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Another Edition Of: Unusual Post-Baseball Careers!
Some of you will remember my post from a couple weeks ago about Andre Dawson’s post-baseball career as a mortician. Well, I’ve come across another one: The “exotic” post-baseball career of former Cub pitcher Rich Nye. First, here’s a little about Rich’s career.
Old-time Cub fans like me will remember Rich Nye. He played five years in the majors (1966-70), for the Cubs (1966-’69, including the disappointing year of 1969), Cardinals (1970), and Expos (1970), posting a 26-31 record with a 3.71 ERA. Probably his most memorable career highlight was being name the Cubs’ Rookie of the Year for 1967.
Before a torn rotator cuff forced him to leave the game, Nye played for the irascible Cub Hall-of-Fame manager, Leo “The Lip” Durocher. Rich had this to say about Leo:
“Leo was an ‘Old School’ guy, he expected you to go out there and play, he didn’t want to hear any complaints. If he had something to say to you, you would usually read about it in the paper. He’d probably have the conversation with a sportswriter before you.”
So what’s Rich Nye’s unusual post-baseball career? Here’s a hint:
“I realized the one thing I had a passion for, besides baseball, was animals.”
That’s right…following baseball, Rich Nye decided to follow his other passion and became a veterinarian, graduating from the University Of Illinois College Of Veterinary Medicine, class of ‘76.
But his post-baseball career is even more unusual that just becoming a vet. Between his junior and senior years, Nye did an externship under one of the world’s foremost experts on avian (bird) medicine, Dr. Ted Lafeber, who became a mentor and offered Rich a job after he graduated. Rich started seeing birds and just fell in love, saying: “It’s such a fascinating field.” He became a self-described “exotic pet vet.”
Rich’s wife, Dr. Susan Brown, is also a veterinarian, with lots of experience with reptiles and small mammals; so, following Susan’s suggestion, they combined their knowledge and started an “all-exotics practice” Soon, their Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital became highly successful as the first “exotics-only” specialist practice in the United States.
Rich has gone on to become a nationally renowned authority on avian medicine, a past-president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, an in-demand lecturer, and an author of bird-specific chapters in several veterinary texts.
In spite of all this, Rich hasn’t lost his connection to baseball: “The best game I’ve ever watched was the seventh game of the 2016 World Series.”
Baseball and birds! Now that’s an “exotic” combination!
Gary Livacari
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Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from article on Rich Nye in University of Illinois Alumni News by Jim McFarlin; and the Rich Nye Wikipedia page.
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