Brian Patrick Tollberg (born September 16, 1972) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

who played from 2000 through 2003 for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. Listed at 6' 3", 195 lb., Tollberg batted and threw right handed, He was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

.Baseball Reference – MLB Statistics and History
/ref> Tollberg began his professional career in 1994 with the Chillicothe Paints of the independent

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

Baseball Reference – MiLB Statistics
/ref> before signing as a free agent with the

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

a year later. He then was traded by Milwaukee to San Diego in 1997, and made it to the majors in June 2000 with the Padres. Tollberg has the distinction of being the first ballplayer to make it to the Major Leagues from the Frontier League. As a result, the league's version of the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...

is named after him. Tollberg posted a 4–5 record with a 3.58

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in his rookie season with the Padres. In addition, he earned National League Player of the Week honors during his first week in the Major Leagues, after going 2–0 with a 1.26 ERA in 14⅓

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

.Tollberg: 'I was a late bloomer'
ESPN. Retrieved on December 25, 2016. The following season, he won 10 games with a 4.30 ERA before being injured. He played two more seasons for the club. In between, Tollberg pitched in the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

organizations at Triple-A level, and finished his career with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the independent Atlantic League in 2008. Tollberg still active in youth baseball and also has served as Director of Player Development for Palma Ceia Little League in

Sources

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tollberg, Brian 1972 births Living people Arizona League Padres players Baseball players from Tampa, Florida Beloit Snappers players Chillicothe Paints players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players El Paso Diablos players Lake Elsinore Storm players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball replacement players Mobile BayBears players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela North Florida Ospreys baseball players Portland Beavers players Round Rock Express players San Diego Padres players Somerset Patriots players