Junk Wax Prospector - David Nied - Colorado Rockies



I had this poster on the wall of Basement World until I moved out of my parent's house in 1995. It was cool but cheesy, David Nied pitching a snowball over some superimposed mountains... I didn't have many baseball posters that I hung up, but I picked the Nied poster up at a card show soon after it came out.

(This is not my picture of said poster... I found it online, as I didn't want to dig out my posters, unroll them just to take a photo... Thanks Google Images!)


When I decided that I wanted to collect Colorado Rockies cards back in 1993, logically David Nied would be a player that I would tend to collect.


A hyped prospect...


Getting a ton of hobby press....


Playing a key role on a team I collected...


Yeah, that about fits the bill for where my collection was heading in the early 1990's...


Atlanta took Nied in the 14th round of the 1987 draft, out of high school in Duncanville, Texas.


His first three seasons in Atlanta's minor leagues were promising, but Nied put it all together in 1991. Going 15-6, 2.01 ERA, 125 hits and 43 walks in 170 innings, with 178 strikeouts, while splitting the season between A and AA.


Next year with AAA Richmond, Nied went 14-9, 2.84 ERA, 144 hits and 44 walks in 168 innings, with 159 strikeouts.

His performance earned him a 6 game stint (2 starts) with the 1992 Atlanta Braves. Nied pitched to a 3-0 record, with a 1.17 ERA, 10 hits and 5 walks, 19 strikeouts in 23 innings.


Solidified as one of Atlanta's top prospects, the Braves were so deep in pitching they had to leave Nied unprotected in the Expansion Draft (in favor of Deion Sanders, who the Braves feared would get drafted, then immediately traded to another team).


Going into the Expansion Draft, Colorado made it no secret that Nied was their pick.


Drafted at #1 by Colorado, Florida Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski was quoted as saying that he would have taken Nied if he was available at #2. (Florida took OF Nigel Wilson from Toronto.)


The first game in Rockies history was played in New York, against the Mets, on Opening Day 1993. Nied opposed Dwight Gooden. The Mets won 3-0. Nied pitched okay, but battled control problems. Walking 6 in 5 innings. He only gave up 2 runs and struck out 3. Gooden shut the Rockies out on 4 hits... But he had only 4 strikeouts, so it was an encouraging first game for Colorado...


His next start came in Denver against the Montreal Expos. Colorado won, and Nied got the win despite a not-so-great game. He gave up 9 hits and 2 walks, amounting to 4 runs in 7 innings.


An injury cost Nied the months of June, July and August with the Rockies... 


He came back in September 1993 for a couple of good starts and a couple of bad ones.


For the 1993 season, Nied pitched to a record of 5-9, with a 5.17 ERA in 16 games, totalling 87 innings. Giving up 99 hits and 42 walks, while striking out 46.


Nied will forever hold the Colorado Rockies record for team firsts in: 


First Pitch...


First Complete Game...


First Shutout...


First Strikeout...


First Walk...


Among others...


Nied came back stronger in 1994, lasting the full season in the majors


Inexplicably, Nied seemed to pitch well at Mile High Stadium. Throwing a complete game 4 hit shutout against the power hitting Houston Astros, on June 21, 1994. For his career, he pitched better in Denver (at altitude) than he did on the road...


Before losing his last 5 starts (3 decisions) in 1994, Neid was 9-4, 4.31 ERA. His previous 2 starts totaled 16 innings with only 2 runs given up.


There were some real positive signs indicating Nied could be a solid pitcher for Colorado in seasons to come.


1994 saw his numbers improve overall from 1993. He went 9-7, 4.80 ERA over 22 starts and 122 innings. Still too many walks and hits given up, but the numbers showed improvement.


At 25 years of age, and pitching in (then) Mile High Stadium, there was a great deal of optimism surrounding Nied when the 1994 season was cut short in mid-August due to the players strike.


From August 1994 to mid-March 1995, the players were in limbo...
No one knew when/if they would be returning to work. 


Once it was ruled the owners acted in poor faith to try and break the players union, a court ordered that baseball return! Each team would run an abbreviated training camp, before opening a shortened 144 game season.


Nied hurt his elbow early in Spring Training 1995. He later stated in interviews that he was too excited and tried to throw too hard too early, while getting ready for games. He tried to compensate the injury by altering his throwing mechanics, with caused the injury to worsen. Something snapped in his elbow and he spent the next two years trying to regain what he lost, and ultimately couldn't...



After rehabbing in the minors in July, he made his 1995 season debut in August. 
After only 2 relief appearances, he was shut down for the rest of the season.



His final numbers for 1995: 2 games, 0-0, 20.77 ERA.
11 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. 


Attempting to come back in the 1996 led to more disappointment for Nied.


Nied started 16 games for AAA Colorado Springs in 1996. The numbers were not promising. A 3-8 record, with 32 walks and 116 hits given up in only 62 innings. His ERA for those 16 starts: An unheard of 12.27...


His numbers in a six game stretch to close the 1996 in the Major Leagues didn't show any improvement: 0-2, 13.50 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 5 hits and 8 walks in 5 1/3 innings.


