Michael Robert Neill (born April 27, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball and Olympic baseball player.
Career
His baseball career included a stint with the Oakland Athletics and ended with the Olympic Gold Medal team in the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia. He was named Delaware Athlete of the Year in 2000.[citation needed] At Villanova University he compiled a .417 career batting average, led the Wildcats to the 1989 and 1991 Big East Conference crowns and was named 1991 Big East Player of the Year.[citation needed] He established team records: 232 hits, 53 doubles and 379 total bases and several single season records.[citation needed]
Neill won two Minor League batting championships and had a .307 batting average over 11 years. He was selected to 4 All-Star teams and was a key player in the Vancouver Canadians' 1999 AAA World Series victory.[citation needed]
He was called up by the Oakland Athletics in 1998 but was sidelined with an injury.[citation needed] Neill led the 2000 USA Olympics team to a 4–0 win over Cuba in the gold medal game with a 1st-inning home run and a dramatic sliding catch in the 9th inning.[citation needed] His walk off homer against Japan won the team's 1st round Olympic contest.[citation needed] During the 1999 Pan American Games he had the game-winning hit to clinch the Olympic berth for his USA team.[citation needed]