instinct is to get back to work!”38

On January 2, 2022, Bailey posted a video of himself working out in Phoenix and reaching 90-plus mph on a couple of throws. He said in his tweet, “It’s been over 450 days since I last threw a baseball 90 mph. It’s been exactly 310 days since my 2nd Tommy John surgery. Words can’t describe how much this moment meant to me. But I’m just getting started.”39

But Bailey did not appear in a game and elected free agency on November 10, 2022. He then went to the Dominican Winter League but tore the flexor tendon in his arm on his very first pitch for Escogido. That necessitated yet another surgery, which took place December 1.40

Still, he wasn’t through trying. In a video posted on April 29, 2023, he said, “[I] don’t know if I can make it back to MLB, but let’s find out.”41

Bailey’s prospects got a boost when he signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago White Sox in June 2023. In a tweet, he said, “The past seven months have been the most challenging time of my life. … There were days when I thought my playing career was over. … [But] I never gave up. I’m back in the game.”42

But not for long. Bailey made just two short appearances, pitching just one-third of an inning for the White Sox entry in the Arizona Complex League and another third of an inning for Winston-Salem in the high-A South Atlantic League. He allowed two hits, one walk, and three earned runs. Bailey was released by the White Sox on November 1, 2023.

“In May of that year, I’d thrown for some [Colorado] Rockies’ scouts and was back up to 95 mph,” he said. “They didn’t sign me, but then the White Sox stepped in. They knew my medical background and that I needed to rehab, so there was no pressure to perform right out of the gate.”

“The goal was to get to [Triple-A] Charlotte by the end of the season, but I strained a bicep on the very first batter I faced in Winston-Salem, so I went back to the Complex League. By then, there was a new regime in Chicago, and I had a gut feeling that I was going to be released.”43

Then, in a sometimes emotional video posted on February 2, 2024, Bailey announced his retirement as a player.

“While my MLB career was very short, I’m blessed to have those experiences,” he said. “It was extremely hard being hurt the entire 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons [and] trying to do everything I could think of to heal my arm. It’s tough to walk away from something that has been my entire life – my entire identity. I’m going to miss it. [But I] accomplished something that so many kids dream about.”44

But while Bailey’s playing career is over, his baseball career is not. In February 2024 he signed to be a pitching coach for the Orioles’ Sarasota entry in the Florida Complex League.

“When the White Sox released me, I had to think long and hard about whether to continue pushing toward my dream of playing,” Bailey said. “Some teams were interested in me as a player but were reluctant to take a chance on me because of the health issues. I talked with several teams about coaching opportunities, but the Orioles showed the most interest, and this has turned out to be a great fit.”

“I would have preferred to go out on my own terms, but I also wanted more consistency and certainty in my life, so I decided to focus on coaching,” he added. “I’d always wanted to do that anyway. I’d worked on my master’s degree in sports coaching while I was in the minor leagues, and then had an internship at Driveline in 2019 and realized that working with other players was really enjoyable. From that point, coaching became something I wanted to pursue. I’m now looking at my baseball career through a different lens – trying to turn a negative into a positive.”45

Notes

1 “Brandon Bailey on His Tattoos,” YouTube video, February 24, 2020: https://www.mlb.com/video/brandon-bailey-on-his-tattoos.

2 Joe Trezza, “Chickasaw Heritage Helps Drive Orioles Pitcher; Bailey Plans to Use Platform to Advocate for Native American Issues,” mlb.com, February 26, 2020. https://www.mlb.com/news/orioles-brandon-bailey-native-american-heritage.  

3 Infield Chatter Player Profile: Brandon Bailey 2021, YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMzyT7NQbmc

4 “Trail of Tears,” history.com, https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears, November 9, 2009.

5 Trezza.

6 “Brandon Bailey Retirement,” YouTube Video, February 2, 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOEz6aDyqt0

7 “Brandon Bailey Retirement.”

