Jeff Nelson's Bullpen Yo-Yo Act
Seattle, New York, Seattle, New York, Seattle...Duncan Endorsement?
2004 Topps Heritage Jeff Nelson (#268) - Card of the Day
One of the unsung — by New York standards, at least — heroes of the Yankees’ run of success in the late 1990s and early 2000s was setup man Jeff Nelson. From 1996 through 2000, Nelson made 307 regular-season appearances for the Bronx Bombers, starting exactly zero games, finishing 83 of them, and racking up a scant eight saves.
Of course, saves in Pinstripes were tough to come by in those days for anyone not named Mariano Rivera.
Still, Nelson’s 293+ innings pitched were some of the most important frames in the Yankees’ run, bridging the gap from starters like Andy Pettitte, David Wells, David Cone, Hideki Irabu, and others to Rivera.
Along the way, Nelson pitched to a 3.41 ERA and the Yankees racked up a sterling 566-387 record, made the playoffs six times, won four division titles, and took home four World Series titles.
And you can make a pretty good argument that the Yanks’ postseason success hinged, in part, on Nelson, who tossed 30.2 innings in October games, striking out 35 and posting a 2.64 ERA.
But Nelson wasn’t always a Yankee. In fact, the 6’8” righty started his pro baseball life as a 22nd-round pick of the Dodgers back in 1984. In December 1986, the Mariners plucked him away in the minor league draft, and he spent four solid-to-dominant years in Seattle from 1992 through 1995.
“Seattle Setup Man” is not a high-profile job, generally speaking, but Nelson was stingy enough at his work to catch the Yankees’ attention. In December of 1995, New York traded Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock to the M’s for Tino Martinez, Jim Mecir, and Nelson.
There might have been some regret in Seattle over letting Nelson go, especially seeing his success in the Bronx. When he became a free agent after the 2000 season, it was the Mariners that put an irresistible offer on the table.
For most of the next three summers, Nelson took up his old slot as the Mariners’ setup man. But with both teams leading their divisions in early August of 2003 and starting to settle in for the playoff run, the Yanks and M’s swung a deal on the sixth — Nelson headed back to New York in exchange for Armando Benitez.
The Yankees won the American League pennant before losing the World Series in six games to the Marlins. Meanwhile the Mariners stumbled out of the playoffs, falling victim to one of Billy Beane’s patented A’s late-season comebacks.
Nelson had some rough spots in the ALCS against the hated Red Sox, but he was spotless in the World Series, striking out five in four innings and holding Florida scoreless.
The next year, collectors got one more short of Nelson in Pinstripes — he looks pretty classic on that 2004 Heritage card harkening back to 1955 Topps, huh?
From there, Nelson signed successive free agent deals with the Rangers, Mariners (yes, again), Cardinals, and White Sox before retiring at age 39 in 2006.
But who knows? Maybe one of these years, as the trade deadline looms, maybe Nelson will show up in the Bronx yet again. Or, you know, in Seattle.
Sax Never Forgets
Nelson made his debut against the White Sox on April 16, 1992, at the new Comiskey Park. He pitched two scoreless innings at the end of the Mariners’ 5-4 loss, giving up a walk and a hit but no runs.
Pretty impressive stuff for a brand new major leaguer who faced a formidable lineup that included Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, George Bell, and Dan Pasqua. The very first batter Nelson faced was Steve Sax, who still had his wheels and his grip on second base.
Sax grounded out to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, but you know he sat in the corner of the dugout plotting his revenge. You can see it on his face on his iconic (to me) 1984 Donruss card.
That chance never came — at least in that game — as the Sox’ cornerstone man was done at the plate for the day. As fate would have it, though, Sax and Nelson ended up on set together some 23 years later as analysts for MLB.com. No video evidence exists to confirm or refute that Sax did, indeed, sweep the leg.
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That’s all for today. Until next time, guard your cards, guard your knees, and — especially — guard your baseball heart. We’re barrelling through August, after all, a time when diamond dreams still run strong but can disappear in a cloud of late-summer dust.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
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