Frank Malzone: Former Bronx Born Italian / American All Star (1955 - 1966)
In the 1940's, Malzone attended Samuel Gompers High School on Southern Blvd. just off 149th St. Malzone planned to be an electrician if his baseball career didn't work out.
As a teen he tried out for the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds but was told he was too short for the big leagues. But he wasn't discouraged & continued on. In 1947, the five foot ten, third baseman was spotted by a Boston Red Sox bird dog, getting signed, for $150 a month by the Sox.
As a teen he tried out for the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds but was told he was too short for the big leagues. But he wasn't discouraged & continued on. In 1947, the five foot ten, third baseman was spotted by a Boston Red Sox bird dog, getting signed, for $150 a month by the Sox.
Military Service: Before getting to the major leagues in the early 1950's, Malzone served two
years of Military service, during the Korean War. Although he wanted to stay in the states, he was stationed in Hawaii. He was scheduled to go off to Korea but a colonel saw he was a minor league ball player & changed his orders
In the Armed Forces League, the word got out that Ted Williams was asking Joe Cronin "who's that spaghetti eater you got out of Hawaii?" People began to get interested in who this Malzone guy was.
MLB Career: In 1955, Malzone was already 25 years old when he debuted with the Red Sox, for a brief call up.
Two years later, he became the Red Sox regular third baseman having a fantastic rookie season.
Record Four HR Inning: On May 22nd, the Red Sox hit four HRs in the 6th inning setting an AL record. Gene Mauch, Ted Williams, Dick Gernet & Malzone all blasted HRs in an 11-0 win over Cleveland.
Multi - Four RBI Games: On the year, Malzone had five games driving in four or more runs. On June 23rd, he collected three hits with a two run HR off Ralph Terry in a 10-1 win over the Kansas City A's.
On September 23rd he hit a two run HR & drove in four runs in the 9-4 win. On September 25th, in a 6-6 tie with the Senators Frank's top of the 11th inning HR off Camilo Pasqual was games winning run in the 7-6 win.
Malzone won his first Gold Glove at third base & became the first player in modern baseball history, to lead his position in games played (153) putouts (151) assists (370) errors (25) fielding & double plays.
From August 8th to August 10th, Malzone drove in at least one run in seven of eight games with two HRs & nine RBIs.
In 1959 he hit .280 having another All-Star year, hitting a career high 19 HRs with 34 doubles (2nd in the AL) 169 hits (6th in the AL) & 92 RBIs (10th in the AL). Malzone won another Gold Glove in 1959 & was the last third baseman to win the award before Brooks Robinsons’ won an incredible 16 straight.
In the second of two All Star games that year, he got the start at third base, batted 7th & drove in a run with a double off the Dodgers, Don Drysdale in the 5-3 AL win at the LA Coliseum.
Multi- HR 5-5 Game: On August 15th, 1961, he went 5-5 hitting HRs off the Indians Dick Stigman & Gary Bell. He also added an RBI single with two more hist for a career five hit game.
In 1963, Frank returned to have a good season, over May & June he batted .350 collecting 80 hits with 45 RBIs in the two months.
Frank entered July batting .345 but hit .243 the last three months, still finishing with a .291 batting average. He hit 15 HRs with 25 doubles & 71 RBIs with a .746 OPS.
Red Sox Trivia: Malzone spent eleven seasons as the Red Sox third baseman, winning three Gold Gloves making six All Star teams. In those years the club never finished above third place & would finish seventh or worse in his final four years.
In 1966, Malzone signed with the Los Angeles Angels in what would be his final season as a player. In 82
games there he batted just .206 with 2 HRs & 12 RBIs. He retired from playing at age 35.
"As far as my personal achievements with the game I would say when you play ten full years and make the All-Star team eight times that is quite an accomplishment for myself. The only thing that I regret is that I never got to play in the post-season."
From May 22nd to May 30th, he drove in tens runs with RBIs in eight of ten games.
In a big month of June, Malzone hit .414 with 48 hits, five HRs & 36 RBIs. From June 6th to June 23rd Malzone hit safely in 17 of 18 games, batting .465 with twenty runs driven in. He collected 13 multi- hit games with six multi- RBI games.
Grand Slam & Multi- Six RBI Game: On June 29th at Fenway Park, he had a multi-six RBI game in a 12-4 win over the Tigers. In the bottom of the 1st, Malzone hit a grand slam HR off Frank Lary, he also had a two run double & 7th inning RBI single in his season best six RBI game.
1957 All Star: He made the All-Star team & even AL third baseman George Kell of the Tigers said Malzone deserved the start over him. Malzone went 0-2 in the AL's 6-5 win in St. Louis.
In late September, he had a big series in Waashington with five hits, three HRs & eight RBIs in a three-game series sweep over the Senators. On September 24th, he tied an MLB record making ten assists in a game at third base.
Malzone batted .292 (10th in the AL) while driving in a career high 103 runs (3rd in the AL). Malzone hit 15 HRs with 31 doubles five triples & posted a .323 on base % playing in 153 games.
