Rex Hudler
Encyclopedia
Rex Allen Hudler is a former 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...

 utility player. He played a total of thirteen seasons after being a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 in 1978.

Playing career

He played for 6 different 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...

 teams and at every position except pitcher and catcher throughout his career: the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 (1984–1985), Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 (1986), Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

 (1988–1990), St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 (1990–1992), California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...

 (1994–1996), and 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...

 (1997–1998).

He also played for the Yakult Swallows
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
is a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League.The Swallows are named after their corporate owners, the Yakult Corporation. From 1950 to 1965, the team was owned by the former Japanese National Railways and called the Kokutetsu Swallows; the team was then owned by the newspaper Sankei...

 of the Japanese Central League
Central League
The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...

 in 1993. Hudler saw playing time in the minor leagues with the Rochester Red Wings
Rochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...

 of the Triple-A International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 in 1986 and 1987. Hudler then saw playing time with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians
Indianapolis Indians
The Indianapolis Indians are a minor league baseball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates major-league club. The Indians play at Victory Field, located in downtown Indianapolis...

 of the American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...

 in 1988 as the starting third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

. During his playing career in Japan, he contributed to the team's back-to-back league championship and its second-ever Japan Series
Japan Series
, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....

 championship since its first title in 1978.

Prior to signing with the Yankees, Hudler was visited by Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

, who hoped that he would suit up for their football team. A 1978 graduate of Bullard High School (Fresno, California)
Bullard High School (Fresno, California)
Bullard High School is a public secondary school located in Fresno, California, USA.. Founded in 1955, it is part of the Fresno Unified School District, and as of 2011 has around 2,650 students on roll in grades 9-12 with approximately 500 students in each grade.-Ethnic composition:As of...

, Hudler played baseball, soccer and football, earning first-team All-America honors as a wide receiver. He was a 1999 inductee into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame.

Rex actually earned his "Bug-Eater" moniker in St. Louis during a game when he picked up an enormous junebug off his hat and when dared to eat it by his Cardinal teammate, Tom Pagnozzi
Tom Pagnozzi
Thomas Alan Pagnozzi is a former Major League Baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals. Primarily a catcher, Pagnozzi also made 40 appearances at first base and seven appearances at third base during his 12-season career, which spanned from 1987 to 1998.Initially a backup catcher and utility...

, got the players in the dugout involved and they paid him $800 to eat the junebug.

Broadcasting career

From 1999 through the 2009 season Hudler was the color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...

 for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...

 radio and television broadcasting team alongside play-by-player announcers Steve Physioc, Rory Markas
Rory Markas
Rory Markas was an American sportscaster best known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's play-by-play broadcaster for eight seasons, and as the radio voice of the University of Southern California men's basketball team for 11 seasons...

 and Terry Smith
Terry Smith (radio)
Terry Smith is an American announcer for KLAA radio in Los Angeles, California, and has broadcast play-by-play for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2002...

. He is also the color commentator for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

 games MLB 06: The Show
MLB 06: The Show
MLB '06: The Show is a baseball video game for PlayStation 2 and PSP. The game was produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, primarily by SCE's San Diego Studio, which was formerly known as 989 Sports. It was the only first-party MLB-licensed video game for the 2006 season drawing attention to the...

, 07
MLB 07: The Show
MLB 07: The Show, produced by SCE San Diego Studio, is a baseball video game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP. It is the only first-party MLB-licensed video game for the season, and the only baseball game available for the PlayStation systems aside from Major League Baseball 2K7...

, 08
MLB 08: The Show
MLB 08: The Show is a baseball simulation video game developed by SCE San Diego Studio published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable systems. It the longest-running officially licensed Major League Baseball game series on the PlayStation...

, 09
MLB 09: The Show
MLB 09: The Show is a baseball simulation video game developed by SCE San Diego Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable systems. It belongs to the Major League Baseball game series on the PlayStation systems...

and 10
MLB 10: The Show
MLB 10: The Show is a baseball simulation video game created by Sony Computer Entertainment's San Diego division. The MLB: The Show series of video games is the longest officially licensed baseball simulation game on the PlayStation. The game is made for Sony's own PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and...

for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 along with Dave Campbell and Matt Vasgersian
Matt Vasgersian
Matt Vasgersian is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a host for the MLB Network and has served as an announcer for NBC Sports' coverage of the Olympics, and on Fox Sports' MLB coverage...

