Baseball (1958-1959)
Inducted in 2008

A fire-balling lefthanded pitcher, Al Neiger earned stardom on the mound for the Delaware baseball team during the late 1950’s and went on to pitch with the Philadelphia Phillies. A native of Wilmington, Del., Al earned first team All-American honors and was the District 2 Player of the Year in 1959 when he went 9-3 with a still standing school record 0.88 earned run average. He set a school record when he led the nation in strikeouts, fanning an incredible 166 batters in 103 innings, and set another UD standard with a streak of 55 consecutive shutout innings. In 1958, he went 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA, striking out 60 batters in 60 innings and leading the team to the Middle Atlantic Conference title under coach Tubby Raymond. He pitched in six games in the major leagues with the Phillies in 1960 and retired in 1963 after spending five years with the organization. A 1960 graduate of Delaware and a strong supporter of Blue Hen athletics, he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1984. A mechanical engineering major, Al worked for 39 years in various positions at NVF Co. of Yorklyn, Del. before retiring in 2003. He now serves as vice president of Thermal Seal Experts, an insulation company in Wilmington. He and his wife, Barbara (Delaware ‘62), reside in Fairfax, Del. and have three daughters and nine grandchildren. Daughters Susie and Shelley are Delaware graduates and Susie’s husband, Dave Whitcraft, was an All-American goalkeeper in soccer at UD and was inducted into the UD Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002.