Outfielder, Chicago
White Sox/Baltimore Orioles
Age: 29
2nd season
with White Sox
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height:5’11” Weight: 195
Prior to 1956:
A native of Cincinnati, Nieman excelled in football, where he was an all-city fullback at Withrow High School, in addition to baseball. Following his high school graduation in 1945, he was drafted into the Army, but a bout with nephritis caused him to be hospitalized for most of his military stint. Enrolling at the University of Cincinnati, he tried out with the hometown Cincinnati Reds and was signed in 1948 for $250 per month. Asigned to Muncie of the Class D Ohio-Indiana League, he was shifted from catcher, his high school position, to the outfield as the result of an operation on his throwing hand. His hitting was not hindered as the burly slugger batted .367 with 45 doubles, 9 triples, 23 home runs, 131 RBIs, a .471 on-base percentage, and a .627 slugging percentage. During the fall he and his fellow student and new wife transferred to Kent State University where Nieman studied Journalism. Nieman played for teams at the Class B, A, and AA levels in 1949 and played the most for the Charleston Senators of the Central League where he hit .307 with 16 doubles, 10 triples, 9 home runs, 56 RBIs, a .404 OBP, and a .510 slugging percentage over the course of 92 games. He finished the year with the Tulsa Oilers of the Texas League, where he started the 1950 season. Despite a 17-game hitting streak, he was sent down to Columbia of the Class A South Atlantic (or Sally) League where he appeared in 87 games and batted .292 with 10 doubles, 9 triples, 6 home runs, 49 RBIs, a .405 OBP, and a .450 slugging percentage. Back with Tulsa in 1951 and being drilled to overcome a tendency to overstride during his swing, Nieman hit .307 in 35 games before being sold to the Oklahoma City Indians, an unaffiliated Texas League Club that was part-owned by St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck. He went on to bat .328 with 33 doubles, 6 triples, 10 home runs, and a .511 slugging percentage with Oklahoma City. Nieman was awarded to the Browns following the Texas League season and he joined them in mid-September. In 12 games with the Browns he hit .372 with 6 extra-base hits (including home runs in his first two major league at bats at Boston’s Fenway Park), and 8 RBIs. Having received his Journalism degree in the spring of 1952, Nieman commenced his rookie season with the Browns and he went on to hit .289 with 22 doubles, 18 home runs, 74 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .456 slugging percentage. In the offseason he was traded to the Detroit Tigers as part of a six-player deal that brought outfielder Johnny Groth and RHP Virgil Trucks to the Browns. In 1953 he hit .281 with 32 doubles, 5 triples, 15 home runs, 69 RBIs, a .354 OBP, and a .453 slugging percentage. Hampered by leg injuries in 1954, and competing for outfield playing time with rookies Al Kaline and Bill Tuttle, Nieman batted .263 in 91 games with 14 doubles, 8 home runs, 35 RBIs, a .319 OBP, and a .422 slugging percentage. Traded again in the offseason, this time to the White Sox in another six-player transaction, he was again plagued by leg injuries in 1955 and, appearing in 99 games he hit .283 with 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .366 OBP, and a .460 slugging percentage. A highlight was a 7-RBI game in a 29-6 win against the Kansas City Athletics. The addition of veteran star outfielder Larry Doby in the offseason further limited opportunities for Nieman and he was traded to the Orioles as part of another large deal in May of 1956.
