John Arnold Niggeling (July 10, 1903 – September 16, 1963) 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 ...

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 ...

who appeared in 184

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

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), ...

over all or parts of nine seasons (–) with the Boston Bees / Braves,

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

and Washington Senators. He was a right-handed

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

specialist who was listed as tall and . Born in

Remsen, Iowa Remsen is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,678 at the time of the 2020 census. History Remsen was named for Dr. William Remsen Smith. Smith had a good friend who suggested the name Smithville, but Smith thoug ...

, Niggeling entered pro baseball in 1928 and promptly won 51 games over his first three

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

seasons. But his major-league debut would have to wait until April 30, 1938, when he was 34 years old. He had two brief

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

trials with the 1938 Bees and 1939 Reds, totaling 42

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, before he was acquired by the Browns in January 1940. In the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

over the next six seasons, Niggeling would exceed 150 innings pitched each year, win 56 games, and place in the Junior Circuit's top ten pitchers in

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

three times (–), and

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s twice (1942 and 1944). He won a career-high 15 games with the Browns in 1942 before joining the wartime Senators, who in both 1944 and fielded a starting rotation featuring four knuckleballers (

Mickey Haefner Milton Arnold "Mickey" Haefner (October 9, 1912 – January 3, 1995) was an American knuckleball-throwing left-handed pitcher who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball between and , six and a half of them with the Washington Senators (19 ...

, Dutch Leonard and

Roger Wolff Roger Francis Wolff (April 10, 1911 – March 23, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed knuckleball pitcher, he appeared in 182 games pitched, games over all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between ...

were the others). Niggeling's career won–lost record was 64–69 with a 3.22 ERA. In his 184

MLB 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), ...

games, 161 as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, he allowed 1,111 hits and 516

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 620 strikeouts, in 1,250 innings of work; he was credited with 81

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and 12

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. He retired from pro ball in 1947. In later years, Niggeling worked as a barber in

Le Mars, Iowa Le Mars is the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is part of the Sioux City metropolitan area. Histor ...

. Niggeling died at age 60 in LeMars, having committed suicide by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

himself in his hotel room. He had been suffering from back pain the last few years of his life and was recently divorced from his wife.

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* 1903 births 1963 suicides Barbers Baseball players from Iowa Boston Bees players Boston Braves players Cincinnati Reds players Des Moines Demons players Evansville Hubs players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Knuckleball pitchers Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Vols players Newark Bears (International League) players Oklahoma City Indians players People from Le Mars, Iowa St. Louis Browns players Sioux City Soos players Suicides by hanging in Iowa Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players Wilkes-Barre Barons players 1963 deaths {{US-baseball-pitcher-1900s-stub

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