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Johnny Antonelli Photo Gallery
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RIP Johnny Antonelli
“The Polo Grounds was a friendly ballpark for me. I was able to keep batters from pulling the ball. I made them hit straight away…and I had Willie Mays to track ‘em down!”– Johnny Antonelli
Any pitcher on the mound who turned around and saw Willie Mays behind him patrolling centerfield, while batting in the heart of the team’s order, had a big advantage over his mound opponent.
And Johnny Antonelli, who passed away on February 28 at age 89, always knew how fortunate he was. His career turned around immediately after a trade to the Giants in 1954. Overnight, he went from being a high-priced, expendable underachiever with the Braves to emerging as the ace of the Giants’ staff.
Yes…Willie Mays could do that for a pitcher with talent…
The son of Italian immigrant parents, Johnny Antonelli played 12 seasons in the majors (1949-’61) with two years lost to military service. Johnny pitched for the Boston Braves (1949-’50, 1953), New York Giants (1954- ’60), Cleveland Indians (1961), and Milwaukee Braves (1961). He posted a career record of 126-110, with an excellent 3.34 ERA. Johnny appeared in 377 games, starting 268, with 102 complete games and 25 shutouts. Back in the day when starters were often used in relief, he also recorded 21 saves.
Career highlights for the 6’1”, 185 lb. left-hander include six All-Star selections, winning 20 games twice, and leading the league one time each in ERA and shutouts. As an All-Star, including four-straight selections from 1956-’59, he appeared in three games with an ERA of 4.26, and was the winning pitcher in relief in the 1959 Mid-Summer Classic (first game). He made two appearances in the 1954 World Series, going 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings, allowing only one run: a home run to Cleveland’s Al Smith leading off Game Two.
The Rochester, New York native had a brilliant high school career at his hometown Jefferson High, where he was known for his blazing fastball. This led to fierce competition among the 16 major league teams upon his graduation in 1948. The Boston Braves emerged as the highest bidder. Antonelli received the biggest bonus in baseball history at the time: $52,000.
Major League Baseball mandated that “bonus babies” must be kept on the roster for at least two full seasons before they could be sent to the minors. So the teenaged Johnny Antonelli went straight from his high school varsity squad to a spot on the Braves, a veteran team fighting for the National League pennant. He never pitched in the minors.
The bonus may have worked to his disadvantage. Two years of seasoning in the minors might have helped his big league career, which got off to a slow start. Instead, Antonelli was used largely as a batting practice pitcher in 1948. He appeared in only four games and pitched only four innings, all relief. His large bonus dwarfed the salaries of some of the veteran Braves, causing some resentment. When the pennant-winning Braves voted to divide their 1948 World Series share, Antonelli was cut out.
After four unremarkable seasons with the Braves (the best being 12-12 in 1953), and two years lost to military service, he was dealt to the Giants in 1954 as part of a six-player deal that sent Bobby Thomson to the Braves. This set the stage for his most successful season. As the ace of the Giants’ staff, his 21-7 (.750) led the league in winning percentage, as did his 2.30 ERA and his six shutouts.
Johnny starred in the1954 Fall Classic, memorable for the great catch by Willie Mays in Game One. The Giants pulled off a sweep over the heavily-favored Indians, winning their first World Series since 1933. Johnny started and won Game Two, then came into Game Four as a reliever, shutting down an Indians’ rally, to earn a save and clinch the World Series win.
Antonelli pitched well for five more years, winning 20 games for a sixth-place Giants’ team in 1956 and another 19 for the 1959 Giants, now in San Francisco. He tied for the National League lead in shutouts with four that year. He spent one more year with the Giants (1960), earning 11 saves before being traded to the Indians for Harvey Kuenn.
After an ineffective start in 1961, he was released and picked up again by the Braves, now in Milwaukee, where he appeared in only nine games, all in relief. In October of 1961 he was sold to the expansion Mets, but instead of reporting, he retired the following February, saying he was tired of the travel and wanted to spend more time with his family.
Following baseball, Antonelli returned to his home town of Rochester where he stayed active in community affairs as a local celebrity and sports hero. For many years, he successfully ran a chain of over two dozen Firestone Tire stores.
Rochester sportswriter, Scott Pitoniak, who co-authored a baseball memoir with Antonelli about his life, had this to say about him at the time of his passing:
“John was a tremendous ambassador for the city of Rochester, where he was born, came back and lived here and was just one of the most generous, kindhearted people I’ve ever met in 47 years of covering sports.”
That’s quite a testament. Let’s take a moment to remember Johnny Antonelli, a fine pitcher, community leader, and devoted family man. He’s survived by his wife, Gail Harms Antonelli, three daughters, Lisa, Donna and Regina, and a son, John Jr.
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Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from the Johnny Antonelli Wikipedia page.
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