Joc Pederson Albert Pujols (2001). Pederson was selected to the National League squad in the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the first Dodgers rookie to be selected as an All Star since Hideo Nomo in 1995, and he was later chosen to start in left field after Matt Holliday withdrew from the game due to an injury. He became the first Dodgers rookie position player to ever start in an All-Star game. He was also selected to participate in the Home Run Derby. Pederson was the #4 seed, hit the longest homer of the evening at 489 feet, became the first
Baseball in Japan by their sponsoring companies and do not receive salaries as baseball players but as company employees. The best teams in these circuits are determined via the Intercity Baseball Tournament and the Industrial League National Tournament. The level of play in these leagues is very competitive; Industrial League players are often selected to represent Japan in international tournaments and Major League Baseball players such as Hideo Nomo (Shin-Nitetsu Sakai), Junichi Tazawa (Nippon Oil) and Kosuke Fukudome (Nihon Seimei), have been discovered by professional clubs while playing industrial baseball. Japan has won the World Baseball Classic twice since the tournament was created.