Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

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 coach.

Early life

Neale was born on November 5, 1891, in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's List of municipalities in West Virginia ...

. Although writers eventually assumed that Neale got his nickname, "Greasy", from his elusiveness on the football field, it actually arose during his youth, from a name-calling joust with a friend.

Playing career

Baseball

Neale played

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 ...

as 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 ...

with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

between 1916 and 1924 and briefly with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

for part of the 1921 season. Neale was the starting right fielder for the championship-winning 1919 Reds. He batted .357 in the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 1919 Major League Baseball season, 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion 1919 Chicago White Sox season, ...

and led the Reds with ten hits in their eight-game series win over the scandalous White Sox. Neale spent all but 22 games of his baseball career with the Reds. He had a career

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 ...

of .259 with 8 home runs, 200 RBI, and 139 stolen bases, and finished in the top ten in stolen bases in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

four times. When football season came around, often he would leave baseball and fulfill his football duties (albeit playing about 90% of a baseball season most years, with the exception of 1919 when he played the entire season, including the World Series).

Football

Neale also played professional football in the

Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct p ...

with the Canton Bulldogs in 1917, the Dayton Triangles in 1918, and the

Massillon Tigers The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the " Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championshi ...

in 1919. He starred as an end on

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

's pre-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Canton Bulldogs as well as the Dayton Triangles in 1918 and

in 1919. He coached the Triangles in 1918.

Coaching career

College

Neale began his coaching career while still a professional player. He served as the head football coach at Muskingum College (1915), West Virginia Wesleyan College (1916–1917),

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,200 students. History Marietta College began as the Muskin ...

(1919–1920),

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

(1921–1922), the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

(1923–1928), and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

(1931–1933), compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 82–54–11. He coached basketball for two seasons at Marietta (1919–1921) as well, amassing a record of 26–11. He also served as an assistant football coach with

Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program, founded in 1872, is one of the oldest in the world. Since ...

for seven seasons (1934–1940). At Washington & Jefferson, he led his 1921 squad to the Rose Bowl, where the Presidents played the California Golden Bears to a scoreless tie. At Virginia, Neale was also the head baseball coach from 1923 to 1928, tallying a mark of 80–73–2.

Baseball

In 1927 and 1928, Neale managed the Clarksburg Generals of the

Middle Atlantic League The Middle Atlantic League (or Mid-Atlantic League) was a lower-level circuit in United States, American minor league baseball that played during the second quarter of the 20th century. History The Middle Atlantic League played from 1925 in base ...

. He returned to the club late into the 1928 season. In 1929, Neale joined the coaching staff of the St. Louis Cardinals. He started the season as the team's third base coach, but was demoted to the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

along with manager Billy Southworth on July 24, 1929. The following month he was replaced by Ray Blades and became a scout for the Cardinals. In 1930, Neale once again managed the Generals.

Independent football

Neale later coached the independent professional Ironton Tanks. He and Tanks quarterback Glenn Presnell claimed victories against the NFL's second-place New York Giants and third-place Chicago Bears in 1930, however the team folded in 1931.

Return to college

In 1931, Neale returned to college coaching as the head football coach at West Virginia. In 1934, he became the backfield coach at Yale, where his brother, Widdy, was the director of intramural athletics.

Professional

Neale moved to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), to serve as the head coach of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

from 1941 to 1950. From 1944 through 1949, Neale's Eagles finished second three times and in first place three times. The Eagles won the NFL Championship in 1948 and again in 1949, and became the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 1940 and 1941 Chicago Bears by shutting out their opponents, beating the Chicago Cardinals 7–0 in the snow ridden 1948 NFL Championship Game and the Los Angeles Rams 14–0 in the 1949 NFL Championship Game in a driving rain storm. It was the last championship for the Eagles until 1960. His offense was led by the passing of quarterback

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the Presidency of George W. Bush, cabinet of President of the United State ...

, the pass catching of future Hall of Fame end Pete Pihos, and the running of another Hall of Famer, Steve Van Buren. He tallied a mark of 66–44–5 including playoff games in his ten seasons with the club. Neale was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1967 and the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

in 1969. Both inductions recognized his coaching career. Neale died in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, at the age of 81 and was later interred in Parkersburg Memorial Gardens in West Virginia.

Head coaching record

College football

NFL

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neale, Greasy 1891 births 1973 deaths American football ends Baseball players from West Virginia Basketball coaches from West Virginia Canton Bulldogs (Ohio League) players Cincinnati Reds players Clarksburg Generals players Cleveland Bearcats players Coaches of American football from West Virginia College Football Hall of Fame inductees Dayton Triangles (Ohio League) players Ironton Tanks players London Tecumsehs (baseball) players Major League Baseball outfielders Marietta Pioneers football coaches Marietta Pioneers men's basketball coaches Massillon Tigers players Minor league baseball managers Muskingum Fighting Muskies football coaches Parkersburg High School alumni Sportspeople from Parkersburg, West Virginia Philadelphia Eagles head coaches Philadelphia Phillies players Players of American football from West Virginia Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Saginaw Ducks players St. Louis Cardinals coaches Steagles players and personnel Virginia Cavaliers baseball coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Washington & Jefferson Presidents football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats baseball players West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats basketball players West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats football coaches West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats football players Wheeling Stogies players Yale Bulldogs football coaches NFL Coach of the Year winners

Early life

Playing career

Baseball

Football

Coaching career

College

Baseball

Independent football

Return to college

Professional

Head coaching record

College football

NFL

See also

References

Further reading

External links