Brandon League
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| Brandon League | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Seattle Mariners – No. 43 | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: March 16, 1983 Sacramento, California |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 21, 2004 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Career statistics (through 2011 Season) |
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| Win–loss record | 17–22 |
| Earned run average | 3.70 |
| Strikeouts | 255 |
| Saves | 45 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
Brandon Paul League (born March 16, 1983 in Sacramento, California) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He is married with three children. He resides in Honolulu, and is hapa Yonsei. His maternal great-grandparents were born and raised in Fukuoka prefecture on Kyushu Island in Japan.[1] He previously pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays.
League is known for his down tailing fastball that reaches 100 mph—usually topping out at 98 mph. League also throws a slider and a changeup. In his first four seasons, he has been used as a relief pitcher, often as a setup man.
In the offseason following League's breakout 2006, he engaged in strength conditioning, and at the behest of the Blue Jays, did not pitch until spring training. As a result, he overdeveloped some shoulder muscles, resulting in a significant drop in his fastball velocity.[2] League was placed on the 60-day disabled list and missed the majority of the 2007 season. Both his velocity and effectiveness recovered the following season.
On December 22, 2009, League was traded to the Seattle Mariners along with minor league outfielder Johermyn Chávez for pitcher Brandon Morrow.[3] He signed a one-year, $1.08 million contract for 2010.[4] Because of an injury to David Aardsma, League started the 2011 season as the Mariners' closer.[5] He was selected as a relief pitcher for the 2011 All-Star game, his first.
[edit] References
- ^ Sogi, Francis Y. (2004). Riding the Kona Wave: Memoirs of A Japanese American. New York, New York: The Cheshire Press. p. xiii, 1, 163. ISBN 0976257505.
- ^ "Notes: League headed to Syracuse". BlueJays.com. 2007-03-25. http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070325&content_id=1858813&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
- ^ Bastian, Jordan. Jays get Morrow, send League to M's, MLB.com. Published December 23, 2009. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- ^ Baker, Geoff. Felix Hernandez arrives in Seattle: deal done pending physical, press conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, Seattle Times. Published January 20, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- ^ "Aardsma Set to Pitch Again on Sunday". nbcsports.msnbc.com. 2011-04-23. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42734267/ns/sports-player_news/. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- 1983 births
- Living people
- Toronto Blue Jays players
- Seattle Mariners players
- American League All-Stars
- American people of Japanese descent
- American sportspeople of Japanese descent
- Baseball players from California
- Baseball players from Hawaii
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- People from Honolulu, Hawaii
- People from Sacramento, California
- Medicine Hat Blue Jays players
- Auburn Doubledays players
- Dunedin Blue Jays players
- Charleston AlleyCats players
- New Hampshire Fisher Cats players
- Syracuse SkyChiefs players
- Gulf Coast Blue Jays players
- Syracuse Chiefs players