1956 Season Summary
Appeared in 128
games (Baltimore – 114/Chicago – 14)
LF – 114, RF – 10, PH – 4
[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 522 (CHI – 44/BALT - 478
At Bats – 428 (CHI
– 40/BALT – 388)
Runs – 63 (CHI
– 3/BALT – 60)
Hits – 137 (CHI
– 12/BALT – 125)
Doubles – 21
(CHI – 1/BALT – 20)
Triples – 6 [14,
tied with five others] (BALT)
Home Runs – 14 (CHI
– 2/BALT – 12)
RBI – 68 (CHI –
4/BALT – 64)
Bases on Balls
– 90 [6, tied with Billy Klaus] (CHI – 4/BALT – 86)
Int. BB – 5 [17,
tied with Jackie Jensen & Pete Daley] (CHI – 2/BALT – 3)
Strikeouts – 63
(CHI – 4/BALT – 59)
Stolen Bases – 1
(BALT)
Caught Stealing
– 6 [4, tied with four others] (CHI – 1/BALT – 5)
Average - .320 [5]
(CHI - .300/BALT - .322)
OBP - .436 [3] (CHI
- .364/BALT - .442)
Slugging Pct. -
.495 [13] (CHI - .475/BALT - .497)
Total Bases – 212
(CHI – 19/BALT – 193)
GDP – 14 [17,
tied with Don Buddin] (CHI – 4/BALT – 10)
Hit by Pitches
– 0
Sac Hits – 1 (BALT)
Sac Flies – 3 (BALT)
Midseason snapshot: 2B – 8, 3B – 4, HR - 7, RBI - 38, AVG - .322, OBP - .407, SLG – .508
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Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) vs. NY Yankees 5/26
Longest hitting
streak – 20 games
HR at home – 7
HR on road – 7
Most home runs,
game – 1 on fourteen occasions
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 4 vs. NY Yankees 5/26
Pinch-hitting – 1 for 1 (1.000) with 3 BB
Fielding
(combined)
Chances – 276
Put Outs – 267
Assists – 4
Errors – 5
DP – 1
Pct. - .982
Awards & Honors:
7th
in AL MVP voting, tied with Gil McDougald, NYY (55 points, 16% share)
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The Orioles went 69-85 to finish sixth in the AL, 28 games behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees while leading the league in fewest runs scored (571), fewest hits (1242), fewest home runs (91), lowest batting average (.244, tied with Cleveland), lowest slugging percentage (.350), and fewest total bases (1781). Under the guidance of second-year manager Paul Richards, the Orioles showed pitching improvement but still dropped quickly into the second division where they remained.
Aftermath of 1956:
Bothered by vision problems that required new glasses in 1957, Nieman got off to a slow start and finished at .276 with 17 doubles, 6 triples, 13 home runs, 70 RBIs, a .363 OBP, and a .429 slugging percentage. He started well in 1958 and was leading the league with a .367 average by June 2 when a line drive broke his wrist while baserunning which knocked him out of action for nearly six weeks. He finished the season in which he was limited to 105 games by batting .325 with 20 doubles, 16 home runs, 60 RBIs, a .395 OBP, and a .522 slugging percentage. Nieman spent one more season with the Orioles in 1959 in which he hit .292 with 18 doubles, 21 home runs, 60 RBIs, a .367 OBP, and a .528 slugging percentage. In the offseason he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, returning him to the city where he started his major league career, this time in the National League. Initially platooned in left field in 1960, he took the position over full-time in June and went on a tear until sidelined by a pulled leg muscle. Appearing in 81 games he batted .287 with 13 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 31 RBIs, a .372 OBP, and a .473 slugging percentage. Nieman started the 1961 season with the Cardinals but was dealt back to the American League in May, this time to the Cleveland Indians. Still having injury problems involving his leg muscles, he appeared in only 39 games for Cleveland. His combined batting production for the year was .378 with 9 extra-base hits, 12 RBIs, a .427 OBP, and a .537 slugging percentage. Nieman made only two plate appearances for Cleveland in 1962 before being sold to the San Francisco Giants at the end of April. He only appeared in thirty games off the bench for the Giants, who went on to win the NL pennant. In his only World Series plate appearance, he was intentionally walked as a pinch-hitter in Game 4 and was pulled for a pinch-runner, which marked the end of his major league career. Moving on to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League in 1963, he batted .301 in 110 games with 27 doubles, 13 home runs, 53 RBIs, a .357 OBP, and a .487 slugging percentage. This marked the conclusion of his playing career. For his major league career, Nieman batted .295 with 1018 hits that included 180 doubles, 32 triples, and 125 home runs. He scored 455 runs and compiled 544 RBIs, a .373 OBP, and a .474 slugging percentage. With the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles, he batted .301 with 626 hits, 298 runs scored, 100 doubles, 19 triples, 82 home runs, 336 RBIs, a .384 OBP, and a .486 slugging percentage. Nieman was never an All-Star and his MVP votes in 1956 were the only ones he received during his career. Despite having a productive bat, he ended up being a much-traveled player. Following his playing career he was a minor league manager for one season, worked in Cleveland’s front office in 1965, and was a well-regarded scout for several years. He died of a heart attack in 1985 at age 58.
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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league
in the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10),
runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20), pitching wins,
strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10), or have been
participants in the annual All-Star Games between the National and American
Leagues since 1933. This category will also include Misc. players who received
award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had
notable seasons in non-award years.
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