Nied left the Rockies following the 1996 season, signing a contract with the Cincinnati Reds. 


He would not make the Reds Major League roster in 1997. After all the injuries and problems Nied had over the prior two seasons, he chose to retire instead of accepting a demotion to AA Chattanooga, in March 1997.


Leaving baseball at age 27, Nied took a job selling farm equipment for his father's company, based in Grand Prairie, Texas.


I have about 45 different David Nied cards, this was a bunch that I liked...
Still one of my favorite players, I will pick up a Nied card if it's one I don't have...

Anyone have an extra Nied 1993 Finest Refractor laying around?

*****

One additional cool piece of Rockies trivia...


Nied was the only player in Rockies history to wear #17.


Besides this guy...

#17 is also the only number retired by the Rockies (with the exception of #42 for Jackie Robinson), so in a backwards and incorrect way, David Nied also has his number retired...

Hidden tribute to the number 1 pick in the Expansion Draft...

Comments

  1. Daniel WilsonAugust 16, 2017 at 1:54 PM

    Nice tribute! I was able to get Nied's autograph by ttm a year or so ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Captain HonkassAugust 16, 2017 at 2:11 PM

      Thanks!

      I haven't tried to do any TTM autos since 1991, but there are quite a few players from the 1980's and 90's I would like to get...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Someone else liked these...

What Happened to Clark's Submarine Sandwich?

Image
Well, they went out of business! Yeah, that's the short answer.  But more importantly, what happened to each individual Clark's Submarine Sandwich store? Once there were 15 of them scattered around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, but they were all gone by 1991. Clark's still has a small but loyal following around town, and a reputation built off the bread, thinly sliced onions and most important, the sandwich oil that was it's signature. While the chain is long gone, I want to know just how gone is it?  For example, my hometown had a Clark's Submarine Sandwiches, and that building is still standing. Former Clark's Submarine Sandwich Location: 401 Northdale Blvd. Coon Rapids Back in October 2006, the building had long been sitting empty, but was still in good shape. Shortly after I took the picture of the abandoned Clarks/Cousins building, it was renovated and turned into a Dunn Bros. Coffee. But still standing! Clark&
Read some more »

2024 Baseball Whatever act 1 - ebay and Sorting

Image
Late last year, I predicted that 2024 would be a completely different year for my collection. I was going to cut way down on buying unopened product. Hobby boxes have priced themselves out of my range, and retail has been overpriced and spotty at best. I think I've burned out on the hobby, and the change from Topps to Fanatics amplified things. So I was going to dedicate 2024 to buying a few of the singles I liked, and a little retail when I found it and was interested. This year I bought the least amount of cards since 2017, which ended a run of my lowest collecting years. Funny thing is I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would. Scratching the baseball card itch was done primarily through sorting the tens of thousands of cards I already had. I had also decided that I'd look for singles I wanted on ebay. This would be the best way to fill notable gaps in my Twins, Expos and Rockies collections. Inspired by watching Laura hunt for Justin Morneau cards, and seeing the
Read some more »

2024 Baseball Whatever act 2 - Minnesota Twins Cards and Season

Image
Made it to only two Twins games this season. One in June, against the Colorado Rockies. Another at the end of August, against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins I saw play both of those games could not have been more different. After a promising start to an already sour season, with a firm grasp on the Wild Card through the summer, the Twins let it all slip away. With plenty of blame to go around. Due to rampant Skenes hunting, I hadn't seen any 2024 Topps Update at the retail level, until about a month after its release. Needed a few things from the WalMarts after work the other night, and found a decent amount of Hanger boxes. Arranged in a display box, sitting on a shelf, not hanging on anything. I added four of them to my cart, thinking it would give me a nice sampling of the base set. I'd hoped to find these to include some of those cards here. Just looking at the checklist, there were a bunch of cards I needed to properly tell this story. As far as that goes, I did very wel
Read some more »

Abandoned Mall: Villa Italia Mall - Lakewood, CO

Image
Villa Italia Mall in Lakewood, Colorado, opened in March 1967.  It closed for good on July 15th, 2001. I'm not going to get into the biography of the large shopping mall. My experiences there number a grand total of two. Once in June of 2000 (for a baseball card show), and the other in May, 2001, when I took these pictures. Since there was no emotional attachment on my behalf toward the place, I know next to nothing about it. There are a few good sites with real information and more pictures of Villa Italia. Both in it's heyday and in it's depressed run down state. I consulted these for this story. Deadmalls has a basic biography, that is a good starting point.  A link appears at the bottom of the page that takes you to another site with a nice selection of Villa Italia photos. Or you can just click here... So let me add my piece to that total! In May 2001, my mom was in town from Minnesota. She was in Denver visiting my sister (who lived in Lakewood)
Read some more »

