Truman State University Athletics

Al Nipper was an All-Conference and All-District pitcher and Most Valuable Player at Hazelwood West High School in St. Louis. After being recruited by Sam Nugent, he enrolled at the university in 1977 and finished his freshman season with a 3.24 earned-run average. As a sophomore, he posted an NCAA Division II leading ERA of 0.98 and a 6-2 record. He was named to the MIAA first-team and All-District team. In his junior year, Mr. Nipper compiled a 3.76 ERA and made the All-Conference second-team. That was his final campaign as a Bulldog pitcher. While at the university he set a new school record for career strikeouts (152) and career complete games (18) and tied a school record for single-season wins (6). A month after the end of the 1980 season, Mr. Nipper was an eighth-round selection in the major league draft and signed with the Boston Red Sox. During the next three years, he traveled up the minor league ladder in the Red Sox farm system until reaching the parent team in the last month of the 1983 season. He won his first major league game on the last day of the year, beating Cleveland. He became a member of Boston's starting rotation in 1984 and finished his first complete major league season with an 11-6 record and a 3.89 ERA. However, 1985 became a season of misfortune for him. He developed a stomach ulcer, back spasms and toe and neck injuries. He finished that campaign with a 9-12 record and a 4.06 ERA. In 1986 he found out the injury jinx was still haunting him. In May he suffered a four-inch gash along the kneecap after being spiked in a home-plate collision. But he was back in action by late June and posted a 10-12 record. The Red Sox clinched their first pennant since 1978 and played the Mets in the World Series. Mr. Nipper was the Boston starting pitcher in Game 4 but unfortunately he lost, 6-2. In 1987 Mr. Nipper compiled an 11-12 record. Then that winter he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. He suffered an elbow injury in the first half of the 1988 season and finished the year with only 80 innings. In the spring of 1989, he sustained a knee injury and was released by the Cubs. He was signed by Cleveland in 1990 but was released by the Indians after that season. In 1993 he was named the pitching coach for Boston's club in Fort Meyer, Fla. and his coaching career has included a stint as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals.