(Photo Courtesy: Team USA Baseball) Growing up in Seaford, Mike Neill won at just about every level of baseball. The ultimate victory in his career playing that sport occurred nearly 21 years ago. Neill helped the Team USA squad managed by Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda win gold at the Sydney Olympic Games. Winning big games for Neill started in 1982. He helped lead the Nanticoke Little League team to the East Region Semifinals. In high school, the Blue Jay baseball team he was a part of won the State Championship. That production earned Neill a scholarship to Villanova where as a junior he was named Big East Player of the Year as the Wildcats won the conference title.
In an eleven year minor league career he captured two batting titles and won a AAA World Series in 1999 with the Vancouver Canadians. It was a year earlier that Neill got to experience his first and only time in the majors appearing in six games with the Oakland Athletics.
Where one opportunity ended, another presented itself in 2000 and the Team USA Baseball team competing at the Sydney Olympics. Neill was one of 28 players that went to Australia in advance of the games to train and play exhibitions. "They kept 24 of us and I found out walking off the bus before the last (exhibition) game," Neill recalled. "Sandy Alderson (Team USA Executive) pulled my aside and says 'you are going to be starting in left field and hitting third prove me right' and I said I will try my best."
Neill backed up Alderson's decision in the first game of the Olympic tournament by belting a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the USA a 4-2 win over Japan. "It was a really close game and a lot of pressure involved," Neill remembered. "Fortunately Brad Wilkerson got on for us then he got to second on a wild pitch. So my job was to to try and pull the ball to get him over to third. We had nobody out and fortunately I did a little more than pull the ball we got the home to win the game."On September 24, 2000 and playing Australia on their home turf, the USA took the gold medal with a 12-1 win. His professional baseball playing days are done. Now Neill is making clutch decisions as a financial planner in Pennsylvania. He is over two decades removed from experiencing some of the highest of highs in sports. "It s something I'm pretty proud of and lucky to be a part of."