Johnny Neun

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John Henry Neun (October 28, 1900 - March 28, 1990) was an American first baseman for the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Braves from 1925 to 1931. Although never an everyday player (he never played more than 97 games a season), he entered baseball immortality on May 31, 1927, when he caught a line drive from Homer Summa, stepped on first to retire Charlie Jamison, and despite shouts from his shortstop to throw him the ball, raced towards second base to retire Glenn Myatt, completing the seventh unassisted triple play in MLB history. What made it more remarkable was that he was a first baseman and not a second baseman or shortstop, and that Jimmy Cooney of the Chicago Cubs had done it just the day before. A switch-hitter who threw lefthanded, Neun batted .289 with two home runs in 945 at bats during his seven-year Major League Baseball career.

In 1935, after retiring as a player, Neun began managing in the New York Yankees' farm system, and from 1938 through 1941, he piloted the AA Newark Bears, winning International League regular season championships in 1938 (104 wins) and 1941 (100 wins) and the 1938 playoff title. He then spent two seasons as skipper of the Yanks' other top affiliate, the Kansas City Blues of the American Association (where he won another regular-season pennant, in 1942), before joining the New York coaching staff in 1944.

In September 1946, he was hired as the manager of the Yankees, replacing Bill Dickey. His stint in New York lasted only 14 games (8-6) through the third-place Yankees' final regular season game. But during the offseason, he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as the successor to Baseball Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie. Neun had subpar numbers in Cincinnati, going 117-137 in parts of two seasons. He was dismissed after 100 games in 1948 in favor of Bucky Walters. He continued working in the game, and into his 80s was a scout and instructor for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Neun died of pancreatic cancer in his birthplace of Baltimore, Maryland at age 89.

Preceded by Bill Dickey	New York Yankees Manager 1946	Succeeded by Bucky Harris
Preceded by Hank Gowdy	Cincinnati Reds Manager 1947–1948	Succeeded by Bucky Walters