Ronald Lee Nischwitz (born July 1, 1937 in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater ...

) 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 who played from 1961 to 1963, and again in 1965, for 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 ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

. A switch-hitter, he threw left-handed, was tall and weighed . Before playing professional baseball, he attended Fairview High School and then

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

. Signed by the Tigers as an amateur free agent in 1958, Nischwitz made his big league debut on September 4, 1961 against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. He pitched two perfect innings, striking out three batters. He played in a total of six games in his rookie year, going 0–1 with a 5.56 ERA. In 1962, Nischwitz was the Tigers' most used reliever, appearing in 48 games. He went 4–5 with a 3.90 ERA. In 64 innings, he struck out only 28 batters but proved to be a solid hitter, collecting five hits — including a triple — in 12 at-bats, for a .417 batting average. After the season, he was traded by the Tigers with Gordon Seyfried to the Indians for Bubba Phillips. Nischwitz played in only 14 big league games in 1963, going 0–2 with a 6.48 ERA. He did not play in the majors in 1964. 1965 was Nischwitz's final big league season. Before the season began, he was purchased by the Tigers from the Indians. He appeared in 20 games for the Tigers, going 1–0 with a 2.78 ERA — one of the best ERAs on the team. He played his final game on September 19. Overall, Nischwitz 5–8 with a 4.21 ERA in 88 games. In 115 innings, he walked 48 batters and struck out 68. He hit .278 in 18 career at-bats. Following his playing career, he served as the head coach of Dayton's

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviatio ...

baseball team from 1975 to 2004. In 2007 he was inducted into the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coach ...

Hall of Fame.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nischwitz, Ron Living people 1937 births Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio Birmingham Barons players Cleveland Indians players Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers players Jacksonville Suns players Knoxville Smokies players Lancaster Red Roses players Major League Baseball pitchers Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Portland Beavers players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wright State Raiders baseball coaches