Cody Scott Kukuk (born April 10, 1993) is an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

who played from 2012 through 2014 in the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Minor League system. In 2015, he was sentenced to prison for an

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

Pitching career

Kukuk attended

Lawrence Free State High School Lawrence Free State High School (FSHS or LFS) is a public secondary school in Lawrence, Kansas, operated by Lawrence USD 497 school district, and serves students of grades 9 to 12. It is one of two public high schools within the city limits of ...

in Lawrence, Kansas, playing for the school's baseball team as a

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. In his junior year, Kukuk earned Sunflower League Player of the Year and the Gatorade Kansas Baseball Player of the Year honors. He committed to attend the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

on a

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

scholarship to play for the

Kansas Jayhawks baseball The Kansas Jayhawks baseball team represents the University of Kansas and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. History Baseball has been played at the University of Kansas since 1880. In 1993, Kansas had arguably its best season ...

team. The

selected Kukuk in the seventh round of the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, and he received a $800,000 signing bonus to join the Red Sox' organization rather than attend college. In May 2012, Kukuk was arrested for driving under the influence. The charge was dismissed in August when a judge determined that the officer did not have sufficient

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition o ...

to pull over Kukuk. He missed most of the 2012 season as a result of the charge, pitching in only five games for the

Gulf Coast Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

of the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the l ...

. Kukuk joined the

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 2013, returning to Greenville in 2014. After opening the season with a 3–0 record and a 1.88 ERA in five starts, the Red Sox promoted him to the

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. Kukuk struggled at Salem, going 4–7 with a 5.26 ERA and 87 strikeouts, while

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

71 batters in innings pitched.

Criminal history

In November 2014, Kukuk was arrested in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, due to a warrant issued for an aggravated robbery committed in Lawrence earlier in the month. He was

extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

to Lawrence to await trial. Afterwards, the Red Sox put Kukuk on the restricted list (making him ineligible to play, but still part of the organization). On May 7, 2015, Kukuk pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

to aggravated robbery, robbery and aggravated burglary. Facing up to 519 months (over 43 years) in prison if given the maximum sentence, on June 9 he was sentenced to three and a half years for his actions. In addition to his 42-month prison sentence, Kukuk was ordered to serve 36 months of post release supervision after he is released from prison. He was also ordered to register as a violent offender for 15 years after his sentence is complete. Additionally, Judge Paula Martin ordered Kukuk to pay restitution to the victims and pay the cost of his extradition from California to Kansas. The Red Sox released Kukuk following the prison sentence.Lawrence man released by Boston Red Sox following prison sentence
''LJWorld.com''. Retrieved on June 20, 2015.

References

External links

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MiLB.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukuk, Cody 1993 births Living people American robbers Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Kansas Greenville Drive players Gulf Coast Red Sox players People from Jefferson County, Kansas Salem Red Sox players