Abandoned Retail - Target - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Target T-42. The 42nd Target store in the world, was located in Coon Rapids, MN. Until it was replaced by Target T-1144, a mile or so to the north, 26 years later. Coon Rapids Target opened October 19, 1972, and closed October 6, 1998. Living on the north side of town in the 1970’s and 1980’s, big box retailers like Zayre and Kmart were more frequently visited, since they were closer to our house. Target was patronized less often, and usually paired with grocery shopping at Red Owl. Complete with video games while my mom shopped for food. And copies of Mad magazine slipped into the cart when no one was looking. Downtown Center, anchored by Festival Foods, opened in 1987. Sitting at the corner of Round Lake and Bunker Lake, in Andover, that shopping center was now more convenient for weekly groceries. Subsequently, Red Owl's visits started declining, just due to Festival. Riverdale WalMart opened November 14, 1990. For better or worse, that siphoned an even more significant chunk of
Read some more »

Gates Rubber Company - Demolition Diary part 1

Image
As far as I'm concerned, the city of Denver's most important landmark was the abandoned Gates Rubber factory. Shown here from the southeast, at roughly Broadway and Mississippi Avenues, from two photographs spliced together somewhat decently. The massive factory's first structures were built in 1910. New construction and expansion took place over much of the 20th century, until the plant's closure in 1991. Ever since the rubber production was outsourced, rumors of the complex's demolition have run rampant. Until that one year when it finally happened. I did a poor job of documenting many of my favorite properties in the state of Colorado, nearly the entire time I lived in the state. So I made the resolution, that as soon as I first found out the shovels were chewing red brick, that I would be there to extensively cover it's demise. That happened in early November, 2013.  By April 20, 2014, Gates Rubber Company was rapidly disappearing, and now lo
Read some more »

Ghosts of Riverdale Past - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Recently there’s been a lot of chatter amongst the townsfolk about the retail abomination known as Riverdale. Another round of store closures has people talking about what a massive failure this shopping cluster has always been, and why retail is the way it is, and who's to blame and all that kind of stuff. Bottom line being, more stores that people liked shopping at are gone. For whatever reason. Which made me wonder, how many former businesses in Riverdale did I manage to get pictures of over the years? As I started going through the Riverdale picture folder on my external drive, I found far more than I'd expected. This is by no means EVERY former business that didn't survive the ridiculous conditions of shopping in my hometown, but it's an interesting peek into some of what didn't work. I didn't live in Coon Rapids when Riverdale was built. When I moved back in 2003, I was horrified that the western sky now had a brilliant orange glow in the middle of the nig
Read some more »

Abandoned Retail - Brookdale Mall, Sears & Perkins!

Image
Visiting Minnesota in September 2011, my dad told me that Brookdale Shopping Mall was being demolished, and we should check it out. Brookdale opened in 1962, as one of the "Dales." A series of suburban metro area shopping malls designed to syphon retail dollars away from the traditional downtowns of major cities. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, Brookdale was in Brooklyn Center, Rosedale was in Roseville, Ridgedale in Minnetonka and Southdale in Edina. Back in the day, needed housewares, "important" clothes for school and other reasons, and whatever other supplies the family had to buy, usually came from the mall. Brookdale was a constant. Rosedale as well, but that mall is currently thriving today, and thus far off my radar. Northtown mall was the closest to us, but it was a second tier mall without the top drawing anchors. Northtown has seen a little hint of a resurgence after losing it's long string of anchors and a series of renovati
Read some more »

Columbine Square Shopping Center - Littleton, CO - Part Two

Image
If you read part one of my Columbine Square Shopping Center story, you're familiar with its condition after the property owners closed the place down, in 2013. (And if you haven't read part one yet, go do it now!) Well, get ready for it to be all sorts of 2015 again, as it's time for part two! Very 1970's style Columbine Square sign, at the south (Federal Blvd.) shopping center entrance. Photo taken April 8, 2018, after I finished taking pictures of the Littleton Prep (Safeway) demolition. (Oh, sorry... SPOILER ALERT! ) I still really miss seeing the Rocky Mountains every day.  Going back a bit further is where part two starts.  The shopping center was already looking pretty rough, less than 2 years after all the tenants were kicked out. It had been a while since I walked around the property for pictures. Now I had a big writing project coming due. Which I needed additional Columbine Square material to complete. The day I chose for this was... Sunday, June 7, 2015.  P
Read some more »

Dinner Break! - Burger Time - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Burger Time is a small Fargo, ND, based fast food burger chain, that started their first restaurant in 1987. After initial success, they expanded by as many as 15 stores, in Minnesota and South Dakota. (Not sure, but I think there may have been one in Iowa for a time.) For whatever unknown reason, Coon Rapids, MN, was chosen as one of their first expansion sites. They would build a new restaurant on the northeast corner of the Family Center Mall property. Back in the late 1980's, that area garnered a great deal of traffic, as it was the heart of Coon Rapids retail. While the Family Center Mall had seen it's better days, the Target and surrounding businesses across Coon Rapids Blvd. remained very strong. Not to mention the population of the town had blown up with the northern expansion into the Oaks of Shenandoah. BOOOOOOOO!!! Family Center Mall, from the southeast corner of the parking lot. What used to be Burger Time, can be seen on the right side. Only chopping the mall in p
Read some more »