Born and raised in the heart of the Ozarks in Springfield, Missouri, Bailey would play college baseball at Missouri State University. The Astros would select Bailey in the 6th round of the 1982 MLB Draft.
Bailey would reach the majors in 1984 and would supplant Alan Ashby as the Astros' number one catcher. His best season would come in 1985 when he hit .265 with 10 HR and 45 RBI.
Although Bailey would be part of the 1986 NL West champions, he struggled at the plate and lost his starting job back to Ashby and spend time back in the minors.
Early in the 1988 season, the Astros dealt Bailey to the Montreal Expos in exchange for utility player Casey Candaele. However, Bailey would never wear an Expos uniform as he played with their Triple-AAA affiliate in Indianapolis. In 1989, the Expos sent Bailey to the New York Mets, and he would spend the entire season with the Triple-AAA Tidewater Tides.
In 1990, Bailey would join the Giants organization and spend most of the next three seasons with the Triple-AAA Phoenix Firebirds though he did have brief stints in the majors in both 1990 and 1992. After not playing professional ball in 1993, Bailey would play in the independent Texas-Louisiana League in 1994 and 1995.
In parts of 7 MLB seasons, Bailey played in 340 games collecting 209 hits for a lifetime batting average of .220 with 24 HR and 101 RBI.
In 1998, Bailey would rejoin the Astros as a minor league coach. In 2002, Bailey would return to the big leagues as the Astros bullpen coach, a role he would enjoy for 8 seasons including 2005 when the team won the NL pennant. Bailey would then spend his last decade with the Astros as their minor league catching coordinator before retiring in 2020.
Sadly, Bailey is the third member of the 1986 Astros to pass away this season after Davey Lopes and Phil Garner (whom he would later serve as bullpen coach) both died days apart last month. R.I.P.
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