1966
Born November 17, 1966
Baltimore, MD, USA
Jeff Nelson Marquee
b. November 17, 1966 · Seattle Mariners 1992–1995, 2001–2003, 2005, New York Yankees 1996–2000, 2003, Texas Rangers 2004, Chicago White Sox 2006
He was 6 feet 8 and threw from the side, so the ball came at right-handed hitters from somewhere near third base. Right-handers could not pick the ball up, and he never started a game in fifteen seasons.
The Yankees traded for him after 1995 and he pitched in four straight World Series, winning all four, working 73 or more games in three of those seasons. He was an All-Star in 2001 back in Seattle, for the club that won 116 games, with a 2.76 earned run average.
Fifteen seasons gave him 48 wins, 33 saves, 784 innings and a 3.41 earned run average across 798 appearances. He struck out more men than he had innings, which almost no reliever of his era did over that long. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 2001 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | SEA | 66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1993 | SEA | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | SEA | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1995 | SEA | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1996 | NYY | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1997 | NYY | 77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1998 | NYY | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1999 | NYY | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2000 | NYY | 73 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 2001 | SEA | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2002 | SEA | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | NYY/SEA | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2004 | TEX | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2005 | SEA | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2006 | CHW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 798 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | SEA | 1 | 7 | 66 | 0 | 6 | 81.0 | 71 | 31 | 44 | 46 | 3.44 |
| 1993 | SEA | 5 | 3 | 71 | 0 | 1 | 60.0 | 57 | 29 | 34 | 61 | 4.35 |
| 1994 | SEA | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 42.1 | 35 | 13 | 20 | 44 | 2.76 |
| 1995 | SEA | 7 | 3 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 78.2 | 58 | 19 | 27 | 96 | 2.17 |
| 1996 | NYY | 4 | 4 | 73 | 0 | 2 | 74.1 | 75 | 36 | 36 | 91 | 4.36 |
| 1997 | NYY | 3 | 7 | 77 | 0 | 2 | 78.2 | 53 | 25 | 37 | 81 | 2.86 |
| 1998 | NYY | 5 | 3 | 45 | 0 | 3 | 40.1 | 44 | 17 | 22 | 35 | 3.79 |
| 1999 | NYY | 2 | 1 | 39 | 0 | 1 | 30.1 | 27 | 14 | 22 | 35 | 4.15 |
| 2000 | NYY | 8 | 4 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 69.2 | 44 | 19 | 45 | 71 | 2.45 |
| 2001 | SEA | 4 | 3 | 69 | 0 | 4 | 65.1 | 30 | 20 | 44 | 88 | 2.76 |
| 2002 | SEA | 3 | 2 | 41 | 0 | 2 | 45.2 | 36 | 20 | 27 | 55 | 3.94 |
| 2003 | NYY/SEA | 4 | 2 | 70 | 0 | 8 | 55.1 | 51 | 23 | 24 | 68 | 3.74 |
| 2004 | TEX | 1 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 23.2 | 17 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 5.32 |
| 2005 | SEA | 1 | 3 | 49 | 0 | 1 | 36.2 | 32 | 16 | 22 | 34 | 3.93 |
| 2006 | CHW | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3.38 |
| Career | — | 48 | 45 | 798 | 0 | 33 | 784.2 | 633 | 297 | 428 | 829 | 3.41 |
On this day & linked events
1992
Major-league debut: Jeff Nelson
Jeff Nelson made a major-league debut on April 16, 1992.
2006
Final major-league game: Jeff Nelson
Jeff Nelson played a final major-league game on June 2, 2006.
2008
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Combined No-Hitter, 2008
Jered Weaver and José Arredondo threw a combined no-hitter for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 28, 2008.
2015
Hisashi Iwakuma's No-Hitter
Hisashi Iwakuma threw a no-hitter for the Seattle Mariners against the Baltimore Orioles on August 12, 2015, winning 3–0.
Image: Dustin Senger, public domain