Thomas Riedner

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lb.

• School University of Hamburg

• Born February 21, 1976 in Hamburg Germany

Biographical Information

Thomas Riedner played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team.

In 1994, he was 6-for-14 with 3 doubles, a walk, 3 runs and two RBI for the Hamburg Knights. He pitched two shutout innings and got a save in '95, when he went 6 for 20. The next year, he hit .304/.379/.424 and was 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA. He tied for 5th in the Bundesliga-1 in RBI (26), was 5th in assists (61) and 7th in errors (15). During 1997, he was at .430/.489/.734 though he was 1-5 with a 9.90 ERA. He was 6th in average, tied for 8th in hits (34), tied for first in doubles (16), 4th in slugging, 4th in OPS, first in assists (73, 9 ahead of [[Glen Buckley]}), tied for 3rd in errors (15) and tied for 5th in losses.

Riedner batted .359/.385/.500 with 46 RBI in 37 games for the Lokstedt Stealers in 1998, going 1-0 with a 8.44 ERA and fielding .844. He was 3rd in RBI, 6th with 47 hits, tied for 4th with 15 doubles, third with 93 assists and 4th with 24 errors. In '99, he was at .417/.453/.635 and pitched better (2-0, 1.00 ERA) and fielded better (.924). He was 9th in average, 6th in RBI (24), tied René Herlitzius for 3rd in hits (40), led in doubles (15), tied for 5th in triples (3), was 7th in slugging, placed 5th in OPS and was 4th with 59 errors. Playing for Germany in the 1999 European Championship, he hit .176/.263/.294 and fielded .824 while starting at third base. He had the lowest fielding percentage among qualifiers at the hot corner, .026 behind Josef Svoboda.

With the 2000 Stealers, he hit .421/.477/.726 with 42 RBI in 28 games, fielding .873 and only pitching 3 innings. He was 9th in average (between Jendrick Speer and Tim Puscian), tied for 7th in homers (5), tied for the RBI lead, 5th in hits (40), tied for 6th in doubles (8), 8th in runs (32), 7th in slugging and 8th in OPS. Switching to the Pulheim Gophers for 2001, he posted a .407/.471/.581 line, was 2-4 with a save and a 12.71 ERA and fielded .933; Germany transitioned from aluminum bats to wood that summer. He made leaderboards for average (5th), runs (30, 4th), hits (34, 6th), slugging (7th, between Alex Baham and Speer), OPS (8th), assists (54, tied Dominik Wulf for 8th) and losses (tied for 9th).

At the 2001 European Championship, he manned first base and hit .278/.316/.371 with 7 runs in 8 games, handling 76 chances error-free. He tied Matt Stockmann for 4th in total chances and was 3rd with 62 putouts (behind Jorge Miqueleiz and Alexandre Fedorov). He led in fielding; Pavel Budský was next with a 1.000 in 59 chances. He was one run behind team leader Alex Borgo. In '02, he was the main shortstop and #2 pitcher for the Wolfsburg Yahoos. He batted .296/.393/.352, was 4-3 with a 5.45 ERA and fielded .951. He was 9th in assists (52); had he qualified, he would've been 10th in ERA.

Returning to his old Stealers club in 2003, he rebounded to .383/.457/.550 and pitched two shutout innings. Playing 1B, SS and 3B, he fielded .931. He was 9th in average (between Stefan Pößl and Norman Eberhardt), tied Baham for 7th in steals (9; caught once) and was 6th in OBP (between Baham and Mark Gnutzmann). In 2004, he was mostly at third, fielding .902 overall. He hit .265/.370/.324 and did not pitch for the first time in a decade. He was 8th in errors (10). The next year, he batted .346/.424/.436 with 21 RBI in 24 games, fielding .962 (mostly at 1B; some time at P, 3B and SS) and was 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA. His 153 putouts were 7th-most.

The Hamburg native hit .261/.346/.303 in 2006, going 0-1 with a 8.59 ERA and fielding .940 between four positions. In '07, his batting line was .212/.305/.250; he was 2-3 with a 4.03 ERA and fielded .848; his main position was now pitcher and DH, followed by short and third. He hit .402/.458/.425 with 23 runs in 22 contests in 2008, only pitching twice and fielding .923, mainly at third base. Only Chris Beck and Kai Gronauer posted higher averages in the loop. He faded to .247/.363/.286 in 2009 and did not pitch; his 7 times plunked tied him for second-most. His last season, 2010, he fielded .930 (mostly at 1B and SS), hit .244/.347/.268 and had a 3.38 ERA. He tied for 6th in HBP (6) and tied for second in errors (11).

Away from baseball, he worked in supply chain management.

Main Source: German Baseball Federation