You wonder why he never made it to the majors. Talking here about Fukuoka Daiei Hawks relief ace Rod Pedraza, the best closer in the Pacific League if not all of Japanese baseball, and one big reason the Hawks have won the PL pennant each of the two years Pedraza has been their game-ender.
The 29-year-old Texas native joined the Hawks in late April of 1999, after the Daiei organization had said it might go that whole year without foreign players because of a budget crunch. But Fukuoka took a chance on the virtually unknown hurler whose highest level of pro experience in North America consisted of 13 games in Triple-A at Colorado Springs, spread over the 1994 and 1996 seasons.
When the Hawks hooked him last year, his status was Double-A at Tulsa in the Texas Rangers organization and, looking at his minor league record, it does not appear Daiei offered him a contract for his game-saving ability. Through eight seasons (1991-1998), playing for farm teams of the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and Rangers, Pedraza had compiled a record of 65-40 with an earned run average of 3.82 and -- get this -- no saves.