David Earl Nelson (June 20, 1944 – April 22, 2018) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

from 1968 through 1977. He also served as one of the broadcasters for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Fox Sports Wisconsin Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North until 2007, the channel was known as Fox ...

. During a period in the early 2010 season, Nelson was the team's interim radio

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

over the Brewers Radio Network during road games outside of Chicago while

Bob Uecker Robert George Uecker ( ; born January 26, 1934) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and current sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Facetiously dubbed "Mr. Baseball" by TV talk show host Johnny Carson, Uecker has served as a ...

recovered from heart surgery to repair an aortic valve. He was the team's first base coach for four years prior to the end of his contract. He helped to develop many players, including

Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Lofton was a six-time All-Star (1994–1999), four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1993–1996), and at retirement, was ranked 15th amon ...

Scott Podsednik Scott Eric Podsednik (; born March 18, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Best known for his baserunning, Podsednik led the major leagues in stolen bases in with 70, in times caught steal ...

and

Rickie Weeks Rickie Darnell Weeks Jr. (born September 13, 1982) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays. H ...

Early years

Nelson was born in

Fort Sill, Oklahoma Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...

. He graduated from Junipero Serra High School in

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census. ...

, and attended

Compton Junior College Compton College is a public community college in Compton, California. From 2006, when it lost its regional accreditation, to 2017, when it regained that accreditation, it operated as a part of El Camino College. Before and after the partnershi ...

and

Los Angeles State College California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. Nelson served for six years in the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

Playing career

Nelson played his first career game with the

on April 11, 1968, spending two seasons with Cleveland before being traded to the Washington Senators with

Ron Law Ronald David Law (born March 14, 1946) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 35 games for the 1969 Cleveland Indians. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Law threw and batted right-handed. He was listed as tall and weighed (1 ...

and

Horacio Piña Horacio Piña García ee'-nyah(born March 12, 1945) is a Mexican former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball over eight seasons between and . Piña also played professionally in Mexico for all or portions of nine years. He batted ...

for Dennis Higgins and Barry Moore during the 1969–70 offseason. In 1971, Nelson began seeing regular time in the field, coming to bat over 300 times for the first time in his career. At the end of that season, Nelson scored the last run ever for the Washington Senators at

RFK stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

. Nelson moved with the franchise to Texas, where he continued to gain a reputation as a base-stealing threat, stealing 51 bases in 1972. He had his best year in 1973, when he played in his one and only

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

, playing one inning at third base but not coming to bat. That year, he finished with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .286, with seven home runs and 48 RBIs. He remained with the Rangers until being traded to the

in exchange for

Nelson Briles Nelson Kelley Briles (August 5, 1943 – February 13, 2005) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A hard thrower whose best pitch was a slider, he exhibited excellent control. Briles batted and threw right-handed. He was a starting pitcher on World ...

following the 1975 season. Nelson spent two seasons in Kansas City, playing sparingly off the bench. In 1976, he got his only taste of postseason action. Pinch-hitting for

Tom Poquette Thomas Arthur Poquette (born October 30, 1951) is a retired American outfielder who spent seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Kansas City Royals (1973, 1976– 79, 1982), Boston Red Sox (1979, 1981) and Texas Rangers (1981). ...

in Game 3 of the

1976 American League Championship Series The 1976 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five playoff pitting the New York Yankees against the Kansas City Royals for the American League pennant and the right to represent the American League in the 1976 World Series. The Yanke ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, he grounded out against

Sparky Lyle Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle (born July 22, 1944) is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1967 through 1982. He was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, ...

. He played in his final major league game on September 27, 1977, then retired after the season.

Post-playing career

Coaching

In 1980, Nelson was named a coach for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

's baseball team. The following season, he returned to the majors as a coach for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, where he remained until 1984. Over the next two-plus decades would work in various capacities for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(Director of Instruction, 1986–1987),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(minor league baserunning instructor, 1990–1991),

(1992–1997), and

(minor league outfield instructor, 2001–2002, first base coach, 2003–2006).

Broadcasting

Nelson was a pregame analyst for the

. He was also the Director of Milwaukee Brewers Alumni Relations. His previous experience as a sportscaster was on

telecasts in 1979, on

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

radio broadcasts from 1988–1989, and on

radio broadcasts from 1998–1999.

Charity work

Nelson also sat on the board of directors for Open Arms Home for Children, a non-profit organization that provides homes to orphaned children affected by the

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

pandemic in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Death

Nelson died of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

on April 22, 2018, in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, at the age of 73.

Honors

On May 26, 2012 Nelson was inducted into the Compton Community College Athletics Hall of Fame, under the category of Baseball.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Dave 1944 births 2018 deaths African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players Águilas del Zulia players American League All-Stars Arizona Instructional League Athletics players Baseball players from Oklahoma California State University, Los Angeles alumni Chicago Cubs announcers Chicago White Sox coaches Cleveland Indians announcers Cleveland Indians coaches Cleveland Indians players Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin Deaths from liver cancer Denver Bears players Dubuque Packers players Kansas City Royals announcers Kansas City Royals players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Military personnel from Oklahoma Milwaukee Brewers announcers Milwaukee Brewers coaches Pawtucket Indians players People from Fort Sill, Oklahoma Portland Beavers players Salinas Indians players Texas Rangers players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players United States Army reservists 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Junípero Serra High School (Gardena, California) alumni