Pendleton, Terry L.
Baseball
b. July 16, 1960, Los Angeles, CA
The NL's most valuable player in 1991, Pendleton entered the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984. A switch-hitting third baseman, he signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1990.
Pendleton helped lead the Braves to two consecutive pennants, in 1991 and 1992. He led the league in hits with 187 and in batting with a .319 average in 1991, when he had 22 home runs, 94 runs scored, and 86 RBI. He had an even better overall year in 1992, hitting .311 with a league-leading 199 hits, scoring 98 runs and driving in 105, but he finished second to San Francisco's Barry Bonds in the MVP voting.
After he hit only .252 in 1994, the Braves let him become a free agent and he signed with the Florida Marlins. But Atlanta traded for him late in the 1996 season to get some help in the stretch drive. Pendleton wasn't a lot of help, though, hitting only .204 after the trade, and he became a free agent again after the season. He began 1997 with the Cincinnati Reds, but they cut him in July. After part-time duty with the Kansas City Royals in 1998, Pendleton retired.