Pepe McNeal

Pepe Chevalier McNeal

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
• High School Armwood High School

• Born August 11, 1975 in Tampa, FL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Pepe McNeal was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 5th round of the 1994 amateur draft, out of high school. He started his professional career that same year with the Burlington Indians of the Appalachian League, hitting just .131 in 31 games. He returned to the same team in 1995 and was doing much better, hitting .281 after 27 games, when on July 27th he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with David Bell and Rick Heiserman in return for P Ken Hill, who would help lead the Indians to the World Series that year. McNeal stayed in the Appy League, moving to the Johnson City Cardinals, where he fell to .175 in another 27 games.

In 1996, he was back in the Appalachian League for a third straight year, but after hitting .300 in 24 games at Johnson City, got a promotion to the New Jersey Cardinals of the New York-Penn League. His combined line in 43 games was .292/.362/.417. He finally made it to a full-season league in 1997, with the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League, but played just 56 games as Jim Gargiulo was the starting backstop. He hit .237 with 5 homers and 25 RBIs. In 1998, he had a similar role with the Prince William Cannons of the Carolina League, hitting .209 in 57 games, once agin as the second-string backstop. It was his last season in the affiliated minor leagues. He played two more seasons in the independent Northern League East, with the Elmira Pioneers and Catskill Cougars, hitting .261 in a career-high 75 games for Elmira in 1999, put appearing in just 15 games between two teams the second.

After baseball he became a licensed cosmetologist, master barber and hair colorist, running a successful business called "The Pepe Experience" in his hometown of Tampa, FL.

Further Reading

• David Brackman: "McNeal heads off to chase his diamond dream", Tampa Bay Times, June 15, 1994. [1]