Nissen will be inducted into NL Ring of Honor

The Northern Lehigh High School Ring of Honor will induct Richard “Dick” Nissen as its sole member for the class of 2017-18. The induction ceremony will take place on Thursday, Dec. 21 at halftime of the Bulldogs basketball game with Northwestern.

Richard Nissen

Nissen was a member of the graduating class of 1954.

He was a member of the football team in grades 9-12 where he earned three varsity letters. He was a member of the basketball team where he earned two letters. He also played baseball for four years where he earned three varsity letters and was a member of the Lehigh Valley Hall of Fame for Baseball.

While playing baseball, Richard had a pitching record of 29-5 and pitched every game in his junior and senior year and averaged 15 strikeouts per game. As a senior his batting average was .402. During his senior year the baseball team won the league and District 11 championships. It was the only time Northern Lehigh or Slatington won a district championship in baseball. There were no state baseball playoffs at that time so the district title game was as far as a team could go.

After the District 11 championship game, he signed with the Phillies and two years later went to play with the Baltimore Orioles.