Ryan Ludwick
Encyclopedia
Ryan Andrew Ludwick is a Major League Baseball
right fielder
. His brother Eric
played four seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher
.
in Las Vegas, Nevada
.
Ludwick played for the UNLV Rebels
for three seasons. He was named to the Baseball America all-Freshman team in after batting
.354 with 16 home run
s and 68 RBI
and was All-WAC in , hitting .381 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI. Ludwick had a .363 career batting average at UNLV.
Ludwick was chosen in the second-round (60th overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft
by the Oakland Athletics
. He was traded to the Texas Rangers
before the season, along with Gerald Laird
, Jason Hart
, and Mario Ramos
, for first baseman
Carlos Peña
and pitcher Mike Venafro
.
of 1871-75 (not currently counted as a major league by MLB), only 57 players who played at least half their games at a position other than pitcher batted right and threw left. The most famous individual in this exclusive group is Hall-of-Fame outfielder Rickey Henderson
.
Ludwick made his major league debut with the Rangers in , but his season was cut short when he fractured his hip the same year, an injury which significantly hampered his career. In , Ludwick was traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians
for pitcher Ricardo Rodríguez and outfielder
Shane Spencer
. He was designated for assignment
and sent to Triple-A in June 2005
Ludwick spent the season playing for the Toledo Mud Hens
, the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers
, and was named to the International League
team for the 2006 Triple-A All-Star Game
. Ludwick enjoyed great success in the Detroit organization, but due to a surplus of outfielders, Detroit made the decision to not offer Ludwick a new contract.
by the Cardinals and started in Triple-A Memphis
. On May 6, , Ludwick was promoted to the Cardinals after Preston Wilson
went on the DL
. In the 29 games preceding Ludwick's promotion, he hit .340 with 8 home runs at Memphis.
His fast start in earned him an everyday player role. Ludwick was named to his first All-Star game on July 6 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
. He won the National League Player of the Week Award for July 27-August 2. On August 14, Ludwick hit his 29th home run of the 2008 season; this broke the record for the most home runs in a season by a player who throws left-handed
yet bats right-handed previously held by Rickey Henderson
.
Ludwick would go on to win a Silver Slugger Award at the end of the 2008 season for his offensive performance along with fellow outfielders Matt Holliday
and Ryan Braun
. That year, Ludwick hit 37 home runs, 40 doubles, 3 triples and a solid .299 Batting Average
.
After his breakout season of 2008, Ludwick started out with a solid April, posting similar figures to his 2008 season by hitting .297 with five home runs, and 19 RBIs. He was then slowed by a strained right hamstring which placed him on the DL for 15 games. After returning from his injury, Ludwick struggled with a .200 average during the month of June. He had a productive July, hitting .340, with six home runs and a league-leading 28 RBIs, landing him NL Player of the Month
honors. This gave the Cardinals 3 out of the last 4 NL Player of the Month awards, coupled with Albert Pujols
's awards in April and June. At the end of the 2009 season Ludwick finished batting .265 with 22 home runs and 97 RBIs. Ludwick is primarily a right fielder, but also gets playing time in left field and occasionally in center field.
During the 2010 offseason, Ludwick and the Cardinals were able to avoid arbitration
, reaching an agreement on a one-year contract worth $5.45 million for 2010. Through mid-June, he batted .451 with runners in scoring position, second-best among all MLB players. Additionally, he batted .476 with 11 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two out. His strong performance with runners in scoring position lead to him being placed in the cleanup role on June 14 against the Seattle Mariners. The move paid off as he hit a 3-run home run in his first at bat, and went 2-for-4 in the game.
in a three team deal on July 31, 2010, which sent starting pitcher Jake Westbrook
and minor leaguer Nick Greenwood to the St. Louis Cardinals and Corey Kluber to the Indians.
Upon his first at-bat back in St. Louis, as a Padre, he received a standing ovation from the St. Louis crowd, and Ludwick tipped his cap to the crowd in return.
His stats took a hit in 2011 due to lack of production at the Padres home field, Petco Park
. At the end of his tenure as a Padre, Ludwick was hitting .238, but with 11 home runs and 64 runs batted in and 42 runs scored. He accounted for 25.3 percent of the Padres' runs. By comparison, Adrian Gonzalez
accounted for 23.6 percent of the Padres' runs in 2010
.
for a player to be named later.
, and have one son, Stetson Tyler.
