Robert Charles Nieman (January 26, 1927 – March 10, 1985) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player and
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
. An
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...
, he spent all or parts of a dozen
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 ...
seasons with the
St. Louis Browns (1951–52),
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 ...
(1953–54),
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 ...
(1955–56),
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
(1956–59),
St. Louis Cardinals (1960–61),
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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
(1961–62) and
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 ...
(1962). He also played one season in Japan for the
Chunichi Dragons
The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...
(1963). 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 and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...
, stood tall and weighed .
[ Retrosheet]
"Bob Nieman"
/ref>[ Baseball Reference]
"Bob Nieman Major, Minor & Japanese Stats"
/ref>
Career
Minor leagues
Nieman was born in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. After attending Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...
, he was signed by his hometown Reds as an amateur free agent in 1948. He spent three full seasons and part of a fourth in the Cincinnati farm system
In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...
, although he played only 38 games above the Class A level. In June 1951, he was acquired by the unaffiliated Oklahoma City Indians
The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...
from the Reds' Tulsa Oilers farm team, and he played 109 games for the 1951 Indians and batted .328. (His combined average, his tenure with Tulsa included, of .324 won him the batting title of the Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
.)
Major leagues
Nieman then was purchased by the Browns and was added to their active roster in September 1951, setting the stage for his dramatic big league debut. On September 14
Events Pre-1600
*AD 81 – Domitian became Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus.
* 786 – "Night of the three Caliphs": Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi. Bir ...
, at Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...
, Nieman hit two home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s in his first two major league at-bats.[MLB.com: "Best Debuts in Baseball History](_blank)
/ref> The blows—a solo home run in the second inning
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...
and a two-run shot in the third—were hit off Red Sox left-hander Mickey McDermott. Nieman added a single and drove in three runs on the day, but Boston won the game, 9–6. Nieman became the first player in big league history to hit two homers in his first game. Bert Campaneris
Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco (born March 9, 1942), nicknamed "Bert" or "Campy", is a Cuban Americans, Cuban American former professional baseball shortstop, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for four American League (AL) teams, primarily the ...
(1964), Mark Quinn (1999), J.P. Arencibia (2010) and Trevor Story (2016) are the only others to accomplish the feat. Also, Nieman is one of two players in MLB history to homer in each of his first two big league at bats. Keith McDonald, in 2000, became the other.
Nieman became an everyday outfielder for the Browns, later played regularly for the Tigers and Orioles, and overall he fashioned a 12-year career as a semi-regular outfielder and pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...
. In his 1,113-game career he batted .295, with 125 home runs, 544 RBI, 455 runs, 1,018 hits, 180 doubles, 32 triples and 10 stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...
s. He batted over .300 three times, twice as a regular outfielder with more than 400 at bats
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...
.
In his final MLB campaign, he collected eight pinch hits to help the Giants win the 1962 National League pennant. In the 1962 World Series, and in his only postseason opportunity and last big-league plate appearance
In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...
, Nieman pinch hit for Ed Bailey
Lonas Edgar Bailey, Jr. (April 15, 1931 – March 23, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and later served on the Knoxville, Tennessee city council. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from through . A six-time All-St ...
in the seventh inning of Game 4 at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
. He drew a base on balls
A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk,
occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...
against left-hander Marshall Bridges and was removed for a pinch runner, Ernie Bowman. Bowman would soon score when Giants' second baseman
In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
Chuck Hiller hit the first grand slam home run ever struck by a National League player in World Series history.[ Retrosheetbr>box score: 1962-10-08]
/ref> The Giants won that contest, 7–3, but dropped the series in seven games.
Scout
After retiring from the field, Nieman served as a scout for over two decades, working for the Indians, Dodgers, Athletics, White Sox and Yankees.
He died as a result of a massive heart attack in Corona, California
Corona (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crown") is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States, directly bordering Orange County, California, Orange and San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino counties. Its curre ...
, at 58 years of age.
See also
* Home run in first Major League at-bat
References
External links
Retrosheet
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieman, Bob
1927 births
1985 deaths
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from Cincinnati
Charleston Senators players
Chicago White Sox players
Chunichi Dragons players
Cleveland Indians players
Cleveland Indians scouts
Columbia Reds players
Detroit Tigers players
Los Angeles Dodgers scouts
Major League Baseball left fielders
Muncie Reds players
New York Yankees scouts
Oakland Athletics scouts
Oklahoma City Indians players
St. Louis Browns players
20th-century American sportsmen
St. Louis Cardinals players
San Francisco Giants players
Sunbury Reds players
Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players