Justin Joseph Knoedler (born July 17, 1980 in Springfield, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. Knoedler was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 41st round (1218th overall) in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft out of Springfield High School but did not sign with them. He was also taken in the 13th round (391st overall) of the 2000 MLB Draft (after playing at Lincoln Land Community College) by the San Francisco Giants. Once again, he did not sign and chose to play college ball at Miami University. He entered the draft again in , being taken by the Giants again, this time as a higher overall pick (166th overall in the 5th round). This time he signed a contract. Knoedler began his professional career in 2001 as a pitcher for the Low-A Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. He appeared in 13 games, all in relief, and had a 1-1 record with a 1.26 ERA. He did long relief, pitching 28 innings with 38 strikeouts and only walked 9. In , Knoedler converted to catcher. He played for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns and in his first year as a catcher, he batted .257 with 5 home runs in 86 games. Knoedler was promoted to the High-A San Jose Giants in . His batting average was the same from the previous year, but he doubled his home run total to 10. Knoedler began the season with the Double-A Norwich Navigators. He played the full minor league season as he appeared in 115 games. He batted .274 with 9 home runs. He earned a September callup to the major leagues on September 6. He did not make his major league debut until the last game of the season on October 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He entered the game as a defensive replacement for A. J. Pierzynski and he had one at-bat, flying out to center field. Knoedler played in Double-A in for 4 games and mainly played for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. He was with the major league club from August 2 to August 3 while Mike Matheny was on the bereavement list. The Giants called him back up in September. On September 12, against the San Diego Padres, he got his first big league hit, a pinch hit single off Akinori Otsuka. Knoedler was called up by the Giants in September 2006. He appeared in 5 major league