Brandon Allen Falker Claussen (born May 1, 1979) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Career

Claussen graduated from Goddard High School in Roswell,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. He then attended

Howard College Howard College is a Public college, public community college with its main campus in Big Spring, Texas. It also has branch campuses in San Angelo, Texas, San Angelo and Lamesa, Texas, Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was establishe ...

in Big Spring,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the 34th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft while in college. In 2001, he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts, with 220. In June 2002, Claussen had

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. Claussen was called up to the major leagues on June 28, 2003. He made his debut against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

that day. On July 31, 2003, he was traded to the

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

with Charlie Manning and cash for

Aaron Boone Aaron John Boone (born March 9, 1973) is an American professional baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2009. As ...

. Claussen was invited to spring training in 2004, and sent to the minors on March 28. He was recalled on July 20 to make his first start for the Reds. Claussen finished the 2005 season with a 10–11 record and 4.21 ERA. He made his final major league appearance on June 16, 2006, and took the loss against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. Two days later, he was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis and placed on the disabled list. On August 14, Claussen underwent an operation to repair the rotator cuff and

debridement Debridement is the medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. Removal may be surgical, mechanical, chemical, autolytic (self-digestion), or by maggot therapy. In ...

in his throwing shoulder. On January 12, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

References

External links

1979 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players Baseball players from Rapid City, South Dakota Gulf Coast Yankees players Staten Island Yankees players Greensboro Bats players Howard Hawks baseball players Tampa Yankees players Norwich Navigators players Columbus Clippers players Louisville Bats players Gulf Coast Nationals players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub