Former Italian / American Brooklyn World Series Hero: Al Gionfriddo (1944-1947)

-
Albert Francis Gionfriddo was born on March 8th, 1922 in Dysart, Pennsylvania. The Italian American outfielder served in World War II returning to debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1944 for just four games.

In 1945 he would be the Pirates regular outfielder, on the fourth place club, in his only full season. He hit .284 striking out just 22 times in 406 at bats, hitting 2 HRs with 42 RBIs 18 doubles 9 triples (6th in the league) & 74 runs scored. He stole 12 bases (10th in the league) while posting a .376 on base %.

In 1947 he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers along with $100,000 for five players including future MLB manager Gene Mauch. He would play just one season in Brooklyn but that’s where he would be forever remembered. On the regular season he only hit .177 with six RBIs in 37 games, but it was in the World Series where he became a hero.

In Game #4 of the 1947 World Series, the AL New York teams pitcher Bill Bevan had a no hitter going into the 9th inning. Carl Furillo walked and Gionfriddo came in to pinch run for him. After another walk, Cookie Lavagetto got the first & only Dodger hit of the game. the hit scored Gionfriddo as well as Furillo for the dramatic Brooklyn victory.

In Game #6 the Dodgers were leading 8-5 in the 6th inning when Gionfriddo was brought in as a defensive replacement to play left field. With two men on base, Joe DiMaggio blasted a shot to the 415 foot mark in deep left center field. Gionfriddo raced across the field and reached over the fence to make the catch robbing Dimaggio of a HR. Gionfriddo’s hat flew off, and DiMaggio in a rare show of emotion kicked the dirt while approaching second base.

In the Series Gionfriddo went hitless in three at bats, but stole a base, scored two important runs, plus made one of the top catches in World Series history. The next season he was back in the minors & spent nine years there as a player, before becoming a minor league manager.

In his brief four season MLB career he played in 228 games batting .266 with 154 hits two HRs 58 RBIs 22 doubles & 12 triples.

Retirement: He retired from pro ball by 1960 and became a scout for the Cincinnati Reds. He was an athletic director in Santa Barbra California & opened a restaurant there as well. He suffered a heart attack & passed away while playing golf in Solvang California in 2003, at the age of 81.

Comments

Cliff Blau said…
Gionfriddo played more than three years in the minors after 1947 before becoming a manager, and he had some real good years at Montreal: a .929 OPS in 1948, a .430 OBA the next year, and .428 in 1950. Seems odd he didn't get recalled by the Dodgers. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gionfr001alb
March 11, 2012 at 6:04 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ON NOVEMBER 13th................. The Odd Couple Lives

-
Image
"On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he also knew that someday, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend, Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?" This was the opening dialogue of centerfieldmaz's favorite TV show: "the Odd Couple". This dialogue was used for the first two seasons. It is also featured on the third season of the DVD releases as well. The narration was done by actor Bill Woodson. The famous Odd Couple theme was written by non other than Neil Hefti, originally for the 1968 Odd Couple movie. Niel Hefti also did the classic Batman 1960's TV series theme song & music for that, another centerfieldmaz favorite TV sh
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The History of Yogi Berra & the Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drink

-
Image
Yogi Berra & Yoo-Hoo's  history go back to the 1950's. Yogi had met the Oliveri Family, the owners of the Yoo-Hoo company at a Country Club function near his home in New Jersey. Natale Olivieri started bottling the chocolate drink in 1928 in Garfield, w Jersey. By the late 1950's he Yoo-Hoo product wasn't selling all that well. Mr. Olivieri asked for Yogi's opinion at the new Jersey function. Berra said he actually liked the soft drink & started promoting it along with his teammates. Soon Yogi put Yoo-Hoo on the map, appearing in commercials, advertisements and supermarkets promotions.  Berra would show up at the factory in Carlstadt, New Jersey & became a hero to the factory workers. He soon became a Vice President of the company owning a large amount of Yoo-Hoo stock. In his auto biography Yogi wrote "One time I was in the office and the phone rang, I always answer a ringing phone, the woman on the other end asked if Yoo-Hoo was hyphenated. I
Read more

Remembering Mets History (1979) SNL's Chico Escuela Visits Mets Spring Training & Attempts a Career Comeback

-
Image
Bill Murray interviews (Garrett Morris) Chico Escuela In March 1979, original Saturday Night Live cast member; Garrett Morris joined the Mets at Miller Huggins Field for Spring Training. At the time the Mets were still holding Spring Training in St. Petersburg Florida.  Garrett Morris was posing as  the fictional Mets player, Chico Escuela who wore uniform #5 (cinque).  Escuela was doing his famous spoof of the Latin players of the time, posing as a popular infielder from the Dominican Republic that didn't speak much English. His legendary catch phrase was "baseball been berry- berry good to me". "baseball been berry-berry good... to me" The Chico Escuela character appeared nine times during on SNL's fourth & fifth seasons. He debuted on December 9th, 1978, in a Knight of Columbus sketch as a guest speaker. He then became the Weekend Update Sports reporter, where after being introduced by Jane Curtain, he would reply "tank you Hane". Chico woul
Read more