Lance Niekro
| Lance Niekro | |
|---|---|
| First baseman | |
| Born: January 29, 1979 Winter Haven, Florida |
|
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 5, 2003 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 2, 2007 for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .246 |
| Home runs | 17 |
| Runs batted in | 79 |
| Teams | |
Lance William Niekro (born January 29, 1979) is a former Major League Baseball player, nephew of Phil Niekro, and son of Joe Niekro. Niekro currently serves as an assistant coach at Florida Southern College.
Niekro was drafted out of Florida Southern by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. He began his professional career as a third baseman, but moved to first base in the minor leagues due to injury. Niekro first reached the major leagues in 2003, but only had five at bats. He saw more substantial playing time in 2005, when he split time with J. T. Snow at first base and played in 113 games, finishing the season with a .252 batting average, 12 home runs, and 46 RBI in 278 at-bats.
Following the 2005 season, Snow and the Giants parted ways. As a result, Niekro was given his shot as the everyday first baseman, but was sent back down to the minors. During the 2006 season, his replacements were Mark Sweeney, Travis Ishikawa, Chad Santos, and Shea Hillenbrand.
On May 4, 2007, the Giants designated Niekro for assignment and recalled Scott Munter from Triple-A Fresno. He was later optioned to Fresno when no other team claimed him. He became a free agent after the season. Like his father and uncle, Niekro can throw a knuckleball, and was first allowed to pitch professionally for the Grizzlies in August 2007.
On January 10, 2008, the Houston Astros signed Niekro to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. He was released on May 2, 2008 and retired, getting a job with a telecommunications company.[1]
On December 18, 2008, Niekro decided to make a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher and was signed by the Atlanta Braves to a minor league contract.[1][2] He pitched one season in the Braves system, appearing in 14 games for the Gulf Coast League Braves in 2009 before becoming a free agent at the end of the year. In 2010, he was named an assistant coach at Florida Southern.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Henry Schulman (2008-12-18). "Ex-Giants infielder Lance Niekro launches comeback, as a knuckleballer". sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/18/SPMQ14QQMI.DTL&feed=rss.giants. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ Kepner, Tyler. "Lance Niekro Dusts Off a Family Heirloom: The Knuckleball," The New York Times, Sunday, February 22, 2009.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Lance Niekro Stats at RotoWire.com
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Florida Southern College alumni
- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Baseball players from Florida
- San Francisco Giants players
- American people of Polish descent
- San Jose Giants players
- Fresno Grizzlies players
- Round Rock Express players
- Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players
- Knuckleball pitchers