8 Stanley Nelson, “Mound Builder: Being Chickasaw Is a Part of Pro Pitcher Brandon Bailey’s Game,” Chokma Chickasaw Magazine, Spring 2019: 56.

9 Scott Bolohan, “Interview: Reds Pitcher Brandon Bailey on Tommy John Surgery,” thetwinbill.com, no date shown. https://thetwinbill.com/interview-reds-pitcher-brandon-bailey-on-tommy-john-surgery/.

10 Bolohan.

11 Bolohan.

12 Bolohan.

13 Bolohan.

14 “Brandon Bailey Retirement.”

15 https://gozags.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-bailey/199#:~:text=Had%20a%20team%2Dbest%206,Coast%20Conference%20Freshman%20first%20team…

16 Trezza. He is listed on Baseball-Reference.com as weighing 195 pounds.

17 Twitter, March 20, 2020: https://twitter.com/BBailey_19/status/1235279437404557313.

18 Bailey had thought the Chicago Cubs would take him in the fifth round, but they took Duke pitcher Bailey Clark instead. “A Cubs’ area scout had asked me if I would sign for slot value, and I said absolutely. After the draft, the scout called me and apologized. Whoever was calling the shots had decided to go with the other guy. But Oakland still took me in the next round, so things worked out.” Brandon Bailey telephone interview, April 13, 2024.

19 Bailey telephone interview.

20 Trezza.

21 “Brandon Bailey Retirement.”

22 Nelson, 60.

23 ESPN.com, February 26, 2020. https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/380226118.

24 Nelson, 64.

25 “Astros Lose Three Players in Rule 5 Draft,” Houston Chronicle, December 12, 2019. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-lose-three-players-in-Rule-5-draft-14902086.php.

26 Trezza.

27 “Orioles to Return Rule 5 Pick Brandon Bailey to Astros,” Houston Chronicle, March 6, 2020. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Ex-Astros-prospect-Ramon-Laureano-finds-home-with-13165301.php.

28 Jeff Todd, “Astros Select Brandon Bailey,” mlbtraderumors.com, July 23, 2020. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/07/astros-select-brandon-bailey.html.

29 Bailey telephone interview.

30 “Brandon Bailey’s 9th-Inning Debut,” YouTube video, July 26, 2020. https://www.mlb.com/video/brandon-bailey-s-9th-inning-debut.

31 Nelson, “The Trailblazer,” Chokma Chickasaw Magazine, Spring 2019: 65.

32 “Profiles of a Nation: Brandon Bailey,” Chickasaw TV, September 21, 2022. https://www.chickasaw.tv/episodes/profiles-of-a-nation-season-17-episode-1-brandon-bailey.

33 “Brandon Bailey Retirement.”

34 Associated Press, “Christian Javier Gives Up 1 Hit in 6 Innings as Astros Beat Mariners,” Houston Chronicle, August 15, 2020. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Ex-Astros-prospect-Ramon-Laureano-finds-home-with-13165301.php.

35 Bailey telephone interview.

36 Steve Adams, “Reds Acquire Brandon Bailey from Astros,” mlbtraderumors.com, November 20, 2020. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/11/astros-trade-brandon-bailey-reds.html.

37 Bolohan.

38 Bobby Nightengale, “Cincinnati Reds Take Brandon Bailey off 40-Man Roster at MLB Deadline to Tender Contracts,” Cincinnati Enquirer, November 30, 2021. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2021/11/30/cincinnati-reds-roster-brandon-bailey-cut-40-man-roster/8797998002/.

39 Twitter, January 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/BBailey_19/status/1477788059366084609.

40 Bailey telephone interview.

41 TikTok, April 29, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/@bbailey_1994/video/7223773849664392491.

42 Twitter, June 6, 2023. https://twitter.com/BBailey_19/status/1666237871148404736.

43 Bailey telephone interview.

44 “Brandon Bailey Retirement.”

45 Bailey telephone interview.