Never Said Win

Never Said Win

Stu Pederson played briefly for the Dodgers in 1985. When he coached his sons in the Palo Alto Little League, he never used the word "win." He emphasized fun and development, focused on effort, being on time, and being a good teammate, and rotated his pitchers freely. He recalled that Joc was undersized and hit no home runs until he was seventeen — but loved the game intensely from kindergarten soft-toss sessions.

The Dodgers took Joc in the 11th round of the 2010 draft out of Palo Alto High School. He signed for $600,000 rather than honor his commitment to USC, where Stu had played. He debuted in September 2014, and on July 24, 2026, playing for his sixth major-league club, he collected his 1,000th career hit.

Six Uniforms

In seven seasons with the Dodgers, he made the All-Star team in 2015 and won a World Series in 2020. In 2021, split between the Cubs and Braves, he won a second consecutive ring. Pederson wore a pearl necklace through October — he had asked his jeweler for something different — and teammates ribbed him, fans bought replicas, and he donated the original strand to the Baseball Hall of Fame after Atlanta's win. San Francisco gave him two seasons and a second All-Star selection in 2022. Arizona for one year. Now Texas, where he is a designated hitter with 22 home runs in 113 games this season. Across 13 years and 1,481 games, he has 240 career home runs.

The Brother in the Room

Through every stop, his older brother Champ has been a clubhouse presence. Champ, who has Down syndrome, once gave a pregame speech to the Dodgers before a playoff game and joined the champagne celebrations. He inspires the family's Live Like a Champ initiative. Pederson has said that Champ reminds him never to take the privilege of playing baseball for granted.

He is 34, a designated hitter in his second season with the Texas Rangers.

Reporting: Little League, MLB.com, Sports Illustrated, Wikipedia. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.