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...
right fielder
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
. His brother Eric
Eric Ludwick
Eric David Ludwick is a retired Major League Baseball player who played pitcher from -. He played for the Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins, and Toronto Blue Jays...
played four seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
.
High school, college, and minor leagues
Ludwick attended Durango High SchoolDurango High School (Nevada)
Durango High School is a public high school in Spring Valley, Nevada with an enrollment of approximately 2600 students. It is a part of the Area 4 region of the Clark County School District, which is the fifth largest school district in the United States....
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
Ludwick played for the UNLV Rebels
UNLV Rebels
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas' sports teams are called the Rebels. The Rebels participate in NCAA Division I and in the Mountain West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The school's colors are Scarlet and Grey. The Rebels' main rival is the Wolf Pack of the University...
for three seasons. He was named to the Baseball America all-Freshman team in after batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.354 with 16 home run
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...
s and 68 RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
and was All-WAC in , hitting .381 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI. Ludwick had a .363 career batting average at UNLV.
Ludwick was chosen in the second-round (60th overall) of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft
1999 Major League Baseball Draft
The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999...
by the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
. He was traded to the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
before the season, along with Gerald Laird
Gerald Laird
Gerald Lee Laird III is an American professional baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers. He graduated La Quinta High School in 1998, and played college baseball at Cypress College...
, Jason Hart
Jason Hart (baseball)
Jason Wyatt Hart is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman who played for the Texas Rangers in .-High school and college:...
, and Mario Ramos
Mario Ramos
Mario Martin Ramos is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.Ramos was born in Aurora, Illinois. He went to Pflugerville High School in Pflugerville, Texas, where he also resides today. He was a 5'11", 180-pound pitcher. Before being drafted, Ramos attended Rice University.In 1996, the Kansas City...
, for first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
Carlos Peña
Carlos Peña
Carlos Felipe Peña is a Dominican professional baseball left-handed first baseman. He played previously with the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs.Although he was born in Santo Domingo and his family is from San Francisco de Macorís,...
and pitcher Mike Venafro
Mike Venafro
Michael Robert Venafro is a retired Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher.Venafro is an alumnus of James Madison University...
.
Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, back to minors
Ryan Ludwick belongs to a very tiny group of Major League Baseball players: he bats right-handed and throws with his left. In the entire history of Major League Baseball through the 2008 season, and including the National AssociationNational Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
of 1871-75 (not currently counted as a major league by MLB), only 57 players who played at least half their games at a position other than pitcher batted right and threw left. The most famous individual in this exclusive group is Hall-of-Fame outfielder Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...
.
Ludwick made his major league debut with the Rangers in , but his season was cut short when he fractured his hip the same year, an injury which significantly hampered his career. In , Ludwick was traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
for pitcher Ricardo Rodríguez and outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
Shane Spencer
Shane Spencer
Michael Shane Spencer is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. In Major League Baseball, he played a total of 538 games for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and New York Mets, compiling 438 hits, 59 home runs, and 242 RBI...
. He was designated for assignment
Designated for assignment
Designated for assignment is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball. When a player is designated for assignment, he is immediately removed from the club's 40-man roster. This gives the club 10 days to decide what to do with the player while freeing up a roster spot for another...
and sent to Triple-A in June 2005
Ludwick spent the season playing for the Toledo Mud Hens
Toledo Mud Hens
The Toledo Mud Hens are a minor league baseball team located in Toledo, Ohio. The Mud Hens play in the International League, and are affiliated with the major league baseball team the Detroit Tigers, based approximately 50 miles to the north of Toledo. The current team is one of several...
, the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
, and was named to the 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...
team for the 2006 Triple-A All-Star Game
Triple-A All-Star Game
The Triple-A All-Star Game is a single baseball game held between the two Triple-A leagues in minor league baseball—the International League and the Pacific Coast League...
. Ludwick enjoyed great success in the Detroit organization, but due to a surplus of outfielders, Detroit made the decision to not offer Ludwick a new contract.
St. Louis Cardinals: All-Star
In , Ludwick was invited to spring trainingSpring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
by the Cardinals and started in Triple-A Memphis
Memphis Redbirds
The Memphis Redbirds are the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They play their home games at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The stadium's capacity is 14,320. They entered the Pacific Coast League as an expansion team in 1998, and were owned as a...
. On May 6, , Ludwick was promoted to the Cardinals after Preston Wilson
Preston Wilson
Preston James Richard Wilson is a retired professional baseball outfielder. He played in the major leagues from 1998-2007. He is both the nephew and stepson of former New York Mets star Mookie Wilson...
went 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:...
