Dustin Nippert

Dustin David Nippert (born May 6, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball, and the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz of the KBO League. Nippert won the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award in 2016. With eight seasons in the KBO, Nippert holds the record for the longest career of any foreign player.

Dustin Nippert
Nippert with the Doosan Bears in 2015
Starting pitcher
Born: (1981-05-06) May 6, 1981
Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 8, 2005, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
KBO: April 2, 2011, for the Doosan Bears
Last appearance
MLB: July 19, 2010, for the Texas Rangers
KBO: 2018, for the KT Wiz
MLB statistics
(through 2010 season)
Win–loss record14–16
Earned run average5.31
Strikeouts214
KBO statistics
(through 2018 season)
Win–loss record102–51
Earned run average3.59
Strikeouts1,082
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Early life and education

Nippert grew up in the small Ohio town of Beallsville, where he played baseball for Beallsville High School. He attended West Virginia University, where he played college baseball for the Mountaineers in 2002.[1]

Career
Nippert with the Doosan Bears.

Major League Baseball

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Nippert in the 15th round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 8, 2005 with the same organization that drafted him. On March 28, 2008, he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Jose Marte.

On June 29, 2008, Nippert threw a seven-inning no-hitter for Triple-A Oklahoma City RedHawks against the Omaha Royals.

The 2009 season is best on record for Nippert in his major league career, when he compiled a 5–3 record with an ERA of 3.88 in 69.2 innings for the Rangers. During the next year, he was able to shake off a scary incident on July 19, 2010, when he was hit on the side of the head by a line drive hit by Austin Jackson against the Detroit Tigers. The ball was hit so hard that it ricocheted off of his head and past third base into left field. Nippert walked off the field smiling to a standing ovation in Detroit but was placed on the 15-day DL after the game.

Korea Baseball Organization

On March 3, 2011, Nippert signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization,[2] after an attempt to sign with a Japanese baseball team had failed.[3] Due to his solid performances in a Doosan uniform, the team's fans have christened him "Ninunim" (Korean: 니느님), with the name being a portmanteau of his last name and the Korean word for God "Hanunim" (하느님).[4] In the 2015 KBO post-season, he pitched 26+2⁄3 scoreless innings during the Bears run to the fourth Korean Series championship in the team's history. On November 14, 2016, he won KBO League Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the fourth foreign player to be awarded in the 34-year history of the league.[5]

On January 23, 2017, Nippert re-signed with the Doosan Bears for another year, earning $2.1 million per year, which is the highest annual income ever of a foreign player in the Korea Baseball Organization.[6] Nippert pitched to a 14–8 record with a 4.06 ERA during the regular season, and started Game 1 of the 2017 Korean Series.[7]

On January 4, 2018, Nippert signed with the KT Wiz. The Doosan Bears had recommended he retire, but Nippert had a strong will to extend his active service. He signed a $1 million contract with the Wiz.[8] On June 29, 2018, with a victory against the NC Dinos, Nippert became the first foreign pitcher in the KBO league to win 100 games in his career.[9]

Personal life

Nippert is married to a South Korean woman, who is his second wife.[10] The couple have two children together, Levi and Owen. He was previously married to an American woman for 10 years, until 2014.

Filmography

Television show
Year Title Network Role Ref.
2022 Back to the Ground MBN Participant [11]
2022 United Fathers MBC
2023 Physical: 100 Netflix

See also

Further reading

References
  1. "West Virginia University Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on 2004-04-06. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  2. Axisa, Mike (3 March 2011). "Dustin Nippert Signed With Team In Korea". MLBTradeRumors.com. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  3. "Dustin Nippert, the "Ace" on the mound". The INNERview. Episode 109. March 2014. Arirang TV. Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  4. [프로야구]두산 니퍼트 "니느님? 그저 고마울 뿐" (in Korean). Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  5. Yoo Jee-ho (November 14, 2016). "American pitcher voted MVP of S. Korean baseball". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  6. Yoo Jee-ho (January 23, 2017). "Reigning S. Korean baseball MVP becomes highest-paid foreign player". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  7. "2 ex-major league pitchers to start opener of baseball championship series". 24 October 2017.
  8. "니퍼트, Kt와 100만달러 계약 성사…두산은 은퇴식까지 권유". 4 January 2018.
  9. "Kt, Nc 제압…니퍼트 Kbo 외국인 최초 개인 통산 100승". 29 June 2018.
  10. "Doosan Bears' Dustin Nippert to Wed Korean Woman". Chosun Ilbo. November 9, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  11. Ahn Tae-hyun (March 24, 2022). "빽 투 더 그라운드' 야구 레전드, 한 팀으로 뭉쳤다…범접불가 아우라" [Back to the Ground' baseball legends unite as one team... Incomparable Aura] (in Korean). News1. Retrieved March 24, 2022 – via Naver.
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