Kyle Kendrick
Encyclopedia
Kyle Rodney Kendrick is a relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

.

High school

Kendrick was a three-sport standout in football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 at Mount Vernon High School
Mount Vernon High School (Washington)
Mount Vernon High School is a high school in Mount Vernon, Washington located at 314 North 9th Street.- External links :* Mount Vernon High School Website...

 in Mount Vernon, Washington
Mount Vernon, Washington
Mount Vernon is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,743 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the county seat of Skagit County...

. Kendrick was drafted by the Phillies in the 7th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft
2003 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2003 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 3 and 4. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams.Source: -First round selections:...

. Kendrick turned down the opportunity to delay enrollment for a year at Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

 and then join the team as a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 a year behind the other QB commit that year, Alex Brink
Alex Brink
Alex Brink is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League...

.

2007

Kendrick was first called up to the Phillies after pitcher Freddy Garcia
Freddy García
Freddy Antonio García , nicknamed "The Chief", is a Venezuelan Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who is currently a free agent...

 was placed on the DL
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...

. Kendrick singled to right field in his first major league at-bat during his first major league appearance—an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...

 against the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

 on June 13, 2007. He pitched six innings and gave up three runs.

Kendrick's first loss came on July 18, 2007, against the Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

, 5–4. His performance in the 2007 regular season was widely considered to be a key to the Philadelphia Phillies' late-season surge, as Kendrick finished the year 10–4, with the Phillies winning in 13 out of his 18 appearances. Kendrick was the Phillies' number two starter in the National League Division Series
2007 National League Division Series
-Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies:-Game 1, October 3:Chase Field in Phoenix, ArizonaEighteen-game winners Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb matched each other pitch for pitch in the opening game of the series. Stephen Drew's fourth-inning home run stood as the game's only run until Ryan...

 against the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...

.

Kendrick (7 points) came in fifth, and lost out to Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun
Ryan Joseph Braun is an American right-handed Major League Baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. A perennial standout, he was ranked No...

 (128 points) in the vote for the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award was established in 1946 by The Sporting News .*In 1947-48, and again in 1950, a single award was given for all of Major League Baseball....

 by 488 major league players and 30 managers.

Spring training

Before the 2008 season, the Phillies (led by pitcher Brett Myers
Brett Myers
Brett Allen Myers is a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who is currently playing for the Houston Astros.-High school career:...

) pulled a prank on Kendrick by telling him that he was traded to the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...

 of Nippon Professional Baseball for a player named Kobayashi Iwamura. When Kendrick realized it was only a prank, he was relieved and Myers repeatedly shouted that he got "punked," referring to the popular TV show on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

, Punk'd
Punk'd
Punk'd is an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003 and was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, produced and hosted by Ashton Kutcher. It bore a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers...

. "Kobayashi" referred to Takeru Kobayashi
Takeru Kobayashi
is a Japanese competitive eater. He held the world record for hot dog eating for nearly six years, and holds several other eating records, including four Guinness Records for hot dogs, meatballs, hamburgers, and pasta....

, the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese competitive-hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...

-eater, and "Iwamura" was referring to the last name of Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...

 infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...

 Akinori Iwamura
Akinori Iwamura
Akinori Iwamura is a Japanese Major League Baseball infielder, who is currently with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League...

.

Regular season

Kendrick began the season as the Phillies' number four starter. He posted a 2–2 record in April, went undefeated in May (2–0), and matched ace Cole Hamels
Cole Hamels
Colbert Michael "Cole" Hamels is a left-handed starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Hamels throws a four-seam fastball, a circle changeup, a curveball, and a cut fastball, which he added in 2010...

 in June with a 3–1 record. Though his ERA (4.59) was high through the first three months, he allowed only eleven home runs in that time, mostly using his effective sinker. He struggled a bit in July, allowing five home runs and posting an ERA of 5.02, almost a point higher than June. His record after 20 games was 8–4, comparable to his 10–5 record in his 20 starts of 2007. Due to his struggles, Kendrick was not included on the Phillies post-season roster. Instead, he was sent to the Clearwater Threshers
Clearwater Threshers
The Clearwater Threshers are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the Florida State League. Since 2004, the team competes in the West Division....

 and participated in the Florida Instructional League to work on his change-up. While he was not added to the roster for the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

, he did return to the team and was in uniform for the Series. Kendrick co-authored a World Series diary during the Series, giving his perspective, which was told to journalist Randy Miller and published in the Bucks County Courier Times.

2010

During 2010 spring training, Kendrick competed against Jamie Moyer
Jamie Moyer
Jamie Moyer is an American professional left handed baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. At the time of his last game to date , he was the oldest player in the major leagues and had the most wins, losses, and strikeouts of any active Major League pitcher...

 for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, but made the team as a relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

. Before the season started, Joe Blanton
Joe Blanton
Joseph Matthew Blanton is a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.-College career:...

 was placed on the disabled list and Kendrick took his spot in the rotation. On July 20, Kendrick was sent down to the Phillies' AAA affiliate, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. One day later he was called back up since Jamie Moyer
Jamie Moyer
Jamie Moyer is an American professional left handed baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. At the time of his last game to date , he was the oldest player in the major leagues and had the most wins, losses, and strikeouts of any active Major League pitcher...

 went on the DL.

On January 18, 2011, Kendrick and the Phillies avoided arbitration with the sides agreeing on a 1-year, $2.45 million deal.

2011

Kyle Kendrick started the year in the bullpen but made 15 starts and pitched well and made 19 relief appearances. Overall, he was 8-6 with a 3.22 ERA.

Personal life

In 2009, Kendrick became engaged to Survivor
Survivor (TV series)
Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...

contestant Stephenie LaGrossa
Stephenie LaGrossa
Stephenie LaGrossa was a contestant in Survivor: Palau, Survivor: Guatemala, and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. She was one of the most popular players ever to play the game, with her popularity peaking at 97%...

.
They were married at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California on November 13, 2010.
On February 22, 2011, the couple announced they were expecting their first child in September.
The couple welcomed their first child, a girl, on September 3, 2011.
In March 2011, his home was burglarized; among the stolen items was his World Series ring. The ring was found in a swampy area of Bothell, WA by Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies on May 17, 2011.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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