Rodney Bernard Pedraza (born December 28, 1969) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from 1999 to 2002 and Yomiuri Giants in 2003. He was an All- Star four out of his five seasons in Japan. Prior to his career in Japan, he played Minor League Baseball in the Montreal Expos,

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

and Texas Rangers organization from 1991 to 1998.

Draft

Pedraza was drafted to in the 35th round to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in the 1988 amateur draft right out of high school. He instead spent 3 years at the University of Texas (including a 5-0 record the year they finished second at the 1989 College World Series), and had gone 13-3 with a 3.33 ERA in college. In the 1991 amateur draft he was drafted by the Montreal Expos. He made his debut with the

Jamestown Expos The Jamestown Expos were a minor league baseball franchise located in Jamestown, New York. The team existed under various names from 1939 through 1993 and played in the New York–Penn League and its predecessor, the Pennsylvania–Ontario–New ...

and

Sumter Flyers Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumter ...

in 1991. In 1992, he had gone 13-8, 3.26 record for the

Albany Polecats The Albany Polecats were a minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia. They were a low-A-class team that played in the South Atlantic League and were a farm team affiliated with both the Montreal Expos and the Baltimore Orioles during the fr ...

. He led the South Atlantic League with 186 hits allowed, and he fell one short of the win lead. In 1993 he played for San Bernardino Spirit, and went 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA. He was second in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

in ERA. He then played for the

. In the Rockies chain, he debuted with the New Haven Ravens and Colorado Springs Sky Socks in 1994. He was 7th in the Eastern League in ERA and was chosen for the Eastern League All-Star team. In addition, he was rated for best control in the Eastern League by

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

. Rodney missed all of 1995 due to a shoulder injury, but returned in 1996 and did well with New Haven. He finished 3rd in the Eastern League in ERA. In 1997 Pedraza played for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Then, in 1998 he signed with the Texas Rangers. He split the year with the Charlotte Rangers and the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

Japan

Rodney signed with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 1999. He debuted in Japan by going 3-1 with 27 saves and a 1.98 ERA. He finished second in the Pacific League in saves, and he mad the Pacific League All-Star team. In the

1999 Japan Series The 1999 Japan Series was the 50th edition of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason championship series. It matched the champion teams of the Pacific and Central Leagues. The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks represented the Pacific League, while the Chuni ...

, Pedraza saved games 4 and 5, and pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings in the Series, allowing one hit and no walks. In 2000, he went 3-4 with 35 saves and a 2.15 ERA. He also had a WHIP of .77 with 4 walks and 35 hits in 50 1/3 IP. He was again picked for the Pacific League All-Star team, and he led the Pacific League in saves. He tied

Eddie Gaillard Julian Edward Gaillard (born August 13, 1970) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball, playing for the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays between 1997 and 1999. He also played in the Japanese Central League, posting a total of 120 save ...

for the most saves in all of

Nippon Pro Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. In addition, he also tied Otsuka's Pacific League save record (which was later broken by

Kiyoshi Toyoda Kiyoshi Toyoda (豊田清, born February 2, 1971) is a Japanese professional baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the co ...

). Pedraza became the second American to be named

Fireman of the Year The ''Sporting News'' Reliever of the Year Award was an annual award presented to the best relief pitcher in each league in Major League Baseball (MLB). It was established in by ''The Sporting News'' (TSN) as the Fireman of the Year Award. At th ...

in the Pacific League. In the 2000 Japan Series, he saved game one and threw two shutout innings. In 2001 he was once again an All-Star and he led the Pacific League in saves and points. For the second year in a row, Pedraza was awarded the

. He was the second repeat foreign winner in

history and the first in the Pacific League. In 2002 Pedraza remained the closer for the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

, and he made the All-Star team for the 4th time. He became the first American to save 100 games in

. In 2003 he was signed to the Yomiuri Giants, and his performance suffered due to another shoulder injury.

Career Stats

Overall, Rodney went 16-12 with 117 saves and a 2.99 ERA in 194 games in

and 65-40 with a 3.82 ERA in 159 minor league games. Through 2009, he was 19th in

annals in saves and 3rd among foreign-born hurlers.

Retirement

After the end of his playing career, he moved back to

Cuero Cuero ( ) is a city in and the county seat of DeWitt County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,128 at the 2020 census. History The city of Cuero had its start in the mid-19th century as a stopping point on the Chisholm Trail cattle route ...

, Texas. On March 2, 2007 he was inducted into the Latinos in Action hall of fame. He was a member of the Cuero Gobblers' 1987 state championship football team, and was inducted into the Cuero Gobbler hall of fame in 2009. In 2008, he married Deborah, and they have three daughters Lauren, Kendall, Mia.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedraza, Rod 1969 births Living people Baseball players from San Antonio Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers American expatriate baseball players in Japan Fukuoka Daiei Hawks players Yomiuri Giants players Texas Longhorns baseball players Jamestown Expos players Sumter Flyers players Albany Polecats players San Bernardino Spirit players New Haven Ravens players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Winnipeg Goldeyes players Charlotte Rangers players Tulsa Drillers players People from Cuero, Texas