John Philip Rheinecker (May 29, 1979 – July 18, 2017) 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 ...

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, ...

. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers.

Early life

Rheinecker attended Gibault Catholic High School in

Waterloo, Illinois Waterloo is a city in and county seat of Monroe County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,013 at the 2020 census, up from 9,811 in 2010. Geography Waterloo is located northeast of the center of Monroe County at (38.335243, -90.15 ...

, and was a letterman in

. He grew up in

Hecker, Illinois Hecker is a village in Monroe County, Illinois, Monroe County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 429 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, History Hecker was originally named "Freedom". The town was laid out on land of T ...

and first starred at the Hecker Dome. In baseball, as a senior, he batted .438 and as a pitcher, posted a 7-11 record and a 2.49

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

College and professional career

Prior to playing professional baseball, Rheinecker attended Belleville Area Community College and

Southwest Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

. He was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in 2001. After signing with the A's, Rheinecker spent the next four seasons in the organization's farm system. On March 31, 2006, Oakland traded him (along with

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

Freddie Bynum) to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Juan Dominguez. A southpaw

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, Rheinecker made his major league debut April 22, 2006, in a game against the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

. On his 27th birthday (May 29, 2006, which was also

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

), Rheinecker made his second start for the Rangers, pitching 8

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

innings and earning his first major league

win Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

. For most of the 2006 season, he was shuttled back and forth between the Rangers and their Triple-A affiliate, the

Oklahoma RedHawks Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Rheinecker was hit by a pitch from

Noah Lowry Noah Ryan Lowry (born October 10, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2007. College and the MLB Draft Lowry was first drafted out of Nordho ...

in his only Major League plate appearance on June 28, 2006. , he is one of only six players in history to be hit by a pitch in his only Major League turn at bat. During the April 27–30, 2007, four game series at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Rheinecker forgot his

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, and thus could not play in the games. Rheinecker was diagnosed with

thoracic outlet syndrome Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a condition in which there is compression of the nerves, arteries, or veins in the superior thoracic aperture, the passageway from the lower neck to the armpit, also known as the thoracic outlet. There are t ...

(TOS) and underwent surgery to remove a rib to alleviate the symptoms. Arthroscopic shoulder surgery was performed on May 24, 2008, to clean up the shoulder joint. This caused him to miss the entire 2008 season other than two minor league rehab starts. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

Death

On July 18, 2017, Rheinecker died after hanging himself in a garage. According to family members, Rheinecker had been dealing with depression. His wife Jamie told investigators that he was a heavy alcohol user, and it was determined that he was under the influence of alcohol when he hung himself. He was survived by his wife Jamie, two children, and two stepchildren.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rheinecker, John 1979 births 2017 deaths 2017 suicides American expatriate baseball players in Canada American people of German descent Arizona League Rangers players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland RockHounds players Missouri State Bears baseball players Modesto A's players Oklahoma RedHawks players People from Monroe County, Illinois Sacramento River Cats players Southwestern Illinois Blue Storm baseball players Baseball players from Belleville, Illinois Suicides by hanging in Missouri Texas Rangers players Vancouver Canadians players Visalia Oaks players