From playing second base for the Channel Islands High Raiders baseball team to a 29-year career as a major league player and coach, it has been a long ride for Terry Pendleton.
The 1991 National League MVP for the Atlanta Braves was a third-baseman for 15 seasons with five teams. In 1,893 games, Pendleton batted .270 with 140 home runs and 946 RBIs. He won three Gold Gloves.
The road began in the Eastside Little League and continued at Channel Islands High, where he played second base for the Raiders. Pendleton helped Oxnard College reach its first state tournament appearance. He earned All-American honors at Fresno State, setting a program record with 98 hits in 1982 as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight conference title. Fresno State retired his number in 2007.
Pendleton began his pro baseball career by signing with the St. Louis Cardinals, which selected him in the seventh round of the 1982 draft. It didn’t take long for Pendleton to move up the minor league chain, being promoted to the Cardinals’ AAA team in Louisville in 1984. The Cardinals switched Terry from second base to third base during that 1984 season.
Terry made his major league debut on July 18, 1984, going 3 for 5 in a win over the San Francisco Giants. He batted .324 in 64 games for the Cardinals and finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year balloting. He was a member of the 1984 and 1986 National League championship teams for the Cardinals. Signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 1990, Terry played 593 games for the club. He would sign with the Florida Marlins in 1995, return to the Braves in 1996, sign with the Reds in 1997 and Kansas City Royals in 1998. He retired after the 1998 season.
He is entering his 14th season as a member of Atlanta’s coaching staff, recently being promoted to bench coach. Pendleton was the Braves’ hitting coach for nine seasons.
Terry and his wife Catherine reside in Duluth, Ga.