Alan Brian Levine (born May 22, 1968) 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), ...

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 ...

who pitched 234 games in the minor leagues, and 416 games in the major leagues.

Early and personal life

Levine, who is Jewish, was born in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a Chicago suburb. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located northwest of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways, a ...

, and graduated from

Hoffman Estates High School Hoffman Estates High School (HEHS) is a public four-year high school located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 211, which also includes James B. Conant Hi ...

, attended and played for Harper Junior College, and graduated from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. In , Levine walked onto the SIU team as a

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 ...

. Levine is close friends with

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Sal Fasano.

Baseball career

The

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

drafted him in the 11th round of the 1991 draft.

Minor leagues

In 1991 he debuted with the single-A

Utica Blue Sox The Utica Blue Sox was the name of two minor league baseball teams based in Utica, New York. In the 2010s, the ''Utica Blue Sox'' is the name of a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) based in ...

, and was 5th in the New York-Penn League with two complete games.Al Levine Minor & Independent Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref>Al Levine Stats, Fantasy & News , MLB.com
/ref> In 1992, he stuck 142 batters between the Sarasota White Sox and the single-A South Bend White Sox, tying for second among White Sox minor leaguers. In 1993, he led Florida State League pitchers with 129 strikeouts while pitching for single-A Sarasota, and came in third in the league with three complete games, and fifth with 11 wins. Levine played AA for the Birmingham Barons in 1994, along with Michael Jordan, until he was called up to AAA mid-season, and came in eighth in with a 3.31 ERA. In 1995, he started in the Nashville Sounds' starting rotation, but spent most of the season in double-A Birmingham, where he was second on the team with 7 saves. Levine pitched 234 games in the minor leagues, over 11 seasons.

Major leagues

Levine made his major league debut in with the White Sox. In , he held batters to a .125 batting average when there were 2 out, with runners in scoring position. In December 1997, he was traded by the White Sox with Larry Thomas to the Texas Rangers for

Benji Gil Romar Benjamin Gil Aguilar (born October 6, 1972) is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels. He is infield coach for the Los Angeles Angels of MLB, and ...

. In April , he was selected off waivers by 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 ...

from the Texas Rangers. In , he held batters to a .186 batting average when there were 2 out, with runners in scoring position. In , he had perhaps his best season. He had a 2.38

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 ...

(2.11 in relief; second-best among all AL relievers) for the Angels in 64 games, and his 8 wins were third-most among all AL relief pitchers. In , he held batters to a .206 batting average when there were 2 out, with runners in scoring position. In January , Levine signed as 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 ...

with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, but was released in March. In April, he signed as a free agent with the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

, who then sold him to the Kansas City Royals on July 31. In 2003, he had another excellent season, splitting it between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Kansas City Royals. He had a 2.79 ERA in 54 games. He held batters to a .189 batting average when there were 2 out, with runners in scoring position. In December 2003, he signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers. In , he held batters to a .154 batting average when there were 2 out, with runners in scoring position. For seven seasons in a row, from 1999–2004, he pitched in at least 50 games each year. In February , he signed as a free agent with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, who released him in June. On July 7, 2005, he was signed as a free agent 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 ...

, but was released a week later without pitching a game for them. Levine played for seven major league teams. For his career, he held batters to a .220

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 ...

when there were runners in

scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when they are on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batte ...

with 2 out. , he was tenth in career ERA and sixth in career games played among Jewish major league baseball pitchers.

Atlantic League

In 2008, Levine pitched for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Later life

Levine later lived in Belleville, Illinois.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statisticsAdam Levine explains his comment on ''The Voice''Jews in Sports biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Alan 1968 births Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Illinois Birmingham Barons players Caribes de Oriente players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Fresno Grizzlies players Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players Kansas City Royals players Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Newark Bears players Oklahoma RedHawks players People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Salt Lake Stingers players San Francisco Giants players Sarasota White Sox players South Bend White Sox players Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Tampa Bay Devil Rays players Texas Rangers players Utica Blue Sox players Harper Hawks baseball players Hoffman Estates High School alumni 21st-century American Jews