Hall of Fame
Joel Brettingen holds the distinction of being Macalester’s first All-American in baseball. An excellent offensive player who hit for average and power, he made the All-MIAC team as a sophomore, junior and senior while leading the Scots in batting average, doubles and runs batted in for all three seasons. As a sophomore in 2002, Joel batted .478 with 17 doubles, five home runs and 44 RBIs to earn All-MIAC, All-Region and All-American honors. He also set the school record for total bases (102) that year in leading Macalester to a 22-14 record. During the summer following his junior year, Joel played for USA Athletes International in the Flanders Invitational Tournament in Belgium. A good athlete with size and speed, he stole 32 bases in 35 attempts and posted a fielding percentage of .951 at second base for his career. In 144 games as a Scot, Joel batted .399 with 201 hits, 50 doubles, seven triples, 14 home runs and 129 RBIs. He still holds program records for career hits, doubles and total bases (307). Following graduation, Joel received invitations to try out for the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres. He also played 12 seasons of Minnesota Amateur Baseball at the Class A level. A communications & media studies major at Macalester, Joel is a senior program engineer at Commonwealth Fusion Systems in California.
