- Neil Allen
-
Neil Allen Pitcher Born: January 24, 1958
Kansas City, KansasBatted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut April 15, 1979 for the New York Mets Last MLB appearance September 19, 1989 for the Cleveland Indians Career statistics Win-loss 58-70 Earned run average 3.88 Strikeouts 611 Saves 75 Teams Neil Patrick Allen (born January 24, 1958 in Kansas City, Kansas) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher currently serving as pitching coach for the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Durham Bulls.
Contents
Playing career
New York Mets
The New York Mets drafted Allen out of Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City in the 11th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball Draft. He went 10-2 with a 2.79 earned run average and led the Carolina League with 126 strikeouts with the Lynchburg Mets in his second professional season.
Allen came up with the Mets as a starting pitcher in 1979, and he made his major league debut on April 15 against the Philadelphia Phillies and former Met Nino Espinosa, giving up three runs in six innings and taking the loss.[1] Allen was 0-5 as a starter when the Mets moved him to the bullpen. He won his next four decisions in a row as a reliever, and on July 28 he earned his first major league save.[2]
Soon Allen emerged as the club's closer, earning eight saves by the end of the season and 69 total in his Mets career. In May of 1981, the Mets reached a deal to acquire Ellis Valentine from the Montreal Expos for Dan Norman and either Allen or Jeff Reardon. Unwilling to part with their closer, the Mets traded Reardon.[3]
St. Louis Cardinals
The Mets converted Allen back to a starter in 1983, and on June 15, he and Rick Ownbey were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez.[4] Allen went 10-6 mostly as a starter his first seasons in St. Louis. In 1984, he was returned to the bullpen making only one emergency start.
By 1985, the Mets and Cardinals had become arch rivals atop the National League East. Hernandez emerged as a leader of his new team, and had become a fan favorite in New York. Allen, meanwhile, was 1-4 with a 5.59 earned run average, and began incurring the wrath of Cardinals fans.[5] On July 16, he was sold to the New York Yankees. Allen was 1-0 with one save and a 2.76 ERA out of the Yankees' bullpen.[6]
Chicago White Sox
Following the season, Allen was traded to the Chicago White Sox with Scott Bradley and Glen Braxton for Ron Hassey, Matt Winters, Chris Alvarez and Eric Schmidt. The ChiSox converted him back to a starter, and he earned his first win of the season against Ron Guidry and his former teammates at Yankee Stadium on May 15. Allen gave up only one earned run, four hits and two walks in seven innings for the first White Sox victory over Guidry at Yankee Stadium since August 13, 1980.[7]
His next start at Yankee Stadium was even better. On July 20, Allen pitched a complete game two hitter to lead the White Sox to a 8-0 victory over the Yankees.[8] For the season, Allen went 7-2 with a 3.82 ERA.
1987–1990
The White Sox released Allen during the 1987 season with an 0-7 record and 7.07 ERA. He signed with the Yankees for the remainder of the season, and returned again for 1988. He signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians in 1989, making three appearances for the big league club. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds' triple A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds in 1990 before retiring.
Coaching career
Allen began coaching shortly after his retirement. After a brief stint in the independent Texas-Louisiana League, Allen joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996 as pitching coach of their New York-Penn League affiliate, the St. Catharines Stompers.
After four seasons with the Jays' organization, Allen returned to the Yankees in 2000 as pitching coach of the Staten Island Yankees. He was pitching coach for the Columbus Clippers from 2003 to 2004, and returned to that position again in 2006 after serving as the bullpen pitching coach for the New York Yankees during the 2005 season. Allen, while the Columbus Clippers pitching coach, introduced the sinker to Chien-Ming Wang that has become his signature pitch.[9] In 2007, he joined the Rays' franchise.
See also
References
- ^ "Philadelphia Phillies 6, New York Mets 3". Baseball-reference.com. 1979-04-15. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN197904152.shtml.
- ^ "New York Mets 6, Chicago Cubs 4". Baseball-reference.com. 1979-07-28. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN197907280.shtml.
- ^ Larry Liebenthal. Double Blackjack: The Best & Worst Deals Made by the New York Mets. http://books.google.com/books?id=JOp45bt0MUIC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=ellis+valentine+neil+allen&source=bl&ots=EugNndBRRh&sig=r40D8X0VNO_qmcSivDnOJtYXT_U&hl=en&ei=o7C6SratL5-Btwe49fGhBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=ellis%20valentine%20neil%20allen&f=false. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ^ Herm Weiskopf (1983-06-27). "Inside Pitch". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1120986/index.htm.
- ^ Jim Kaplan (1985-05-06). "How Does St. Louis Spell Relief? Not N-e-i-l A-l-l-e-n, who can't escape the shadow cast by B-r-u-c-e S-u-t-t-e-r". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119423/index.htm.
- ^ Henry Hecht (1985-07-29). "Inside Pitch Statistics Through July 21". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119706/index.htm.
- ^ "Chicago White Sox 8, New York Yankees 1". Baseball-reference.com. 1986-05-15. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198605150.shtml.
- ^ "Chicago White Sox 8, New York Yankees 0". Baseball-reference.com. 1986-07-20. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198607200.shtml.
- ^ Chen, Albert (2008-04-15). "Chien-Ming Wang Has A Secret". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/albert_chen/04/15/wang0421/1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Ultimate Mets Database
Categories:- 1958 births
- Living people
- New York Mets players
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- New York Yankees players
- Chicago White Sox players
- Cleveland Indians players
- Baseball players from Kansas
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- New York Yankees coaches
- Marion Mets players
- Wausau Mets players
- Lynchburg Mets players
- Jackson Mets players
- Tidewater Tides players
- Daytona Beach Admirals players
- Fort Lauderdale Yankees players
- Columbus Clippers players
- Colorado Springs Sky Sox players
- Nashville Sounds players
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