Brett Cederblad

Brett Robert Cederblad
(Headly)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 195 lb.
• High School Erindale College of Canberra, Kambah High School

• Born March 6, 1973 in Australia (3 different cities listed in 3 different sources)

BR register page

Biographical Information

Brett Cederblad pitched for the Australian national team then made it to AAA.

Cederblad was 2-4 with a 3.36 ERA for the Gold Coast Clippers in the first season of the Australian Baseball League, in 1989-1990. The 16-year-old was second in the ABL in innings (88 1/3, 13 1/3 behind Mike Borgatti). The team became the Daikyo Dolphins in 1990-1991 and he was 4-1 with a save and a 3.63 ERA.

Pitching for Australia in the 1991 Asian Championship, he got the victory in a huge upset win over Japan, which otherwise went unbeaten. Relieving Keith Wenban with a 6-6 tie in the 6th, he allowed one run in 3 1/3 IP before Ross Jones closed out the 9-7 win. With Daikyo in 1991-1992, he was 6-4 with a save and a 4.64 ERA.

The tall right-hander was 2-4 with 5 saves and a 3.53 ERA for the team (renamed once again, now the Gold Coast Dolphins) in 1992-1993. He tied for fourth in the ABL in saves. He pitched for Australia when they hosted the 1993 Asian Championship. He had a 1.23 ERA in five outings in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, tying Jones for the team lead in appearances; only Jones had a better ERA for Australia. He tied Danny Graves and others for the most games pitched in the Cup.

Brett was 3-6 with a 4.28 ERA for the East Coast Cougars in the 1993-1994 as the team continued its name change tradition. He was 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA for Australia in the 1994 Baseball World Cup. He improved to 6-5, 2.77, walking 25 in 91 innings, in 1994-1995. He was third in the league in ERA, behind Jesus Martinez and Phil Dale, and 3rd with 8 complete games (3 behind Dale and David White).

He signed with the Boston Red Sox and split the summer of 1995 between the Sarasota Red Sox (7-6, 4.09) and Trenton Thunder (3-2, 3.63). He walked 32 in 137 innings, while fanning 107. He was 5th in the Red Sox chain in wins and 4th in strikeouts (between Jeff Suppan and Brian Rose). In the 1995-1996 ABL, he had a 9-2, 4.54 record for the Gold Coast Cougars (yet another name change!), only issuing 15 walks in 83 1/3 innings. He tied White for the win lead, was 4th in K:BB ratio and ranked third in innings (between Peter Jacobsson and Stuart Howell). He was named the second-team All-Star starting pitcher, after Frankie Rodríguez.

Cederblad split 1996 between Trenton (1-3, 2 Sv, 3.72 in 27 G) and the Pawtucket Red Sox (3.60 in 10 G), making it to AAA. He walked 20 in 78 innings (and three of those were intentional). His career was then sidelined by a shoulder injury and he missed the 1996-1997 ABL. Returning that summer, he was not nearly as effective: 10 R (9 ER) for Trenton, 0 R in 2 IP for the GCL Red Sox, obviously still suffering from the effects of the injury. That would end his time in the Boston system.

In the 1997-1998 ABL, he was 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA for the Cougars. He went to Taiwan that year, going 3-1 with a save and a 3.30 ERA for the Kaoping Fala. He was 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA for Gold Coast in 1998-1999 and won another game in the playoffs as the team won the title.

During the ABL's initial ten-year run (the league would be revived in 2010-2011), he had gone 40-30 with seven saves and a 3.77 ERA. He was among the league's career leaders in ERA (10th, between Brent Iddon and Jon Deeble), innings (576, 3rd, behind Dale and White), games pitched (125, 6th), wins (4th, between Adrian Meagher and Simon Eissens), losses (tied Jacobbson for 4th), saves (tied for 14th), hits allowed (586, 3rd, behind Dale and White), runs allowed (297, 4th), earned runs (241, 4th), strikeouts (385, 3rd, behind Dale and Meagher), walks (151, tied Kim Jessop for 3rd), homers allowed (50, 7th), hit batsmen (14, 7th), wild pitches (16, 10th), starts (85, 2nd, 17 behind Dale), complete games (18, 5th, only one back of 3rd) and lowest average allowed (.253, 19th, between Simon Sheldon-Collins and John Challinor). Flintoff & Dunn named him to their All-Decade tea given his long success.

His career was not yet over. In the 1999 Taiwan Major League, he was 7-6 with a 3.55 ERA. He was 8th in ERA, between Yi-Hsin Chen and Rick Steed. He led his team's qualifiers in ERA, .27 ahead of Don August. He struggled for the Queensland Rams in the 1999-2000 International Baseball League of Australia, allowing four runs in one inning to end his Australian career.

Brett was 6-4 with a 3.77 ERA for the independent Solano Steelheads in 2000. He was 10th in the Western League in ERA. He thus ended his baseball career on a solid note.