- Greg Keagle
Infobox MLB retired
name=Greg Keagle
position=Pitcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1971|6|28|
debutdate=April 1
debutyear=by|1996
debutteam=Detroit Tigers
finaldate=May 26
finalyear=by|1998
finalteam=Detroit Tigers
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=6-16
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=6.76
stat3label=Strikeout s
stat3value=128
teams=
*Detroit Tigers (by|1996-by|1998)
highlights=
*Pitched first no-hitter inElmira Pioneers history.Gregory Charles Keagle (born
June 20 ,1971 inCorning, New York ) is a formerright-handed pitcher inMajor League Baseball who played for theDetroit Tigers from by|1996 to by|1998. He attendedHorseheads High School inHorseheads, New York before attendingFlorida International University andMonroe Community College . He was 6'1" and 185 pounds, although one source puts him at 6'2" and 195 pounds.The draft and minors
Keagle was selected in the sixth round, 170th overall, of the by|1993 amateur draft by the
San Diego Padres . He was used almost entirely as a starter in the minors, appearing in only one game in relief before his first call to the majors. His first professional season in theNorthwest League with theSpokane Indians was promising (3-3 record, 3.25 ERA), but the first half of his by|1994 season was absolutely outstanding. He was 11-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 14 games for theRancho Cucamonga Quakes and was named to theCalifornia League All-Star team. However, that success did not continue after he was promoted to the AAWichita Wranglers , where he was 3-9 with a 6.27 ERA.He remained in the Padres organization until
September 17 , by|1995, when he was named as theplayer to be named later in a deal announcedJuly 31 in which the Padres sentAndy Benes to theSeattle Mariners forRon Villone andMarc Newfield .In December of that year, the Tigers took him from the Mariners in the
Rule V Draft .The majors
Keagle was on the Tigers' Opening Day roster in 1996, and he made his debut in their first game of the season,
April 1 . He pitched three innings in his first big league game, surrendering three hits, walking two and striking out two. He allowed one earned run. His first career strikeout victim wasChuck Knoblauch . He then struck outRich Becker , who followed Knoblauch in the batting order.Keagle did not have a very successful rookie season. In 26 games (six started), he posted a three and six record with an ERA of 7.39. He also walked 68 batters in 87+ innings of work.
He was used mostly as a starter in the final two seasons of his career, 1997 and 1998. He went three and eight combined in those final two years, posting a career best ERA of 5.59 in 1998. He didn't not average five innings a start in his final two seasons.
Perhaps the best game of his career came on
September 12 , by|1997 against theOakland Athletics . He threw seven fine innings of work, giving up only five hits, one run (a home run toScott Spiezio ) walking only one and striking out nine batters.Overall, his career record was six and 16. He posted an ERA of 6.76, and in 171 2/3 innings of work, he walked 106 batters and struck out 123. He pitched in a total of 46 games in his career, starting exactly half of those. He hit a total of 18 batters in his career, or one every 9.53 innings of work.
He had only one career
at bat , facingDenny Neagle of theAtlanta Braves onSeptember 2 , by|1997, he struck out.He committed zero errors in his career, for a perfect 1.000
fielding percentage .He played his final big league game on
May 26 , 1998. He wore number 57 during his time in the majors.Back to the minors
Although his major league career ended in 1998, his professional career lasted until by|2005. He stayed in the Tigers' organization in by|1999, split time between the Anaheim Angels organization and the
Elmira Pioneers in by|2000, where he threw the firstno-hitter in Pioneers history (and just one of three inNortheast League history). In by|2001 and by|2002, Keagle was a pitcher/coach for the Pioneers. He played in theFlorida Marlins organization in all of by|2003.He last played in 2005 with the Elmira Pioneers of the Can-Am League.
Overall, he spent six professional seasons as a teammate of
Raul Casanova -longer than any other teammate.After pro baseball
Since retiring from professional baseball, Keagle has become a lead instructor at Frozen Ropes, a baseball training center in
Rochester, New York [http://www.frozenropesrochester.com/keagle.htm] . Keagle also is the pitching coach for theRochester Institute of Technology Tigers. Currently, he lives inPittsford, New York .Keagle is also a color analyst for
Rochester Red Wings live television broadcasts in Rochester.External links
*baseball-reference|id=k/keaglgr01
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.