Ronald Joel Flores (born August 9, 1979) is an American 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 ...

(MLB) left-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

who played with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Amateur career

A native of

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...

, Flores graduated from

El Rancho High School El Rancho High School is a public high school located in the city of Pico Rivera, California, United States. It is a part of the El Rancho Unified School District. History El Rancho High School opened its doors in September 1952. Whittier Hig ...

Pico Rivera, California Pico Rivera is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. The city is situated approximately southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles basin, and on the southern edge of the area known as the ...

and is the younger brother of fellow major leaguer

Randy Flores Randy Alan Flores (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional baseball executive and former pitcher who is the assistant general manager and director of scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB fo ...

. He went on to attend the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC), playing

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

from 1998 to 2001. Flores was a member of USC's 1998

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

baseball team, and earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in economics from USC. After the 1998 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

The

selected Flores in the 29th round (870th overall pick) of the

2000 Major League Baseball draft The 2000 Major League Baseball draft, was the annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held in June 2000. A total of 1,452 players were drafted. First round selections Compensation picks Background The Florida Marlins ...

. In limited appearances with Oakland, Flores was mostly the second or third lefty in the bullpen. He pitched a career-high four

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

innings for his first big league win on June 29, 2006 against 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. ...

. His first major league save came after he pitched a scoreless 10th inning in the final game of the 2006 season. On December 12, 2007, Flores signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, uniting him with older brother Randy. He became a free agent at the end of the season and signed a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

contract with the Cincinnati Reds, only to be released by the organization on April 1, 2009. After being released by the Reds, Flores signed with the independent

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "par ...

. He pitched in 53 games for them before retiring.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Ron 1979 births Living people American baseball players of Mexican descent Oakland Athletics players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers USC Trojans baseball players Chatham Anglers players Baseball players from Whittier, California American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Bravos de Margarita players 21st-century American sportsmen Mat-Su Miners players Memphis Redbirds players Midland RockHounds players Modesto A's players Sacramento River Cats players Vancouver Canadians players Visalia Oaks players