Douglas Alan Nickle (born October 2, 1974) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

. He was born in

Sonoma, California Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma's ...

. He played for the

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 ...

(–) and the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

() of the

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 ...

during his Major League Baseball career. Nickle attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. He batted and threw right-handed during his career.

Career

Doug Nickle was drafted by the

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

in the 13th round of the 1997 amateur draft on June 3, 1997. He signed with the Angels on June 9, 1997, but quickly left that organization as a player on September 9, 1998 when he was traded to the

for

Gregg Jefferies Gregory Scott Jefferies (born August 1, 1967) is a retired infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1987 to 2000. He was a highly touted prospect who became the first two-time winner of the ''Baseball America' ...

to complete an earlier deal made on August 28. On September 18, 2000, Nickle made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies. On that day, 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) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

were playing against the Philadelphia Phillies at

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street (Philadelphia), Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capa ...

with 11,470 people attending the game. Nickle replaced

Tom Jacquez Thomas Patrick Jacquez (born December 29, 1975) is a former professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he played part of one season in Major League Baseball in 2000 for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jacquez was drafted by the Phillies in ...

pitching and batting seventh at the top of the ninth

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 ...

Alex Ramírez Alexander Ramón Ramírez Quiñónez (born 3 October 1974) is a Venezuelan-born Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who had a long career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He is the first foreign-born player to record 2,000 ...

was the first batter he faced, and he 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 ...

. At the end of the game, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the game 6–5. On July 29, 2002, Nickle was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with

Scott Rolen Scott Bruce Rolen (born April 4, 1975) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. He was an eight- ...

and cash to 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 (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals h ...

for

Plácido Polanco Plácido Enrique Polanco (; born October 10, 1975) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. He was ...

Mike Timlin Michael August Timlin (; born March 10, 1966) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Timlin played on four World Series championship teams in an 18-year career; the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, 2004 Bosto ...

, and

Bud Smith Robert Allan "Bud" Smith (born October 23, 1979) is an American retired baseball pitcher. Smith was active at the major league level in 2001 and 2002, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. Minor leagues In 2000, Smith led the minor league Cardin ...

. On August 28, 2002, he was selected off waivers by the

from the St. Louis Cardinals, and soon after on October 1, 2002, he was selected off waivers again this time by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...

. Nickle played his last major league baseball game on September 28, 2002, but continued to play in minor league baseball . On December 20, 2002, Nickle was granted

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. On January 17, 2003, he was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels. On July 30, 2003, he was traded by the Anaheim Angels with

Scott Schoeneweis Scott David Schoeneweis (; born October 2, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher who played for several teams between 1999 and 2010. In the five seasons from 2003 to 2007, Schoeneweis allowed only one home r ...

to 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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for

Gary Glover John Gary Glover (born December 3, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He had a career major league ERA of 5.03 over eight seasons, including time spent with the Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee B ...

, Scott Dunn, and Tim Bittner (minor league baseball). On September 4, 2003, he was released by the Chicago White Sox. On December 11, 2003, he was signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but has since retired.

Personal life

His literature on the 2nd Amendment, "The Point of the Gun: The Definitive Straight-Shooting Guide to Choosing Firearms for Self Defense," is proudly sold on Amazon.

References

External links

Doug Nickle
at Baseball-Almanac.com
Doug Nickle
at ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

.com''
Doug Nickle
at BaseballLibrary.com
Doug Nickle
at TheBaseballPage.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nickle, Doug Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players San Diego Padres players Living people 1974 births Baseball players from California California Golden Bears baseball players People from Sonoma, California Boise Hawks players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Charlotte Knights players Clearwater Phillies players Lake Elsinore Storm players Las Vegas 51s players Memphis Redbirds players Reading Phillies players Salt Lake Stingers players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players