Calvin Amandus Neeman (February 18, 1929 – October 1, 2015) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

in the Major Leagues from 1957 to 1963 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

and Washington Senators. A native of

Valmeyer, Illinois __NOTOC__ Valmeyer is a village in Monroe County, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. The population was 1,263 at the 2010 United States Census. History After the Great Flood of 1993 the residents of Valmeyer decided to relocate the town two ...

, he threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . He was an alumnus of

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, where he played both baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. Newman entered baseball in 1949 after being signed to a

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

' contract by scout

Lou Maguolo Louis Dewey Maguolo (8 June 1899 – 14 May 1977) was an American Major League Baseball executive. A baseball scout for the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees, he was best known for signing Yankee greats Bill Skowron, Tony Kubek, Fritz Peters ...

. He spent six seasons in the Bombers' farm system (missing 1951–52 while performing

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

service in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

) until his selection by the Cubs in the 1956 Rule 5 draft. Neeman led all

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

catchers in games caught (118),

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or '' fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

s and caught-stealing as a Cubs'

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

in . He collected a career-high 107

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

and 39

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

hitting A strike is a directed physical attack with either a part of the human body or with an inanimate object (such as a weapon) intended to cause blunt trauma or penetrating trauma upon an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes. A ...

.258 with ten

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

. The next year, Neeman hit a career-best 12 homers in only 76 games played, and batted .259. But his production declined drastically in and he spent the final five years of his MLB tenure as a backup catcher, with parts of 1961–63 back in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

. In 376

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Baseball ...

in the majors, Neeman had 224 hits, including 35 doubles, ten triples, 30 home runs and 97 runs batted in. He hit .224 lifetime. Neeman died on October 1, 2015, at his home in

Lake St. Louis, Missouri The City of Lake St. Louis is a planned community situated around two lakes between Interstate 70 and Interstate 64 in western St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 16,707 as of the 2020 US Census. History In January ...

. He was 86.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
1929 births 2015 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Illinois Binghamton Triplets players Birmingham Barons players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Jets players Denver Bears players Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Illinois Wesleyan Titans baseball players Jacksonville Suns players Joplin Miners players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball catchers People from Lake St. Louis, Missouri People from Monroe County, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army soldiers Washington Senators (1961–1971) players {{US-baseball-catcher-1920s-stub