That year Frank came in second to Tony Kubek in the Rookie of the Year voting. Malzone was seventh overall, in the MVP voting as well.
In 1958 he started out the season slow, batting .214 in April & not hitting his first HR for twenty games. In May he had 11 multi-hit games with two three hit games. In June he batted .368 & then drove in 27 runs in July.
From July 5th to July 20th, he drove in twenty runs, with at least one RBI in 11 of 15 games.
1958 All Star: This year he got the start at third base in the NL's 4-3 win at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. In the 6th inning he led off with a base hit then scored the game's winning run on Gil McDougald's base hit off Bob Friend.
Grand Slam & Multi- Five RBI Game: On July 18th, in an 11-9 win over the Tigers at Fenway Park, he hit his second career HR, coming off Bill Fischer. Malzone had an RBI single in the game as well for a season high five RBI game.
Multi- HR Game: On September 24th, he had his only multi-HR game of the year, hitting a pair in a 7-5 loss to the A.L. New York team at Fenway.
He followed up with another All-Star season, batting .295 coming in second in the league with 185 hits. He hit 15 HRs with 30 doubles 87 RBIs while leading the league in games (154) & at bats (627). At third base he won his second Gold Glove, this the first year a Gold Glove was issued in each league. He posted a .954 fielding %, leading the league in assists (378) games (154) & errors (27).
1959 All Star Game: In the season's first All Star game Malzone was back up to Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew going 0-2 in the NL's 5-4 win at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Malzone also set another defensive record at the time for third baseman, as he led the league in double plays five straight seasons.
As he entered the 1960's he dropped in numbers the first two years of the decade.
Tutoring Yaz: In that time, Malzone helped a young Carl Yastrzemski make a transition in left field replacing the retiring legend, Ted Williams.
Quotes- Carl Yastrzemski: “When I first came to the big leagues in 1961, Frank was the guy who took me under his wing. I struggled when I first came up, and he took care of me and stayed with me. He was a real class guy, a very caring guy, and I owe him a lot. You aren’t going to find too many people like him.”
In 1962 Malzone had a career high 21 HRs with 95 RBIs & 20 doubles while batting .283.
On May 16th, he had his first four hit game of the season, with a HR off Bill Stafford, a double & a pair of singles in a loss to the AL New York team in Boston.
Multi-HR Games: On June 9th, both he & young Carl Yastrzemski had multi-HR games, but the Sox still lost 14-10 to the Indians. On August 18th he had his second four hit game & hit two HRs off the Twins Bill Pleis.
In September, he had five multi-RBI games with three games of driving in three runs, all resulting in wins. Frank registered 21 multi- RBI games that season.
Multi- HR/RBI Game: On May 19th, Malzone hit two HRs off the Athletics Dave Wickersham in the first game of a twin bill in Boston in a 7-3 win.
On June 11th in Chicago, he collected an RBI single off the White Sox Wilbur Wood. The game went to the 15th inning tied at 3-3 when Malzone hit a three run HR off Terry Fox, leading to the win. Dick Stuart followed with a back-to-back blast as well.
1963 All Star: He made his fifth All Star game that year the first since 1960. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, he hit an RBI single off Larry Jackson in the 5-3 NL win at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
1964 All Star: At age 33, Malzone made his sixth & final All-Star team, although he did not play in the NL win at Shea Stadium in New York.
In 964 he played his last full season, batting .264 in 148 games. In 1965 he shared time at third base with Dalton Jones. After the 1965 season Malzone was released, he would be replaced by future Met & another Bronx born player, Joe Foy.
In 1966, Malzone signed with the Los Angeles Angels in what would be his final season as a player. In 82
games there he batted just .206 with 2 HRs & 12 RBIs. He retired from playing at age 35.
Career Stats: In his 12-year career he played in 1441 games never making it to a World Series.
Malzone hit .274 with 1486 hits 133 HRs 239 doubles 21 triples 337 walks & 728 RBIs. He struck out 434 times, drew 337 walks, posted a .315 on base % & posted a .714 OPS.
Defensively, he posted a .955 career fielding average, making 196 errors in 4388 chances.
Red Sox History: Malzone ranks in the top twenty in Red Sox history in hits, HRs, games played, doubles, runs, and RBIs.
Retirement: After his playing days, Malzone was a scout for the Red Sox for 35 years. He then became a long-time consultant for player development.
Retirement: After his playing days, Malzone was a scout for the Red Sox for 35 years. He then became a long-time consultant for player development.
Honors: In 1995, Frank was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame.
Family: In 1949, Frank married his wife Amy, while playing in the minor leagues at Oneonta, NY. They remained married for 57 years, until her death in 2006. Frank & wife had five children, including a daughter whom they lost at 15 months old. The Malzones lived outside of Boston in Needham Mass.
Passing: On December 30th, 2015, Malzone passed away from natural causes at the age of 85.