. For the 2011 edition, he was replaced by Eric Karros.

He was suspended briefly from his broadcast job in 2003 after being arrested at Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport
Kansas City International Airport , originally named Mid-Continent International Airport, is a public airport located 15 miles northwest of the central business district of Kansas City, in Platte County, Missouri, United States. In 2008, 10,469,892 passengers used the airport...

 for possession of cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

 and medical paraphernalia.

In November 2009 the Angels and FSN West announced they would not renew the contracts of Hudler and Physioc for the 2010 season.

In October 2010 Hudler began a Saturday afternoon program, "The Wonder Dog Hour", on Angels flagship station KLAA, 830 AM in Orange, California. The program can also be found on Facebook and at rexhudler.com.

Personal life

Hudler was hospitalized in 2001 with a brain aneurysm.

He is also the president of the non-profit organization Team Up For Down Syndrome, which raises money for public awareness, housing, education, job training, family counseling and health care for those living with Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...

. Hudler and his wife Jennifer have a 12-year old son who was born with the chromosomal abnormality.

He currently lives in Tustin
Tustin, California
-Top employers:According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Tustin had a population of 75,540. The population density was 6,816.7 people per square mile...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Rex Hudler quotes

  • "Wax your car today, Mr. Moreno?"
  • "You could put more than a slice of cheese under that one!"
  • "Ham and eggs, roll em' over."
  • "Pilot to Bombardier
    Bombardier (air force)
    A bombardier , in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer, in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, was the crewman of a bomber responsible for assisting the navigator in guiding the plane to a bombing target and releasing the aircraft's bomb...

    !"
  • "Be a fountain, not a drain"
  • "Be a tool, and useless!"
  • "a walk, a steal and a lousy single"
  • "I wish I could have had a lousy single"
  • "He got to go!"
  • "How did I EVER get a job on television??"
  • "Cheese on my knees, broke the dish in two. Blew the pitch on by, wouldn't wanna be you!"
  • "He's getting Figgy with it"
  • “[Zito pitched well] though he has a chance not to win this game.”
  • "Kingfish Salmon went upstream!"
  • "I am such a tool!"
  • "Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in!"
  • "He just keeps fouling them off, waiting for that cookie!"
  • "Another big fly for Big Daddy Vladdy!"
  • "You gotta hack or they'll send you back!"
  • "Vlad's motto is: From his nose to his toes, that's how Vladdy Goes, East and West, Vlad's the best!"
  • "The Angels run and gun and slash and dash."
  • "That there was a worm burner" (In reference to a particularly nasty ground ball)
  • "Boy, did he drop a huge deuce in the stands!" (About a two-run homer)
  • "That's a Screaming Meemie
    Nebelwerfer
    The Nebelwerfer was a World War II German series of weapons originally designed to deliver chemical weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the Wehrmacht's so-called Chemical Troops ...

    !" (In reference to a fast line drive.)
  • "That bat snapped in two, but it died an Angel hero."
  • "Be patient, young Jedi!"
  • "I used to ride the pine for nine."
  • "That hit was a chop knock"
  • "Man, that ball was Tattered and Battered!"
  • "He definitely could've gotten a slice of cheese under that hop!" (on Lyle Overbay attempting to snag a ball over his head.)
  • "Right through the wickets!" (on a groundball between the legs)
  • "You better pick up your pencils 'cuz these Angels are going to be laying down the lead today!"
  • "These new kids are young, they've got energy - just give them a PBJ sandwich and they're good to go!"
  • "Light up that Halo!"
  • "All's we need is a knock
    Hit (baseball)
    In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

    , a walk
    Base on balls
    A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

    , a bloop, and a blast
    Home run
    In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

    ." (when the Angels
    Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
    The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...

     are more than three runs
    Run (baseball)
    In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

    down in the score)
  • "I love the smell of grass in the Spring!"

External links

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