The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2020
- Class:
- 1975
Rick Bradley teamed with Longhorn legend Keith Moreland to lead Texas to three-straight Southwest Conference Championships, three “final four” College World Series appearances and a CWS National Championship (1975). A power hitter who was a catcher by trade and an outfielder and first baseman when needed, Bradley was a two-time first-team All-SWC selection in 1974 and 1975 and a second-team All-American in 1974. His career batting average of .359 ranks eighth in program history, and his career slugging percentage of .602 is the ninth-best mark in Texas history. He hit 22 home runs and recorded a 24-game hitting streak during the 1974 season, the second-longest hitting streak in program history. During that season, when college teams were transitioning from the standard wooden bat and beginning to test the new aluminum bats, Moreland led the team in hitting with a .399 average and Bradley followed just behind at .397. In his junior season of 1975, his last at Texas, Bradley volunteered to share some catching duties and stayed in the lineup as a first baseman or outfielder, as the Longhorns advanced to the CWS and won the school’s first baseball National Championship in 25 years. Bradley was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1975 MLB Draft and went on to play professionally for several years, advancing as high as Class AAA. Following his professional career, Bradley returned to Texas and entered the oil business. He later retired from that profession and began working in financial planning for a number of years. Bradley currently lives in Houston.
