Rich Nye

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American baseball player (born 1944)

title: "Rich Nye" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1944-births", "living-people", "american-expatriate-baseball-players-in-canada", "american-veterinarians", "american-commodities-traders", "baseball-players-from-oakland,-california", "buffalo-bisons-(minor-league)-players", "california-golden-bears-baseball-players", "charleston-charlies-players", "chicago-cubs-players", "lodi-crushers-players", "major-league-baseball-pitchers", "montreal-expos-players", "baseball-players-from-illinois", "st.-louis-cardinals-players", "tiburones-de-la-guaira-players", "american-expatriate-baseball-players-in-venezuela", "treasure-valley-cubs-players", "uc-berkeley-college-of-engineering-alumni", "university-of-illinois-college-of-veterinary-medicine-alumni", "wichita-aeros-players", "winnipeg-whips-players", "humboldt-crabs-players", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American baseball player (born 1944)" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Nye" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (born 1944) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Rich Nye
position	Pitcher
image	Rich Nye 1969.jpg
caption	Nye in 1969
bats	Left
throws	Left
birth_date
birth_place	Oakland, California, U.S.
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	September 16
debutyear	1966
debutteam	Chicago Cubs
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	September 2
finalyear	1970
finalteam	Montreal Expos
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Win–loss record
stat1value	26–31
stat2label	Earned run average
stat2value	3.71
stat3label	Strikeouts
stat3value	267
::

Chicago Cubs (–)
St. Louis Cardinals ()
Montreal Expos () Richard Raymond Nye (born August 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player who was a left-handed pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1966–1970.

Nye was drafted by the Cubs in 1966 while still at the University of California, Berkeley. Nye went to their Class A team in Caldwell, Idaho for a brief "spring training" and 3 weeks of action before being called up to the California Class A league to finish that minor league season; Chicago brought him to the majors in 1966 at the end of the season. Nye received a degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in the same year he was drafted. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, and Chicago Cubs.

Nye was with the Cubs during the years Leo Durocher was manager and recalled learning when he was scheduled to pitch not from Durocher, but by reading the sports column.

Nye played in the major leagues for over five years; his baseball career came to an end due to injuries.

Upon retiring, Rich initially used his civil engineering degree, working for a time on what was to become the Willis Tower and became a commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Rich_nye_1968.JPG" caption="Rich Nye in 1968"] ::

A teammate of his with the 1971 Winnipeg Whips, Triple A affiliate of the Montreal Expos, was the father of major leaguer John Olerud, who was in medical school while playing baseball. Looking for something that would be as inspirational to him as baseball was, the two discussed the possibilities and Nye learned he needed some undergraduate science credits to be a candidate for the University of Illinois' veterinary program.

Using his abilities in commodity trading to earn the money for starting his own practice, Nye and two other exotic animal veterinarians founded Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital in Westchester, Illinois in 1985, which was the first exotic-only specialist practice in the United States.

Nye and Dr. Susan Brown, a partner and the inspiration for starting the all-exotic practice, were married. Their practice grew to include five veterinarians and a large support staff; almost 20 years after the founding of the hospital, the couple sold it to two veterinarians on their staff in October 2004. The practice that Nye and Brown started outgrew its original home in Westchester;

He is the author of several veterinary textbook chapters on avian medicine, serves as a consultant, and had continued to see patients at Ness Exotic Wellness Center in Lisle, Illinois on a part-time basis until his retirement in 2024.

References

Rumill, Ed. (May 1968). "His Control's Nye Perfect".
Gold, Eddie. (1 May 1988). "Ex-Cub pitcher Rich Nye". Chicago Sun-Times.
Skipper, John C.. (2000). "Take me out to the Cubs game: 35 former ballplayers speak of losing at Wrigley". McFarland.
Mueller, Jim. (9 March 1997). "For Rich Nye, Life After The Cubs Is Really For the Birds". Chicago Tribune.
Brosnan, Jim. (June 1968). "Lip Service for the Cubs".
(2004-01-12). "Billy Gardner Jr. Returns to Blue Rocks". [[Wilmington Blue Rocks]].
(16 May 1970). "Rich Nye Is Sold By St. Louis Cards". Gettysburg Times.
Treder, Steve. (15 February 2005). "The Williams-Santo Cubs: 1966-1969". Hardball Times.
(14 June 1967). "Santo, Cubs Extend L.A. String to 8". St. Petersburg Times.
Gillespie, Mary. (12 December 1993). "Animal Instinct // Ex-Cub Nye Tends to Exotic Critters These Days". Chicago Sun-Times.
"Richard R. Nye, DVM". Ness Exotic Wellness Center.
Hoekstra, Dave. (17 July 2008). "When Ex-Cub Rich Nye Was a Pup". Chicago Sun-Times.
"About Us". Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital.
"About Dr. Susan Brown". Veterinary Partner.
"Doctors and Staff". Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital.

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