Dickie Ray Noles (born November 19, 1956) is an American former

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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

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 ...

, Texas Rangers,

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 ...

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 ...

and the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

between 1979 and 1990. He batted and threw right-handed. Today Noles is a born-again Christian and works for the Philadelphia Phillies. Noles attended

Harding University High School Harding University High School is located at 2001 Alleghany Street, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was established as a Math, Science, and Technology school in 1992, and added an International Baccalaureate to its program in 1995. The motto o ...

in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was selected in the 4th round (84th overall) in the 1975 June amateur baseball draft by the

. Noles was an effective

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the Phillies'

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion 1980 Philadelphia Phill ...

championship team. In Game 4 of that series, Noles came on in relief of

Larry Christenson Larry Richard Christenson (born November 10, 1953), nicknamed "L.C.", is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Philadelphia Phillies (1973–1983). Early life Christen ...

in the first inning with only one out and the Phillies down 4–0 to the

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 ...

. Noles pitched the next 4 innings and gave up another run, but is most remembered for throwing a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

under

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are second-mos ...

's chin in the fourth inning that prompted a warning by the umpires to both teams. Brett struck out in the at-bat and had only three singles and one RBI the remainder of the series. The brushback incident is looked upon as the turning point in that series for the Phillies. Before the 1982 season, Noles was traded along with

Keith Moreland Bobby Keith Moreland (born May 2, 1954), nicknamed "Zonk", is a former outfielder, catcher and infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres. In 1989, the final year of his career, ...

to the

for pitcher

Mike Krukow Michael Edward Krukow (born January 21, 1952), nicknamed "Kruk", is an American former professional baseball player and sportscaster. As a starting pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and ...

and cash. Noles had an effective season as a starter in 1982, going 10–13. In early 1983, however, Noles' alcohol problems began to surface. He and a Cubs teammate drunkenly assaulted a police officer after a game and Noles severely injured his left knee. Noles spent 16 days in jail, was forced to enter alcohol rehabilitation, and was forced to pay a substantial amount of his baseball earnings in an ensuing civil suit. Noles reports that he has been sober since April 9, 1983, the date of the incident. In 1987, Noles became one of only four players in history to be "traded for himself" (

Harry Chiti Harry Dominic Chiti Jr. (pronounced ) (November 16, 1932 – January 31, 2002) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. He appeared in 502 games over all or parts of ten seasons between and for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Athletic ...

Brad Gulden Bradley Lee Gulden (born June 10, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1978 to 1986 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Montreal Expos, ...

, and John McDonald are the other three). Toward the end of the season, Noles was traded from the Cubs to the Detroit Tigers for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. 33 days later, after the 1987 season had ended, the teams were unable to agree on what player Chicago would receive, and so Noles was shipped back to the Cubs, completing a deal in which he was traded for himself. Two-and-a-half weeks after that, the Cubs granted Noles free agency. He signed with Baltimore for the 1988 season, but only appeared in two games for them. Noles finished his career with a single game for the 1990

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Noles, Dickie 1956 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Philadelphia Phillies players Chicago Cubs players Texas Rangers players Cleveland Indians players Detroit Tigers players Baltimore Orioles players Auburn Phillies players Peninsula Pilots players Reading Phillies players Oklahoma City 89ers players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Maine Guides players Spartanburg Phillies players Columbus Clippers players Rochester Red Wings players Quad Cities Cubs players Pittsfield Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Baseball players from Chicago