James Lorin Nelson (July 4, 1947 – August 22, 2004) was an American right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

for 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in 1970 and 1971. Nelson was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. The Pirates selected him in the 31st round of the 1965 amateur draft. Jim Nelson statistics, baseball-reference.com
/ref> His debut for the Pirates on May 30, 1970 was memorable. He relieved

Gene Garber Henry Eugene Garber (born November 13, 1947) is an American former professional baseball sidearm relief pitcher who played for four Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations from to . Playing career Garber was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirat ...

in the fifth inning of a game at

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the fir ...

against the

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 ...

, struck out

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...

, and got

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of ...

to hit into a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

; he finished that appearance with three perfect innings pitched and four strikeouts, and hit a single in his only plate appearance. Nelson started his career with a 4-0 record for the Pirates in 1970, a feat not equaled by a Pirates starting pitcher until

Zach Duke Zachary Thomas Duke (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, St. Lo ...

in 2005. Nelson also was the last Pirate pitcher to win his first 3 career starts until

Gerrit Cole Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. Cole played for the bas ...

matched the feat in 2013. Nelson also was the starting and winning pitcher in the final game played at Forbes Field on June 28, 1970. He commented on the fans' frenzy at the end of that game: "After the game, the fans stormed the field and took everything, grass, bases, numbers off the scoreboard. I even saw some old ladies with parts of chairs. It was a real scene." Nelson appeared in 15 games for the Pirates in 1970 and 17 games in 1971, both as a starter and a reliever. He struggled with control in 1971,

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an " inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults o ...

26 batters in 34 innings.Jim Nelson statistics, baseball-reference.com
/ref> In July, he was demoted to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

, but refused to report to his minor-league team. Although his teammates voted him a half-share of their

1971 World Series The 1971 World Series was the championship round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1971 season and featured the first night game in its history. The 68th edition of the Fall Classic was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending World Series ...

money, Pirates management did not award him a

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

.Jim Jenkins, "Ex-Pirates right-hander Jim Nelson,"

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

, August 24, 2004 He underwent

rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...

surgery and never returned to the majors. Nelson was a good-hitting pitcher, with 7

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 26 career

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s for a

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 .269. After retiring from baseball, Nelson became a produce salesman. He died unexpectedly at his

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

home at age 57 in 2004.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jim 1947 births 2004 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players Baseball players from Birmingham, Alabama