Neil McPhee

Neil Patrick McPhee

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• School Northeastern University

• Born October 14, 1943

BR register page

Biographical Information

Neil McPhee played in the minors and coached in college.

McPhee played baseball and hockey in college and led Northeastern to its first NCAA appearance in baseball. He had 71 points in 50 games in hockey He was the 5th-round pick of the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 amateur draft, one pick before Amos Otis; the round before, Minnesota took Graig Nettles. He hit .214/.335/.393 for the St. Cloud Rox that summer. In 1966, he batted .305/.409/.524 with 20 homers, 22 steals (in 31 tries), 87 runs and 72 walks for the Wisconsin Rapids Twins while fielding .904 at short. He led Midwest League shortstops in assists (316), errors (49) and double plays (71). He also paced the MWL in runs (3 ahead of Nettles) and was among the leaders in homers (3rd, behind Nettles and Pete Koegel), RBI (tied Nettles for 3rd), steals (tied Bob Clifton for 3rd), walks (6th, between Jim Clark and Jim Hutto), average (4th, between Rogers Robinson and Clark), OBP (3rd), slugging (4th, between Robinson and Bill Melton), OPS (2nd to Deacon Jones) and total bases (215, 4th, between Nettles and Clark). Among Twins farmhands, he easily outperformed Rod Carew among others.

Neil slumped to .220/.336/.284 with 4 homers and 5 steals for the 1967 Wilson Tobs to end his pro career one year after a superb performance. Moving to third base, he had fielded .892 in '66. He coached baseball and hockey at Newton South High School from 1968-1985. He then returned to his alma mater, Northeastern, as head coach. He was 723-652-4 from 1986-2014 to set the school record for wins for all sports. Among players he developed were Adam Ottavino, Luke Carlin, Mike Glavine and Carlos Pena.