Niuman Loiz

Niuman Antonio Loiz

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 230 lb.

• Born December 12, 1973 in Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela
• Died November 19, 2011 in East Moline, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Niuman Loiz pitched eight seasons in the minors, never advancing beyond A ball.

He was signed by the Houston Astros in 1991 and played several seasons in Latin America. He was 0-1 with a 8.53 ERA for the '91 DSL Astros. In 1993, he had a 3-2, 2.21 record for that club, finishing 10th in the Dominican Summer League in ERA (though Baseball America spelled his name Newman Lois). He came to the United States in 1994, going 6-1 with a 1.86 ERA in 13 starts for the GCL Astros that year. On August 19th of that season, he threw a seven-inning no-hitter against the GCL Cubs, allowing only one runner, Brad Chambers, on a walk. He was 7th in the Gulf Coast League in ERA, leading his team.

He split the following summer between the Auburn Astros, for whom he was 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 3 starts, and the Kissimmee Cobras, for whom he went 0-8 with a 5.56 ERA in 13 outings. He spent most of the next two seasons with the Quad Cities River Bandits, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen before pitching for Kissimmee again at the end of the 1997 campaign. In 1996, he had a 8-6, 4.93 record for Quad Cities, followed by 2-5, 4.87 in 1997. For Kissimee in '97, he was 1-1 with a 3.82 ERA. He appeared in a dozen games for the Stockton Ports in the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 1998 (7.84, 19 BB in 20 2/3 IP) before a rotator cuff injury ended his career.

After his baseball days, Loiz returned to the Quad Cities and became a U.S. citizen in 2008. He died of colon cancer in 2011 at age 37.

Related Sites

• Former River Bandit Loiz, 38, battles cancer