. In the 29 games preceding Ludwick's promotion, he hit .340 with 8 home runs at Memphis.
His fast start in earned him an everyday player role. Ludwick was named to his first All-Star game on July 6 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He won the National League Player of the Week Award for July 27-August 2. On August 14, Ludwick hit his 29th home run of the 2008 season; this broke the record for the most home runs in a season by a player who throws left-handed
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
yet bats right-handed previously held by Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...
.
Ludwick would go on to win a Silver Slugger Award at the end of the 2008 season for his offensive performance along with fellow outfielders Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday
Matthew Thomas Holliday , nicknamed "Big Daddy", is an American Major League Baseball left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Holliday was originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft.Holliday is a five-time All-Star and Silver Slugger...
and 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...
. That year, Ludwick hit 37 home runs, 40 doubles, 3 triples and a solid .299 Batting Average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.
After his breakout season of 2008, Ludwick started out with a solid April, posting similar figures to his 2008 season by hitting .297 with five home runs, and 19 RBIs. He was then slowed by a strained right hamstring which placed him on the DL for 15 games. After returning from his injury, Ludwick struggled with a .200 average during the month of June. He had a productive July, hitting .340, with six home runs and a league-leading 28 RBIs, landing him NL Player of the Month
Player of the Month
The Player of the Month Award is a Major League Baseball award named by each league every month of the regular season. The National League started recognizing the award on June 4, 1958. National League president Warren Giles conducted a poll of baseball writers in each Major League city and...
honors. This gave the Cardinals 3 out of the last 4 NL Player of the Month awards, coupled with Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara , better known as Albert Pujols , is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent...
's awards in April and June. At the end of the 2009 season Ludwick finished batting .265 with 22 home runs and 97 RBIs. Ludwick is primarily a right fielder, but also gets playing time in left field and occasionally in center field.
During the 2010 offseason, Ludwick and the Cardinals were able to avoid arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
, reaching an agreement on a one-year contract worth $5.45 million for 2010. Through mid-June, he batted .451 with runners in scoring position, second-best among all MLB players. Additionally, he batted .476 with 11 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two out. His strong performance with runners in scoring position lead to him being placed in the cleanup role on June 14 against the Seattle Mariners. The move paid off as he hit a 3-run home run in his first at bat, and went 2-for-4 in the game.
San Diego Padres
Ludwick was traded to the San Diego PadresSan Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
in a three team deal on July 31, 2010, which sent starting pitcher Jake Westbrook
Jake Westbrook
Jacob Cauthen "Jake" Westbrook is an American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher currently with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is known as a sinker ball pitcher and has also hit a grand slam home run....
and minor leaguer Nick Greenwood to the St. Louis Cardinals and Corey Kluber to the Indians.
Upon his first at-bat back in St. Louis, as a Padre, he received a standing ovation from the St. Louis crowd, and Ludwick tipped his cap to the crowd in return.
His stats took a hit in 2011 due to lack of production at the Padres home field, Petco Park
PETCO Park
Petco Park is an open-air ballpark in downtown San Diego, California, USA. It opened in 2004, replacing Qualcomm Stadium as the home park of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres. Before then, the Padres shared Qualcomm Stadium with the NFL's San Diego Chargers...
. At the end of his tenure as a Padre, Ludwick was hitting .238, but with 11 home runs and 64 runs batted in and 42 runs scored. He accounted for 25.3 percent of the Padres' runs. By comparison, Adrian Gonzalez
Adrián González
Adrian Gonzalez is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.Gonzalez was the first overall pick in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the Florida Marlins. He was traded to the Texas Rangers, and later to the San Diego Padres, where he...
accounted for 23.6 percent of the Padres' runs in 2010
2010 San Diego Padres season
The San Diego Padres' 2010 season is their 42nd season in MLB. On August 27, the Padres had a 6.5 game lead over 2nd-place San Francisco, and wound up missing the playoffs as the Giants passed them in September.-Regular season:...
.
Pittsburgh Pirates
In the final hour of the 2011 MLB non-waiver trading deadline on July 31st, San Diego traded Ludwick to the Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
for a player to be named later.
Personal
Ludwick and his wife, Joanie, reside in Georgetown, TexasGeorgetown, Texas
Georgetown is a city and also the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States with a population of 47,400 at the 2010 census. Southwestern University, founded in 1840, is the oldest university in Texas and is located in Georgetown, about 1/2 mile east of the historic square...
, and have one son, Stetson Tyler.