Mid Nineties Italian / American Mets Pitcher Turned Investment V.P.: Frank Seminara (1994)

-
Frank Peter Seminara was born on May 16, 1967 in Brooklyn, New York. The local boy attended Columbia University, learning finances & becoming the star pitcher for their baseball team. He was the last MLB pitcher to be drafted out of Columbia University where he received a B.A. in history.

In 1988 he was signed in the 12th round by the local A.L. New York club. The six foot two right handed pitcher, was eventually drafted away by the San Diego Padres (Rule V) in 1990.

He went 16-8 at A ball Prince William, earning the Carolina Leagues Pitcher of the Year Award that same year. The next season he was 15-10 at AA Wichita, making the Padres big league staff by 1992.

He went 9-4 that season in a solid rookie debut, posting a 3.68 ERA striking out 61 batters in 100 innings as the Padres number five starter. The following season he dropped to 3-3 and was demoted to the Padre’s bull pen as a reliever, making just 17 appearances on the year.

In December of 1993 he was traded to the New York Mets in a deal involving of a bunch of minor leaguers. He had gone 1-1 against the Mets the previous two seasons, now he was at home in New York, pitching at Shea Stadium.

He made his Mets debut on April 30th against the Los Angeles Dodgers, entering the game in the 8th inning earning no decision. Seminara would pitch in ten games for the ’94 Mets, going 0-2 allowing 12 runs in 17 innings, posting a 5.82 ERA.

On May 9th in Montreal he blew a 4-1 lead, allowing a two run HR to Larry Walker & a sac fly to Moises Alou. The Mets went on to win it on a 9th inning David Segui HR.

On May 26th he earned a loss in Pittsburgh against the Pirates & then another in Cincinnati to the Reds on June 5th. He was demoted back to the minors that week, getting released at the end of the season. From there he signed on with the Baltimore Orioles the next year but never pitched in the majors again.

In his brief three year career he pitched in 47 games going 12-9 with a 4.12 ERA, striking out 90 batters in 163 innings pitched.

Retirement: Since his baseball career he worked at Morgan Stanley & Salomon Smith Barney investment companies. 

Today Frank is a Senior VP of investments at USB bank on Avenue of the America’s in Manhattan. The Seminara group has been named to the Barons 1000th since March 2011.

Comments

Frank Spoken NYer said…
I always pull for a local guy on a local team,even on the other NYC team.Frank can claim both,but had his chance with the Mets,and it was obviously a failure.But he may be the norm.Most guys signed to a ML contract either never make it, get called up and wish they hadn't,like Jesse Hudson,Bob Rauch,Randy Tate,Jackson Todd &John Pacella,or enjoy breif success in an similarly short career.Seminara is the latter,unfortunately as a Padre.Nice to see he's doing well in his hometown in a more important capacity.
December 18, 2012 at 3:06 AM
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