Joc Pederson

Pederson's Jewish maternal great-great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-uncle immigrated to the United States in the 1840s, and were charter members of synagogue Temple Emanuel in San Francisco.

His great-great-grandfather Leopold Cahn (born in 1864; son of Israel Cahn, a wool merchant), great-grandmother Zelda Sugarman (born in 1907), and great-great-grandmother Fannie Morris (born in 1873) were born in San Francisco.

Pederson grew up a San Francisco Giants fan.

Joc's older brother, Tyger, played baseball for the University of the Pacific, and then played second base in the Dodgers minor league system.

Joc's eldest brother, Champ, has Down syndrome and sometimes stays with him during the season.

His younger sister, Jacey, played soccer as a forward for the United States national under-17 team and played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins.

Through 2022, Pederson was second among Jewish baseball players in career home run frequency (behind Hank Greenberg), seventh in career home runs (behind Al Rosen), and eighth in career slugging percentage (behind Ron Blomberg).

Pederson attended Palo Alto High School.

In his senior year, Pederson batted .466 with a .577 on-base percentage (OBP) and an .852 slugging percentage, with 20 stolen bases in 22 attempts, playing center field and leading off for the school's baseball team.

He also played for the school's football team, leading it with 30 receptions in his senior year, for 650 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Pederson was the team's number one wide receiver, racking up more yards and touchdowns than his teammate, future NFL two-time All Pro First Team wide receiver Davante Adams, who was a Junior at the time.

Stu played in eight games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1985, and spent 12 years in Minor League Baseball.

Joc's mother was an athletic trainer in college.

He is Jewish by birth (his mother is Jewish), and has played for the Israel national baseball team.

Joc Russell Pederson (born April 21, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants.

He is a two-time World Series champion and a two-time All-Star.

The son of former MLB player Stu Pederson, Joc was drafted by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB draft out of Palo Alto High School.

Pederson graduated in 2010.

In the 11th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, Pederson was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He had committed to play at the University of Southern California, where his father played college baseball, but Joc chose instead to sign with the Dodgers.

He was given a $600,000 signing bonus to sign with the Dodgers.

The bonus was the second-highest given to any draft pick the Dodgers signed that year, and it was four times the amount typically given to players drafted after the fifth round.

Pederson had wanted more money, but he chose to accept their offer because he realized "My dream — my big dream — was to become a star in the big leagues."

In 2011, as the youngest player with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League, Pederson had a .353 batting average/.429 OBP/.568 slugging percentage with 11 homers, leading the league with 64 runs batted in (RBIs), a .997 on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage, and nine outfield assists.

He finished second with 24 stolen bases, second in on-base percentage, third with 54 runs, and third with 36 walks while playing in 68 games.

Pederson was selected as both a Pioneer League and Rookie League All-Star, a Baseball America Rookie All Star, and a Topps Short-Season/Rookie League All Star.

By virtue of his Jewish heritage, he played for the Israel national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

He was ranked the Dodgers' top prospect by Baseball America after the 2013 season.

In 2014, he was named the Pacific Coast League (PCL) Most Valuable Player after hitting 30 home runs and stealing 30 bases, and he made his major league debut that September.

Beginning the 2015 season as the Dodgers' starting center fielder, Pederson was selected to start for the NL All-Star team.

He became the first Dodger to hit at least 25 home runs in each of his first two seasons, with 25 in 2016.

Pederson hit three home runs in the 2017 World Series, which the Dodgers lost to the Houston Astros.

Pederson returned to the World Series in 2018 with the Dodgers, hitting a home run in Game 3 as the Dodgers lost to the Boston Red Sox.

In 2019, he hit a career-high 36 home runs.

In 2020, he had four hits in 10 at bats in the World Series as the Dodgers won the championship.

He signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, and was traded mid-season to the Atlanta Braves as they won the World Series, making him the ninth player in Major League history to win back-to-back World Series with different teams.

Following the 2021-22 lockout, Pederson signed a one-year contract with his hometown San Francisco Giants, and made his second career All-Star Game.

Pederson played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami.

Pederson was born in Palo Alto, California, and is the son of Shelly (Cahn) and Stu Pederson.