Mike Neill

{{short description|American baseball player (born 1970)}}

{{about||the Australian footballer|Michael Neill|other people with similar names|Michael Neal (disambiguation){{!}}Mike Neal}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{BLP sources|date=May 2013}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Mike Neill

| position = Outfielder

| image =

| bats = Left

| throws = Left

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|4|27}}

| birth_place = Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = July 27

| debutyear = 1998

| debutteam = Oakland Athletics

| finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = August 1

| finalyear = 1998

| finalteam = Oakland Athletics

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Batting average

| stat1value = .267

| stat2label = Home runs

| stat2value = 0

| stat3label = Runs batted in

| stat3value = 0

| teams =

|medaltemplates=

{{MedalSport | Men's baseball }}

{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}

{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games }}

{{MedalGold | 2000 Sydney | Team competition }}

{{MedalCompetition | Pan American Games }}

{{MedalSilver | 1999 Winnipeg | Team competition }}

}}

Michael Robert Neill (born April 27, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball and Olympic baseball player.

Career

His baseball career included a stint with the Oakland Athletics and ended with the Olympic gold medal team in the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia. He was named Delaware Athlete of the Year in 2000.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} At Villanova University he compiled a .417 career batting average, led the Wildcats to the 1989 and 1991 Big East Conference crowns and was named 1991 Big East Player of the Year.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} He established team records of 232 hits, 53 doubles and 379 total bases as well as several single-season records.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

Neill won two minor league batting championships and had a .307 batting average over 11 years. He was selected to four all-star teams and was a key player in the Vancouver Canadians' 1999 AAA World Series victory.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

He was called up by the Oakland Athletics in {{baseball year|1998}} but was sidelined with an injury.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Neill led the 2000 USA Olympics team to a 4–0 win over Cuba in the gold-medal game with a first-inning home run and a dramatic sliding catch in the ninth inning.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} His walk-off homer against Japan won the team's first-round Olympic contest.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} During the 1999 Pan American Games he had the game-winning hit to clinch the Olympic berth for the USA.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

See also

References