Denny Neagle was supposed to be the savior of the Colorado Rockies.
Six years ago, Neagle signed a five-year, $51 million contract with the Rockies, and along with Mike Hampton, were supposed to anchor the team?s pitching staff and lead the team to a championship. That never happened, as injuries derailed Neagle?s career, causing him to retire in 2003.
But Neagle, a former standout at Arundel High School, plans on rooting for his former team in next week?s World Series. But he wishes he could have met the Rockies? expectations when they signed him in 2001. Neagle, who went 124-92 in 13 seasons, was in town this week to be inducted into the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame.
“A lot of the players on the team now were young kids when I first signed with them,” said Neagle, who grew up in Gambrills. “I?m really proud of what they?ve accomplished. They play baseball the right way and are a fun team to watch.”
Neagle, 39, said he was lucky to have experienced just about everything a professional baseball player could hope to accomplish, including winning a World Series with the New York Yankees in 2000 and finishing third in the Cy Young ballot in 1997 with the Atlanta Braves.
“The whole year was such a magical season and it was just great to be a part of that team with so many great players,” Neagle said of the 1997 season.
Through his career, Neagle had the chance to play for some of the top baseball minds in the game, including pitching coaches Leo Mazzone and Ray Miller, and managers like Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Jim Leyland. But Neaglesaid he would have never gotten to learn from those mentors without the lessons he learned under longtime Arundel head coach Bernie Walter.
“When I went off to play at the University of Minnesota, I felt like I was already ahead of the game because of everything Bernie Walter taught me,” Neagle said. “He taught me to play the game the right way.”
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Here are the most recent inductees into the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of fame:
» Larry Avery (Brooklyn Park, wrestling)
» Amy Jakubowski (Pasadena, softball)
» Denny Neagle (Gambrills, baseball)
» Jack Schofield (Annapolis, lacrosse)
» Millersville resident Fred Stauffer received the County Executive?s Award for longtime service to Anne Arundel athletics.
