Joseph George Nelson (born October 25, 1974) is a 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), ...

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, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

High school

Nelson attended St. Joseph's High School in Alameda, California. At St. Joseph, Nelson played basketball with NBA star

Jason Kidd Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards a ...

College

After two seasons at Seminole State College from –-, he transferred to the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

. In a switch to pitching at USF, he went undefeated, recording five saves.

Professional career

Atlanta Braves

After being selected twice by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in the and 1994 amateur drafts, he was drafted by 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 ...

in the fourth round of the . Nelson made it to the majors in , seeing two stints of an inning apiece in mop-up duty, where his

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 ...

was 36.00.

Boston Red Sox

Released by the Braves the following summer, he was signed by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

and quickly released after four appearances for Double-A Trenton. Nelson re-signed with the Red Sox in the spring of , and was promoted to the majors in June as bullpen help. After recording a scoreless inning against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, he gave up 5 runs over 1²⁄₃ innings in his next two appearances. He was optioned back to Triple-A when Mark Malaska was activated off the disabled list.

New York Mets/Tampa Bay Rays/St. Louis Cardinals

After spending spring training with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in , he signed to play with the Devil Rays' Triple-A team. Despite good peripheral numbers of 61 strikeouts in 46 innings and a .229 opponents'

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, he went 0–3 with a 4.11 ERA and was released in July. Nelson then had a short 13-inning stint with the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

' Double-A club, allowing just four hits over that span.

Kansas City Royals

He signed with the Kansas City Royals organization in November. Nelson bounced between Omaha and the major-league club before being called up for good on July 19, . After Royals closer

Ambiorix Burgos Ambiorix Burgos (born April 19, 1984) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who last played for Vaqueros Laguna of the Mexican League. Career In , Burgos made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals and appeared in ...

was demoted on August 14, Nelson threw a perfect ninth inning the following day. Manager

Buddy Bell David Gus "Buddy" Bell (born August 27, 1951) is an American former third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) currently serving as vice president and senior advisor to the general manager for the Cincinnati Reds. After an 18-year ...

used the 31-year-old journeyman in the closer's role for 2006. In , he was hurt. At the end of the 2007 season, he was designated for assignment to Triple-A Omaha, which he refused and opted out becoming a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Florida Marlins

In December 2007, Nelson was signed by 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 ...

to a minor league contract. Joe Nelson earned a victory over the Mets in his final appearance with the Marlins on September 28, 2008, becoming the last recorded winning pitcher at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

. Nelson was non-tendered by the Marlins following the season.

Second Stint with Rays

On December 30, 2008, Nelson signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. In October 2009 Nelson was granted free agency.

Second Stint with Red Sox

On February 1, 2010, Nelson signed a minor league contract with the

. When

Josh Beckett Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. After ...

was placed on the disabled list on May 19, Nelson was called up to take his roster spot. He elected to become a free agent after he was designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week after opening the season with a 9.72 ERA over his first eight appearances.

Seattle Mariners

On June 24, 2010, Nelson signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

, but was released on July 28, 2010.

Post Playing Career

After his active career, Nelson served as a professional scout for the Red Sox, based in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. As of , he holds a similar position with the Seattle Mariners. In February 2017, the Chicago Cubs hired him as a scout.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Joe 1974 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox players Boston Red Sox scouts Chicago Cubs scouts Durham Bulls players Eugene Emeralds players Florida Marlins players Greenville Braves players Gulf Coast Braves players Jamestown Jammers players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Omaha Royals players Pawtucket Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Richmond Braves players San Francisco Dons baseball players Seattle Mariners scouts Sportspeople from Chico, California Springfield Cardinals players Tacoma Rainiers players Tampa Bay Rays players Trenton Thunder players