Alvin Edward Neiger (March 26, 1939 – October 3, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher who played for five seasons as a professional — including six games as a relief pitcher for the 1960

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) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

of Major League Baseball — after a stellar career at the University of Delaware. Neiger stood tall and weighed as an active player. Neiger's six MLB games played were divided evenly with two appearances in each of the months of July, August and September

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. In his debut, he was unscored upon in 1

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

against the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up only one hit, a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, to St. Louis pitcher Larry Jackson. Three rough outings followed, two against the Cardinals and one against the eventual National League and 1960 world champion

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) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, in which Neiger gave up 13 hits and eight earned runs in 8 innings. Neiger was then unscored upon in his last two outings, in September, against the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

and

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. All told, he allowed eight earned runs, 16 hits, and four

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 12 MLB innings, with three

strike out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

s. In minor league baseball, Neiger was more successful, winning 43 of 75 decisions in 126 games. But at the University of Delaware, he was a standout. Neiger was selected a first-team All-America in 1959, when he struck out 166 batters in 103

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, racked up 55 consecutive scoreless innings, and posted a 0.88 earned run average and a 9–3 record. He still holds the school record for strikeouts, earned run average, and consecutive scoreless innings pitched. A mechanical engineering major, he retired after the 1963 season and entered private business in the Wilmington area. Neiger is a member of both the University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame and the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. Neiger died on October 3, 2022, at the age of 83.

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Al Neiger
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Neiger, Al 1939 births 2022 deaths Baseball players from Wilmington, Delaware Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Businesspeople from Wilmington, Delaware Chattanooga Lookouts players Dallas Rangers players Johnson City Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens baseball players Williamsport Grays players