Joe Nelson
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| Kansas City Royals — No. 55 | |
| Relief Pitcher | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| June 13, 2001 for the Atlanta Braves | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Wins | 1 |
| Strikeouts | 49 |
| Earned run average | 6.39 |
| Former teams | |
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Joseph George Nelson (born October 25, 1974 in Alameda, California) is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball.
Nelson attended Chico High School in Chico, California, before transferring to St. Joseph Notre Dame in Alameda, California. At St. Joseph Nelson was the starting shortstop on the California State Division I Baseball Championship team. Nelson also played basketball at St. Joseph on the 1992 California State Championship team with current NBA star Jason Kidd. After two seasons at Seminole State College in 1994-95, he transferred to the University of San Francisco. In a switch to pitching at USF, he went undefeated, recording five saves.
After being selected twice by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 and 1994 amateur drafts, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 1996. Nelson made it to the majors in 2001, seeing two stints of an inning apiece in mop-up duty, where his ERA was 36.00.
Released by the Braves the following summer, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox and quickly released after four appearances for AA Trenton.
Nelson re-signed with the Red Sox in the spring of 2004, and was promoted to the majors in June as bullpen help. After recording a scoreless inning against Texas, he gave up 5 runs over 12⁄3 innings in his next two appearances. He was optioned back to AAA when Mark Malaska was activated off the disabled list.
After spending spring training with the New York Mets in 2005, 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, 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' Double-A club, allowing just four hits over that span. 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, 2006. After Royals closer Ambiorix Burgos was demoted on August 14, Nelson threw a perfect ninth inning the following day. Manager Buddy Bell has used the 31-year-old journeyman in the closer's role ever since.
Nelson currently lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
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