Dustin David Nippert (born May 6, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball, and the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz of the KBO League. Nippert won the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award in 2016. With eight seasons in the KBO, Nippert holds the record for the longest career of any foreign player.

Early life and education

Nippert grew up in the small Ohio town of Beallsville, where he played baseball for Beallsville High School. He attended West Virginia University, where he played college baseball for the Mountaineers in 2002.

Career

Major League Baseball

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Nippert in the 15th round of the

2002 Major League Baseball draft The 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book '' Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * ...

. He made his major league debut against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

on September 8, with the same organization that drafted him. On March 28, , he was traded to the Texas Rangers for

Jose Marte Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

. On June 29, 2008, Nippert threw a seven-inning

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

for Triple-A Oklahoma City RedHawks against the Omaha Royals. The 2009 season is best on record for Nippert in his major league career, when he compiled a 5–3 record with an ERA of 3.88 in 69.2 innings for the Rangers. During the next year, he was able to shake off a scary incident on July 19, 2010, when he was hit on the side of the head by a line drive hit by Austin Jackson against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. The ball was hit so hard that it ricocheted off of his head and past third base into left field. Nippert walked off the field smiling to a standing ovation in Detroit but was placed on the 15-day DL after the game.

Korea Baseball Organization

On March 3, 2011, Nippert signed with the Doosan Bears of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

, after an attempt to sign with a Japanese baseball team had failed. Due to his solid performances in a Doosan uniform, the team's fans have christened him "Ninunim" (Korean: 니느님), with the name being a portmanteau of his last name and the Korean word for God "Hanunim" (하느님). In the 2015 KBO post-season, he pitched scoreless innings during the Bears run to the fourth Korean Series championship in the team's history. On November 14, 2016, he won KBO League Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the fourth foreign player to be awarded in the 34-year history of the league. On January 23, 2017, Nippert re-signed with the Doosan Bears for another year, earning $2.1 million per year, which is the highest annual income ever of a foreign player in the Korea Baseball Organization. Nippert pitched to a 14–8 record with a 4.06 ERA during the regular season, and started Game 1 of the 2017 Korean Series. On January 4, 2018, Nippert signed with the KT Wiz. The Doosan Bears had recommended he retire, but Nippert had a strong will to extend his active service. He signed a $1 million contract with the Wiz. On June 29, 2018, with a victory against the NC Dinos, Nippert became the first foreign pitcher in the KBO league to win 100 games in his career.

Personal life

Nippert is currently married to a South Korean woman, who is his second wife. The couple has 2 children together, Levi and Owen. He was previously married to a U.S. woman for 10 years, until 2014.

Filmography

Television show

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nippert, Dustin 1981 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Texas Rangers players Baseball players from West Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers People from Beallsville, Ohio Sportspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia Ohio Valley Fighting Scots baseball players West Virginia Mountaineers baseball players Missoula Osprey players South Bend Silver Hawks players El Paso Diablos players Tennessee Smokies players Tucson Sidewinders players Oklahoma RedHawks players Frisco RoughRiders players Oklahoma City RedHawks players KBO League pitchers American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Doosan Bears players KT Wiz players American people of English descent American people of German descent