Marc Jason Kroon (born April 2, 1973) is an American former right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

. He served as the closer for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

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 ...

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

Career

He was drafted 72nd overall by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 1991. The Mets traded him to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

in 1993 as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

in an earlier trade for Frank Seminara. The Padres traded Kroon to the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

for

Buddy Carlyle Earl Lester "Buddy" Carlyle (born December 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current coach. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankee ...

in April 1998. Kroon retired following elbow surgeries and did not play baseball at any level in 2001 or 2002. He came out of retirement and joined the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

organization in 2003 after coach Mike Butcher's brother-in-law saw him giving a pitching lesson in a park. Kroon joined the

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

in 2005. After the 2007 season, Kroon and the BayStars failed to come to terms on a new contract, and ended up being a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. Kroon was later signed by the

along with two other major non-Japanese free agents: former

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

standouts

Seth Greisinger Seth Adam Greisinger (born July 29, 1975) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from –. Amateur career Greisinger graduated from McLean High School in Virginia, then played his college ball at the Univer ...

, and

Alex Ramirez Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

. In 2008, Kroon led the

in saves with 41. He also broke his own record of pitching to 162 km/h (101 mph). Kroon signed a minor league contract with an invitation for spring training with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in 2011. Kroon was reassigned to triple-A

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in do ...

at the end of spring training. Kroon was featured in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

television production ''

The Franchise Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

''. On March 8, 2012, Kroon retired.

Personal life

His son, Matt, is an infielder in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

References

External links

* *Archived version of Marc Kroon'
website
while in Japan * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kroon, Marc 1973 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Colorado Rockies players San Diego Padres players Cincinnati Reds players African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Yokohama BayStars players Yomiuri Giants players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Memphis Chicks players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Indianapolis Indians players Arizona League Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Albuquerque Dukes players Arkansas Travelers players Salt Lake Stingers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Baseball players from the Bronx Capital City Bombers players Fresno Grizzlies players Gulf Coast Mets players Kingsport Mets players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople