Tom Nieto Only Hit 5 Career HR But One of Them Was a Game Winner

Former MLB player and coach Tom Nieto passed away suddenly of a heart attack on March 27th. Nieto was 65.

Nieto spent parts of 7 seasons in MLB from 1984 to 1990 playing with the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and the Philadelphia Phillies as a backup catcher. 

Following his playing career, Nieto was a big-league coach with both the New York Yankees and the New York Mets from 1995 to 2002 and 2005 to 2008, respectively. He would also return to both the Cardinals and Twins organizations as a minor league manager.

Nieto was with teams which reached the World Series 4 times during his playing and coaching career. As a player, Nieto was part of both the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1987 Minnesota Twins. The Redbirds would fall to the Kansas City Royals in controversial fashion. However, two years later, Nieto would earn his first World Series ring in the Twin Cities besting his former Cardinals teammates though he did not play in the Fall Classic. Nieto would get to go back to the World Series as the catching coach for the New York Yankees in 2000 and 2001 earning a ring in 2000 in the Subway Series against the New York Mets while falling short the following year against the Arizona Diamondbacks thanks to Luis Gonzalez's Game 7 heroics against Mariano Rivera.

Like many backup catchers, Nieto was a light hitter. He had a lifetime batting average of .205 with 5 career HR in 251 games played. 

However, one of those 5 HRs was a game winner. While with the Montreal Expos in 1986, Nieto hit a walk off HR off Ron Davis of the Chicago Cubs. As it turned out, it was Davis' Cubs debut after having been acquired from the Twins.

Tom Nieto was not a household name, but he got to live his big-league dream and spent a good part of his life in baseball. Not a bad way to live. R.I.P.