Pelekoudas is of
Greek descent and the son of former MLB
umpire Chris Pelekoudas. He grew up in
Sunnyvale, California. Pelekoudas was selected by the
Montreal Expos in the 23rd round of the
1969 MLB draft but attended
Arizona State University instead. He was a pitcher on the
Sun Devils team that went to the
1972 College World Series. He did not pitch professionally due to an arm injury. Pelekoudas joined the Mariners in December 1979 as a travel director. He became a director of baseball administration in 1987 and senior director in 1995. He became the vice president of baseball administration in September 1997, then associate
general manager (GM) in 2005. During his tenure, several coaches and players who had become
scapegoats for the team's poor performance during the
2008 season were dismissed, including hitting
coach Jeff Pentland,
manager John McLaren, and veteran players
Richie Sexson and
José Vidro. Pelekoudas returned to his former position when
Jack Zduriencik was hired as the Mariners' GM on October 21. Pelekoudas resigned from the Mariners on September 1, 2009. Pelekoudas is married and has two sons who have also worked for MLB teams. ==References==