Gregory Charles Keagle (born June 28, 1971) is an American former

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

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 ...

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), ...

(MLB) who played for the Detroit Tigers from to . He attended Horseheads High School in

Horseheads, New York Horseheads is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 19,412 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from the number of bleached horses' skulls once found there. Horseheads is north of the city of Elmira ...

before attending

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

and

Monroe Community College Monroe Community College is a public community college in Monroe County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college has two campuses; the main campus in the town of Brighton, and the Downtown Campus in the City of Ro ...

Career

The draft and minors

Keagle was selected in the sixth round, 170th overall, of the

1993 Major League Baseball Draft The 1993 Major League Baseball draft began with first round selections on June 3, 1993. Alex Rodriguez was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners. Other notable draftees included Chris Carpenter, Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Scott Rol ...

by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. He was used almost entirely as a starter in the minors, appearing in only one game in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

before his first call to the majors. His first professional season in the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

with the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

was promising (3-3 record, 3.25

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

), but the first half of his 1994 season was absolutely outstanding. He was 11-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 14 games for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and was named to the California League All-Star team. However, that success did not continue after he was promoted to the Double-A

Wichita Wranglers The Wichita Wranglers were a minor league baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team, which played in the Texas League, was the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1994 and the Kansas City Royals ...

, where he was 3-9 with a 6.27 ERA. He remained in the Padres organization until September 17, 1995, when he was named as the

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 ...

in a deal announced July 31 in which the Padres sent

Andy Benes Andrew Charles Benes (born August 20, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1989 to 2002, most prominently as a member of the San Diego Padres where he was na ...

to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

for

Ron Villone Ronald Thomas Villone, Jr. (born January 16, 1970) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) left-handed relief pitcher and current minor league coach. Villone played for 12 teams in his career, tied for 3rd all time with pitcher Mike Morgan and o ...

and

Marc Newfield Marc Alexander Newfield (born October 19, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player from to who played for the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 1996, he was one of thr ...

. In December of that year, the Tigers took him from the Mariners in the Rule 5 Draft.

The majors

Keagle was on the Tigers' Opening Day roster in 1996, and he made his debut in their first game of the season, April 1. He pitched three innings in his first big league game, surrendering three hits,

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

two and

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

two. He allowed one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

. His first career strikeout victim was

Chuck Knoblauch Edward Charles Knoblauch (; born July 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 through 2002, for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. He play ...

. He then struck out

Rich Becker Richard Godhard "Rich" Becker (born February 1, 1972) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletic ...

, who followed Knoblauch in the batting order. Keagle did not have a very successful rookie season. In 26 games (six started), he posted a three and six record with an ERA of 7.39. He also walked 68 batters in 87+ innings of work. He was used mostly as a starter in the final two seasons of his career, 1997 and 1998. He went three and eight combined in those final two years, posting a career best ERA of 5.59 in 1998. He did not average five innings a start in his final two seasons. Perhaps the best game of his career came on September 12, 1997, against the Oakland Athletics. He threw seven fine innings of work, giving up only five hits, one run (a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Scott Spiezio Scott Edward Spiezio (; born September 21, 1972) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He is well-known for his time as a member of the Anaheim Angels, when he hit a three-run home run in Game Six of the 2002 World Series against ...

) walking only one and striking out nine batters. Overall, his career record was six and 16. He posted an ERA of 6.76, and in 171 innings of work, he walked 106 batters and struck out 128. He pitched in a total of 46 games in his career, starting exactly half of those. He hit a total of 18 batters in his career, or one every 9.53 innings of work. He had only one career at bat, facing

Denny Neagle Dennis Edward Neagle Jr. (; born September 13, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for six teams over a 13-year career. During the 1990s, he was one of the top pitchers in baseball, but his career, and personal life, deterio ...

of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

on September 2, 1997, he struck out. He committed zero errors in his career, for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He played his final big league game on May 26, 1998. He wore number 57 during his time in the majors.

Back to the minors

Although his major league career ended in 1998, his professional career lasted until 2005. He stayed in the Tigers' organization in 1999, split time between the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

organization and the Elmira Pioneers in 2000, where he threw the first no-hitter in Pioneers history (and just one of three in

Northeast League The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two leag ...

history). In 2001 and 2002, Keagle was a pitcher/coach for the Pioneers. He played in the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

organization in all of 2003. He last played in 2005 with the Elmira Pioneers of the

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization ...

After pro baseball

Since retiring from professional baseball, Keagle has coached for the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

(RIT) Tigers. In 2010, he and Rob Grow, another RIT coach, started a youth baseball organization called the Grow2Pro Baseball Group. Keagle has also done

color commentary 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 the ...

for Rochester Red Wings live television broadcasts in Rochester, New York.

Personal life

Greg Keagle currently resides in

Pittsford, New York Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census. The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. The ...

with his wife Danielle and their three children, Olivia, Jack, and Luke.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keagle, Greg 1971 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from New York (state) Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Elmira Pioneers players FIU Panthers baseball players Jacksonville Suns players Lakeland Tigers players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chicks players Minor League Baseball broadcasters Monroe Tribunes baseball players People from Corning, New York Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players RIT Tigers Rochester Red Wings Spokane Indians players Toledo Mud Hens players Wichita Wranglers players Horseheads High School alumni