Alan Brian Levine (born May 22, 1968) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

who pitched 234 games in the minor leagues, and 416 games in the major leagues.

Early life and career

Levine, who is Jewish, was born in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located north of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airpo ...

, and graduated from Hoffman Estates High School, attended and played for Harper Junior College, and graduated from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

. In , Levine walked onto the SIU team as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Baseball career

The

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

drafted him in the 11th round of the 1991 draft.

Minor leagues

In 1991 he debuted with the Class A

Utica Blue Sox The Utica Blue Sox was the name of two minor league baseball teams based in Utica, New York. In the 2010s, the ''Utica Blue Sox'' is the name of a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) based in Ne ...

, and was 5th in the

New York-Penn League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

with two complete games.Al Levine Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref>Al Levine Stats, Fantasy & News , MLB.com
/ref> In 1992, he stuck 142 batters between the

Sarasota White Sox Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

and the single-A South Bend White Sox, tying for second among White Sox minor leaguers. In 1993, he led

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

pitchers with 129 strikeouts while pitching for Sarasota, and came in third in the league with three complete games, and fifth with 11 wins. Levine played AA for the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

in 1994, along with

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

, until he was called up to AAA mid-season, and came in eighth in with a 3.31 ERA. In 1995, he started in the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

' starting rotation, but spent most of the season in double-A Birmingham, where he was second on the team with seven saves. Levine pitched 234 games in the minor leagues, over 11 seasons.

Major leagues

Levine made his major league debut in with the White Sox. In , he held batters to a .125 batting average when there were two outs with runners in scoring position. In December 1997, he was traded by the White Sox with Larry Thomas to the Texas Rangers for

Benji Gil Romar Benjamín Gil Aguilar (born October 6, 1972) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and the Anaheim Angels with whom he won the 2002 World Series. He w ...

. In April , he was selected off waivers by the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

from the Texas Rangers. In , he held batters to a .186 batting average when there were two outs with runners in scoring position. In , he had perhaps his best season. He had a 2.38

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

(2.11 in relief; second-best among all AL relievers) for the Angels in 64 games, and his eight wins were third-most among all AL relief pitchers. In , he held batters to a .206 batting average when there were two outs with runners in scoring position. In January , Levine signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, but was released in March. In April, he signed as a free agent with the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

, who then sold him to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

on July 31. In 2003, he had another excellent season, splitting it between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Kansas City Royals. He had a 2.79 ERA in 54 games. He held batters to a .189 batting average when there were two outs with runners in scoring position. In December 2003, he signed as a free agent with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. In , he held batters to a .154 batting average when there were two outs with runners in scoring position. For seven seasons in a row, from 1999 to 2004, he pitched in at least 50 games each year. In February , he signed as a free agent with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, who released him in June. On July 7, 2005, he was signed as a free agent by the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

, but was released a week later without pitching a game for them. Levine played for seven major league teams. For his career, he held batters to a .220

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

when there were runners in

scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter ...

with two outs.

Atlantic League

In 2008, Levine pitched for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

References

External links

RetrosheetJews in Sports biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Alan 1968 births Anaheim Angels players Birmingham Barons players Caribes de Oriente players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Fresno Grizzlies players Jewish American baseball players Kansas City Royals players Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Newark Bears players Oklahoma RedHawks players People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Salt Lake Stingers players San Francisco Giants players Sarasota White Sox players South Bend White Sox players Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Texas Rangers players Utica Blue Sox players Harper Hawks baseball players Hoffman Estates High School alumni 21st-century American Jews Harper College alumni 20th-century American sportsmen