John Clark Nelson (born March 3, 1979) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

Amateur career

A native of Denton, Texas, Nelson played college baseball for the University of Kansas. In 1998, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Falmouth Commodores of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, and returned to the league in 1999 to play for the Harwich Mariners.

Professional career

Nelson was selected by the Cardinals in the 8th round of the

2001 MLB Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ba ...

. Originally an outfielder, the St. Louis Cardinals converted him to a shortstop. Nelson was promoted to the Cardinals on September 5, 2006, wearing the number 62, and made his major league debut on September 7, striking out against the Arizona Diamondbacks'

Greg Aquino Gregori Emilio Aquino Valera (; ; born January 11, 1978) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians. Career Arizona Diamondbacks Aqui ...

. In his first big-league action he went 0-5 with 4 strikeouts. He also pinch-ran 3 times and scored 2 runs, playing one game at shortstop and one game at first base. In 2008, he signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

References

Sources

Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Texas St. Louis Cardinals players 1979 births Living people Kansas Jayhawks baseball players New Jersey Cardinals players Peoria Chiefs players Tennessee Smokies players Memphis Redbirds players Iowa Cubs players Lancaster Barnstormers players Falmouth Commodores players Harwich Mariners players {{baseball-shortstop-stub