Stuart Russell Pederson (born January 28, 1960) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 ...

who played for the

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 Brookly ...

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) ...

. He is the father of outfielder

Joc Pederson Joc Russell Pederson ( ; born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Br ...

Baseball career

College

Pederson played college baseball for

Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree pro ...

University of the Pacific University of the Pacific may refer to: *University of the Pacific (Colombia) *University of the Pacific (Ecuador) *University of the Pacific (Peru) * University of the Pacific (United States) *University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh * University of ...

and

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

Minor leagues

Pederson was selected in the 9th round (228th overall) of the

1981 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players * Darrin Jackson, 2nd round, 28th overall by the Chicago Cubs * Mike Gallego, 2nd round, 3 ...

by the

out of the University of Southern California. Pederson debuted with the Single-A

Lodi Dodgers Lodi may refer to: Places Canada * Lodi, Ontario, a community in North Stormont, Ontario, Canada Italy * Lodi, Lombardy, in the Province of Lodi of the Lombardy region ** Treaty of Lodi, 1454 between Italian city-states ** Battle of Lodi, 1796 ...

, hitting a home run in his first at bat, and finished his first professional season with a walk-off home run that gave Lodi the 1981 California League Championship. In 1982, with the

Vero Beach Dodgers Vero may refer to: Geography * Vero Beach, Florida, a city in the United States * Vero, Corse-du-Sud, a commune of France in Corsica Other * ''Véro'', a talk show on the Radio-Canada television network * Vero (app), a social media company co-foun ...

, he led the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A follow ...

in triples (18), was second in runs (95), hits (156), and on base percentage (.434), and third in batting average (.336), slugging percentage (.494), and RBIs (79). In 1983 with the San Antonio Dodgers, he was second in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in triples (12). In 1984 with San Antonio, he tied

Mariano Duncan Mariano Duncan Nalasco (born March 13, 1963) is a retired second baseman and shortstop who played for several Major League Baseball teams during his 12-year career. He was the infield coach and first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers under ...

for the league lead in triples with 11, and was second in the league in RBIs (86). He played 473 games for the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

of the

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

from 1988 to 1992. The team had a "Stu Pederson Night" during the 1991 season. In his 12 minor league seasons, he batted .292 with a .389 on-base percentage and a .441 slugging percentage, with 90 home runs and 73 stolen bases in 4,137 at bats, and pitched 7 innings. On August 18, 2012, Pederson was inducted into the Syracuse Chiefs Wall of Fame.

Major Leagues

His career included 8 games for the Dodgers during the 1985 season at the age of 25. He debuted on September 8, 1985, and played his final major league game on October 6.

After professional baseball

Following his playing days, Pederson coached high school baseball at Palo Alto High School, from which he graduated in 1978. He then coached at Cupertino High School. Pederson owns a business that sells tickets for sporting events, concerts, and theater events. Pederson has coached in a number of summer collegiate baseball leagues, including in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

and the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

Family

His wife, Shelley Pederson, was an athletic trainer in college. Pederson's sons Joc and Tyger were both drafted by the Dodgers. Joc was drafted out of

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two schools in the district, the other b ...

in the 11th round of the

2010 MLB Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pic ...

, was ranked the Dodgers' no. 1 prospect after the 2013 season. He made his major league debut in 2014. Tyger, an infielder for the

Tigers in Stockton, California, was drafted in the 33rd round of the

2013 MLB Draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

and briefly played in the Dodgers minor league system. His eldest son is named Champ, and has

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with child development, physical growth delays, mild to moderate ...

. His daughter, Jacey, is an amateur soccer player who played forward on the US Under-17 Women's National Team.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pederson, Stu 1960 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Los Angeles Dodgers players Baseball players from California Pacific Tigers baseball players Lodi Dodgers players Vero Beach Dodgers players San Antonio Dodgers players Albuquerque Dukes players Knoxville Blue Jays players Syracuse Chiefs players USC Trojans baseball players High school baseball coaches in the United States Palo Alto High School alumni Junior college baseball players in the United States