Ryan York Anderson (born July 12, 1979) is an American former professional baseball player. Anderson was a left-handed

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 ...

in the

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

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

system from 1997 to his release in 2005.

Career

After attending

Divine Child High School Divine Child High School, commonly known as Divine Child (DC), is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory, parish high school in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Divine Child is ranked among the top 15 percent of private high schools i ...

, Anderson was drafted in the first round by the Mariners and was listed as the club's top prospect 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 ...

'' every year from 1998 to 2002, and the top prospect in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

in 2000. After a series of injuries (which prevented him from pitching from 2001–2004) and questions regarding his

work ethic Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination o ...

and diligence, Anderson retired from baseball after briefly attempting a comeback within the Brewers' farm system in 2005. He is now pursuing a career as a chef after attending the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.

Personal life

At 6'10, Anderson drew frequent comparisons to former Mariners pitcher

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American photographer and former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle M ...

due to similarities in their height and pitching style, and earned Anderson the nickname "The Little Unit," a play on Johnson's nickname "The Big Unit."

References

External links

1979 births Living people Arizona League Brewers players Baseball players from Michigan Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Brevard County Manatees players New Haven Ravens players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Tacoma Rainiers players United States national baseball team players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub