Brandon Paul League (born March 16, 1983) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

, and

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. He is a former

closer Closer or Closers may refer to: Film and television * ''Closer'' (2000 film), a documentary by Tina Gharavi * ''Closer'' (2004 film), a 2004 adaptation of Patrick Marber's play (see below), directed by Mike Nichols * ''The Closer'', a 1990 mo ...

and one-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

He was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2001 MLB Draft The 2001 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban baseball pitcher who had recently left Cub ...

out of

Saint Louis School Saint Louis School, located in the neighborhood of St. Louis Heights in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Catholic college preparatory school for boys. It was founded in 1846 to serve Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii. Located within the ...

, and was signed on July 3, 2001. He made his major league debut on September 21, 2004 against 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 ...

as he pitched a solid inning and a third. Following League's breakout season in 2006, he engaged in strength conditioning during the offseason, 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. League was placed on the 60-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

and missed the majority of the 2007 season. Both his velocity and effectiveness recovered the following season.

Seattle Mariners

On December 22, 2009, League was traded to the

along with minor-league outfielder Johermyn Chávez for pitcher

Brandon Morrow Brandon John Morrow (born July 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Amate ...

. He signed a one-year, $1.08 million contract for 2010. Because of an injury to

David Aardsma David Allan Aardsma (; born December 27, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, currently serving in the Toronto Blue Jays front office as a coordinator of player development. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 200 ...

, League started the 2011 season as the Mariners'

. He was selected to his first All-Star game as a relief pitcher for the 2011 All-Star game. In a 2011 interview, veteran outfielder

Coco Crisp Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp (born November 1, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and MiLB team manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland A ...

named League as one of the four toughest pitchers he had ever faced. On June 8, 2012, League was one of six Mariners to throw a combined no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers at

Safeco Field T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the w ...

. After a series of blown saves, League was replaced by Tom Wilhelmsen as closer. In 2 seasons with the Mariners, League had converted a total of 52 saves in 69 chances with a 3.26 ERA.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On July 30, 2012, League was traded to the

for minor leaguers Leon Landry and Logan Bawcom. He became the Dodgers closer in September after

Kenley Jansen Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and Boston Red ...

was sidelined with an irregular heartbeat. In 28 games with the Dodgers, he was 2–1 with a 2.30 ERA and six saves. On October 30, the Dodgers re-signed League to a three-year, $22.5 million deal with a vesting option worth $7.5 million for 2016. On June 11, League was demoted from the closer role after blowing his fourth save in 17 chances, and he was replaced by Jansen. He was used primarily in low pressure situations the rest of the season. Overall, in 2013, he was 6-4 with a 5.30 ERA in 58 appearances, with 14 early season saves. In 2014, the Dodgers used League primarily in middle relief. He finished the season with a 2–3 record and a 2.57 ERA in 63 games. League underwent an MRI during spring training in 2015 which revealed serious shoulder damage, causing him to miss the first couple months of the season. After spending a month rehabbing in the minors, League was designated for assignment on July 2, 2015. He was released on July 10.

New Britain Bees

League did not play professional baseball at any level in 2016. On January 7, 2017, League signed a minor league contract with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

that included an invitation to spring training. He was released prior to the start of the season on March 19. On April 20, 2017, League signed with the

New Britain Bees The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connectic ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. In 44 appearances for the Bees, he compiled a 2-3 record and 4.57 ERA with 38 strikeouts and 1 save across innings pitched. League became a free agent after the season.

Coaching career

On January 30, 2025, the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

hired League to serve as the pitching coach for their Triple-A affiliate, the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

Pitching style

League's main pitch is a very hard sinker averaging 96 mph. (In 2011, he had the hardest sinker of any relief pitcher, at 97.3 mph.) He also has an upper-80s slider that he uses primarily early in the count to right-handed hitters. He also has a splitter that he uses as a

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

pitch. The splitter has a whiff rate of 55%.

Personal life

League resides in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, and is

hapa Hapa () is a Hawaiian word for someone of multiracial ancestry. In Hawaii, the word refers to any person of mixed ethnic heritage, regardless of the specific mixture.: "Thus, for locals in Hawai’i, both hapa or hapa haole are used to depi ...

Yonsei. His maternal great-grandparents were born and raised in

Fukuoka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

Kyushu Island is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. League's wife, Sasha League, attended Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, California. She holds a psychology major from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. They have been married since 2005. Brandon and Sasha League are parents to four girls. After his playing career, League founded Parallel X League, a Southern California-based clothing line, in 2019.

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:League, Brandon 1983 births American baseball players of Japanese descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars Auburn Doubledays players Baseball players from Sacramento, California Baseball players from Honolulu Charleston AlleyCats players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Living people Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Medicine Hat Blue Jays players New Britain Bees players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Oklahoma City Dodgers players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Saint Louis School alumni Seattle Mariners players Syracuse Chiefs players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players 21st-century American sportsmen