Daniel Miceli (born September 9, 1970) is an American former major league baseball relief pitcher.

Early career

Miceli began playing baseball during his senior year at Dr. Phillips High School in Florida where he was teammates with

Brian Barber Brian Scott Barber (born March 4, 1973) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the first rou ...

and won a single game as a pitcher. Miceli received an offer to play college baseball at

Polk Community College Polk State College, formerly Polk Community College, is a public college in Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college changed its name from Polk Community College in 2009 to reflect its first Bachelor's degre ...

and was not selected in the Major League Baseball draft. He signed with 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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

after seeing an advertisement for an open tryout in the '' Orlando Sentinel''. Miceli never saw time at the major league level for Kansas City. Instead, he was dealt to the

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 ...

(July 31, 1993) with pitcher Jon Lieber in exchange for pitcher Stan Belinda. Miceli made his major league debut on his birthday, September 9, 1993. The Pirates tried Miceli as both a starter and in the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

, but the right-hander found his niche as a reliever, collecting a career high 21 saves in 1995. Unfortunately, Miceli battled a high ERA in Pittsburgh, a tendency that has followed him throughout his career. The Pirates then traded Miceli to 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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(November 1, 1996) for pitcher Clint Sodowsky. Miceli's stint in the Motor City was short, but productive, recording over 82

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 team ...

s all in relief. The oft-traded reliever was moved once again to the San Diego Padres with fellow pitcher Donne Wall and minor leaguer Ryan Balfe, for outfielder Trey Beamon and reliever Tim Worrell. Miceli was an important piece of the Padres' 1998 National League Champion team. An ineffective 1999 campaign saw Miceli on the move again, this time to the Florida Marlins.

Frequent Flyer Miles

From 2000 through 2005, Miceli's services were sought by contenders and non-contenders alike, as teams attempted to fill vacancies in their bullpen. Miceli made stops in Florida, Texas, Cleveland,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Colorado (three times), Houston and even an overseas stay in Japan as member of the Yomiuri Giants. On July 29, 2003, Miceli became part of the Astros relief corps. In 2004, Miceli went 6-6 with a respectable 3.59 ERA, and made career highs in games (74) and

strikeout 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 deno ...

s (83). Miceli also made his second postseason trip that season, coming within a game of another World Series berth. While he was a significant bullpen contributor during the regular season, he pitched poorly in the postseason. Particularly, in the NLCS he posted a 27.00 ERA in only 1.1 innings pitched and received losses in two crucial games. In contrast to his solid 2004 season, his performance in Japan was one of the worst in his career,

losing Losing may refer to: Music * "Losing" (Tenth Avenue North song), a 2012 song by Tenth Avenue North * "Losing" (Takida song), a 2006 song by Takida * ''Losing'' (album) People with the surname * Sabine Lösing (born 1955), German politician Se ...

2 consecutive games to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Yokohama BayStars, which were his first two games. This resulted in him becoming the player released after the shortest amount of time (4 games) in Giants' history. On January 12, 2006, the journeyman signed on with his tenth team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, agreeing to a two-year deal. Part of a closer by committee system in Tampa, Miceli earned four saves and held opponents to a .217 batting average. A majority of Miceli's season was lost due to a right shoulder injury. The veteran righty entered as a candidate for the Rays' closer in 2007. Poor results during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

cost the well traveled reliever a spot on Tampa Bay's forty-man roster, and on March 29, Miceli was released from the team. In 631 career games, Miceli had a 43-52 record, with 4.48 ERA. He collected 632 strikeouts, and 310 walks in just over 700 innings pitched. Miceli also had 39 career saves, and had two singles in 22

at-bat 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 during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

Boston Red Sox

On January 22, 2008, Miceli signed with the Boston Red Sox on a minor league contract with invitation to spring training. He announced his retirement on March 1, 2008.Red Sox Transactions , SoxProspects.com
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Long Island Ducks

Despite announcing his retirement, Miceli joined the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

for the 2009 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miceli, Dan 1970 births Living people American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Newark, New Jersey Long Island Ducks players Pittsburgh Pirates players Texas Rangers players Detroit Tigers players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players New York Yankees players San Diego Padres players Major League Baseball pitchers American expatriate baseball players in Japan Yomiuri Giants players Colorado Rockies players Florida Marlins players Cleveland Indians players Houston Astros players Carolina Mudcats players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Gulf Coast Marlins players Brevard County Manatees players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Dr. Phillips High School alumni