Brandon Paul League (born March 16, 1983) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. League has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. He is a former closer and one-time All-Star.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

He was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2001 MLB Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ba ...

out of

Saint Louis School Saint Louis School, located in the neighborhood of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys. It was founded in 1846 to serve Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii. Located within the Roman ...

, and was signed on July 3, 2001. He made his major league debut on September 21, 2004 against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

as he pitched a solid inning and a third. Following League's breakout season in 2006, he engaged in strength conditioning during the offseason, and at the behest of the Blue Jays, did not pitch until spring training. As a result, he overdeveloped some shoulder muscles, resulting in a significant drop in his fastball velocity. League was placed on the 60-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

and missed the majority of the 2007 season. Both his velocity and effectiveness recovered the following season.

Seattle Mariners

On December 22, 2009, League was traded to the

along with minor-league outfielder Johermyn Chávez for pitcher

Brandon Morrow Brandon John Morrow (born July 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. Amate ...

. He signed a one-year, $1.08 million contract for 2010. Because of an injury to

David Aardsma David Allan Aardsma (; born December 27, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, currently serving in the Toronto Blue Jays front office as a coordinator of player development. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the S ...

, League started the 2011 season as the Mariners' closer. He was selected to his first All-Star game as a relief pitcher for the 2011 All-Star game. In a 2011 interview, veteran outfielder

Coco Crisp Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp (born November 1, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and MiLB team manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Oaklan ...

named League as one of the four toughest pitchers he had ever faced. On June 8, 2012, League was one of six Mariners to throw a combined no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at

Safeco Field T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western t ...

. After a series of blown saves, League was replaced by Tom Wilhelmsen as closer. In 2 seasons with the Mariners, League had converted a total of 52 saves in 69 chances with a 3.26 ERA.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 30, 2012, League was traded to the

for minor leaguers Leon Landry and Logan Bawcom. He became the Dodgers closer in September after

Kenley Jansen Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Signed by the ...

was sidelined with an irregular heartbeat. In 28 games with the Dodgers, he was 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA and six saves. On October 30, the Dodgers re-signed League to a three-year, $22.5 million deal with a vesting option worth $7.5 million for 2016. On June 11, League was demoted from the closer role after blowing his fourth save in 17 chances, and he was replaced by Jansen. He was used primarily in low pressure situations the rest of the season. Overall, in 2013, he was 6-4 with a 5.30 ERA in 58 appearances, with 14 early season saves. In 2014, the Dodgers used League primarily in middle relief. He finished the season with a 2–3 record and a 2.57 ERA in 63 games. League underwent an MRI during spring training in 2015 which revealed serious shoulder damage, causing him to miss the first couple months of the season. After spending a month rehabbing in the minors, League was designated for assignment on July 2, 2015. He was released on July 10.

Kansas City Royals

League did not play professional baseball at any level in 2016. On January 7, 2017, League signed a minor league contract with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

that included an invitation to spring training. He was released on March 19, 2017.

New Britain Bees

After he was released by the Royals, League signed with the

New Britain Bees The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connectic ...

of the independent

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He became a free agent after the 2017 season.

Pitching style

League's main pitch is a very hard sinker averaging 96 mph. (In 2011, he had the hardest sinker of any relief pitcher, at 97.3 mph.) He also has an upper-80s

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

that he uses primarily early in the count to right-handed hitters. He also has a splitter that he uses as a

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

pitch. The splitter has a whiff rate of 55%.

Personal life

League resides in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, and is

hapa Hapa is a Hawaiian word for someone of multiracial ancestry. In Hawaii, the word refers to any person of mixed ethnic heritage, regardless of the specific mixture.: "Thus, for locals in Hawai’i, both hapa or hapa haole are used to depict p ...

Yonsei. His maternal great-grandparents were born and raised in

Fukuoka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

Kyushu Island is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. League's wife, Sasha League, attended Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California. She holds a psychology major from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. They have been married since 2005. Brandon and Sasha League are parents to four girls. After his playing career, League founded Parallel X League, a Southern California-based clothing line, in 2019.

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:League, Brandon 1983 births American baseball players of Japanese descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Auburn Doubledays players Baseball players from Sacramento, California Baseball players from Honolulu Charleston AlleyCats players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Living people Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Medicine Hat Blue Jays players New Britain Bees players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Saint Louis School alumni Seattle Mariners players Syracuse Chiefs players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players