Born in Remsen, Iowa, Niggeling entered pro baseball in 1928 and promptly won 51 games over his first three minor league seasons. But his major-league debut would have to wait until April 30, 1938, when he was 34 years old. He had two brief National League trials with the 1938 Bees and 1939 Reds, totaling 421⁄3innings pitched, before he was acquired by the Browns in January 1940. In the American League over the next six seasons, Niggeling would exceed 150 innings pitched each year, win 56 games, and place in the Junior Circuit's top ten pitchers in earned run average three times (1942–1944), and strikeouts twice (1942 and 1944).
He won a career-high 15 games with the Browns in 1942 before joining the wartime Senators, who in both 1944 and 1945 fielded a starting rotation featuring four knuckleballers (Mickey Haefner, Dutch Leonard and Roger Wolff were the others). Niggeling's career won–lost record was 64–69 with a 3.22 ERA. In his 184 MLB games, 161 as a starting pitcher, he allowed 1,111 hits and 516 bases on balls, with 620 strikeouts, in 1,2502⁄3 innings of work; he was credited with 81 complete games and 12 shutouts. He retired from pro ball in 1947.
In later years, Niggeling worked as a barber in Le Mars, Iowa.[1]
Niggeling died at age 60 in LeMars, having committed suicide by hanging himself in his hotel room. He had been suffering from back pain the last few years of his life and was recently divorced from his wife.[1]
johnny, niggeling, john, arnold, niggeling, july, 1903, september, 1963, american, professional, baseball, pitcher, appeared, games, major, league, baseball, over, parts, nine, seasons, 1938, 1946, with, boston, bees, braves, cincinnati, reds, louis, browns, w. John Arnold Niggeling July 10 1903 September 16 1963 was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 184 games in Major League Baseball over all or parts of nine seasons 1938 1946 with the Boston Bees Braves Cincinnati Reds St Louis Browns and Washington Senators He was a right handed knuckleball specialist who was listed as 6 feet 1 8 m tall and 170 pounds 77 kg Johnny NiggelingPitcherBorn 1903 07 10 July 10 1903Remsen Iowa U S Died September 16 1963 1963 09 16 aged 60 Le Mars Iowa U S Batted RightThrew RightMLB debutApril 30 1938 for the Boston BeesLast MLB appearanceSeptember 1 1946 for the Boston BravesMLB statisticsWin loss record64 69Earned run average3 22Strikeouts620TeamsBoston Bees 1938 Cincinnati Reds 1939 St Louis Browns 1940 1943 Washington Senators 1943 1946 Boston Braves 1946 Born in Remsen Iowa Niggeling entered pro baseball in 1928 and promptly won 51 games over his first three minor league seasons But his major league debut would have to wait until April 30 1938 when he was 34 years old He had two brief National League trials with the 1938 Bees and 1939 Reds totaling 421 3innings pitched before he was acquired by the Browns in January 1940 In the American League over the next six seasons Niggeling would exceed 150 innings pitched each year win 56 games and place in the Junior Circuit s top ten pitchers in earned run average three times 1942 1944 and strikeouts twice 1942 and 1944 He won a career high 15 games with the Browns in 1942 before joining the wartime Senators who in both 1944 and 1945 fielded a starting rotation featuring four knuckleballers Mickey Haefner Dutch Leonard and Roger Wolff were the others Niggeling s career won lost record was 64 69 with a 3 22 ERA In his 184 MLB games 161 as a starting pitcher he allowed 1 111 hits and 516 bases on balls with 620 strikeouts in 1 2502 3 innings of work he was credited with 81 complete games and 12 shutouts He retired from pro ball in 1947 In later years Niggeling worked as a barber in Le Mars Iowa 1 Niggeling died at age 60 in LeMars having committed suicide by hanging himself in his hotel room He had been suffering from back pain the last few years of his life and was recently divorced from his wife 1 See also edit nbsp Baseball portal List of knuckleball pitchersReferences edit a b Thomas Joan M Johnny Niggeling sabr org Society for American Baseball Research Retrieved January 24 2020 External links editCareer statistics and player information from MLB or Baseball Reference or Baseball Reference Minors or Retrosheet Johnny Niggeling at Find a Grave nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp This biographical article relating to an American baseball pitcher born in the 1900s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Johnny Niggeling amp oldid 1218838696, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
