Frank Joseph Riccelli (born February 24, 1953) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, and and for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. Riccelli attended Christian Brothers Academy in

DeWitt, New York DeWitt is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 26,074. The town is named after Major Moses DeWitt, a judge and soldier. An eastern suburb of Syracuse, DeWitt also is "the site of ...

where he was a high school

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

standout. He was three times named to the All-

Central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

team. As a junior in 1970, he had an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 0.74 and 140 strikeouts in 73 innings. As a senior in 1971, he struck out 139 batters in 65 innings. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the eighteenth pick of the 1971 MLB Draft, ahead of future Hall of Famers

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are second-mos ...

and

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a ...

. Riccelli began his professional career in Montana in 1971 with the

Great Falls Giants Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

. In 1972, with the

Amarillo Giants The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League, the Class A Western League (1900–1958), Western League and the Double- ...

, Riccelli had 16 and 17-strikeout games en route to a 183-strikeout season, a total he would not top again in any one year. On September 11, 1976, Riccelli made his Major League debut. He and

Bob Knepper Robert Wesley Knepper (born May 25, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. From 1976 to 1990, he pitched 15 seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, earning two All-Star appearances as well as the 1981 NL Come ...

, who had debuted the day before, became the first starting pitchers in San Francisco Giants history to make their debuts in consecutive games. Riccelli finished the season in the Major Leagues before returning to the Triple-A

Phoenix Giants Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

for the entirety of the following season. On October 25, 1976, Riccelli was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. On June 8, 1978, the Cardinals sent Riccelli to Houston for Bob Coluccio. Riccelli would appear in two games for the Astros that year, pitching three scoreless innings. During a start in 1979, Riccelli suffered an injury which required him to undergo

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

. He returned to baseball with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organizations in 1980 and 1981 respectively but never returned to the Major Leagues. He later pitched for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

in the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

References

Sources

1953 births Living people Alexandria Dukes players Amarillo Giants players Baseball players from Syracuse, New York Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Charlies players Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players Great Falls Giants players Houston Astros players Lafayette Drillers players Major League Baseball pitchers Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Springfield Redbirds players Syracuse Chiefs players Christian Brothers Academy (DeWitt, New York) alumni {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub