Gino Nicholas Cimoli (December 18, 1929 – February 12, 2011) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. He played in

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) ...

(MLB) for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals,

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) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

from 1956 through 1965. He was an

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

in 1957, and a member of the

1960 World Series The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5–13, 1960. In Game 7, Bill Mazeroski hit the series winning ninth-inning home run, ...

champions.

Career

A high school all-star at Galileo High School in San Francisco, Cimoli signed as an amateur free agent with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

in 1949. He would make his

debut with the Dodgers on April 19, 1956. On April 15, 1958, Cimoli became the first Major League batter to step into the batter's box on the West Coast when the Los Angeles Dodgers and 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 Y ...

played their first game of the season at

Seals Stadium Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Francisco, California; it later became the first home of the major league San Francisco Giants. Opened in the Mission District in 1931, Se ...

in San Francisco. After the season, the Dodgers traded Cimoli to the St. Louis Cardinals for

Wally Moon Wallace Wade MoonSteve Springer"Dodgers' Moon found success in Coliseum" ''Los Angeles Times'', March 23, 2008. (April 3, 1930 – February 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball. Moon played his 12-yea ...

and Phil Paine. After the 1959 season, the Cardinals traded Cimoli to the

with Tom Cheney in exchange for Ron Kline. Cimoli played on the Pirates' 1960 championship team, which defeated the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

in seven games. He was primarily the Pirates' fourth outfielder in 1960 and often platooned with center fielder

Bill Virdon William Charles Virdon (June 9, 1931 – November 23, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Virdon played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955 t ...

. After left fielder

Bob Skinner Robert Ralph Skinner (born October 3, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder / first baseman, manager, coach, and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three National League (NL) teams. In all, Skinner spent ...

injured his thumb in Game 1 of the World Series, Cimoli started Games 2–6 in left field. Cimoli returned to the bench in Game 7 when Skinner returned. In the eighth inning, with the Pirates trailing 7–4, Cimoli,

pinch-hitting In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Ameri ...

for pitcher

Roy Face Elroy Leon Face (born February 20, 1928), nicknamed The Bullpen Baron, is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. During a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A pioneer of ...

, led off with a single off

Bobby Shantz Robert Clayton Shantz (born September 26, 1925) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through , and won the 1952 American League Most Valuable Player Award as ...

, advanced to second on Virdon's bad-hop grounder, which struck Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat, then scored on

Dick Groat Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930) is a former professional baseball and basketball player who was an eight-time All-Star shortstop and two-time World Series champion in Major League Baseball. He rates as one of the most accomplished t ...

's single, the first run in a five-run inning to give the Pirates a 9–7 lead. The Pirates gave the lead away in the ninth before finally winning the game in the bottom half on

Bill Mazeroski William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936), nicknamed "Maz" and "The Glove", is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. A 7-time All-St ...

's lead-off home run. On June 15, 1961, the Pirates traded Cimoli to the

for Johnny Logan. The

selected Cimoli from the Braves in the Rule 5 draft after the season. The Athletics released Cimoli on May 29, 1964, and he signed with the

that day. Released by the Orioles before the 1965 season, Cimoli signed with the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

on April 10, 1965. He appeared in his final major league game on May 7, and was released on May 14. Cimoli's baseball card in 1958 (No. 286, Topps) in which the background was painted out, shows him swinging a bat, without the bat — which was ''also'' painted out. (Source: ''Baseball Hall of Shame 4'', Nash & Zullo)

Later life

After retiring from baseball, Cimoli worked as a delivery driver for

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

where, in 1990, the company honored Cimoli for completing 21 years of service without a traffic accident. Cimoli, then 60 years old and still working for the company, was now referred to as "The

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

of UPS.

External links

Baseball Hall of Fame: Colorful Cimoli Always a Good Quote
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cimoli, Gino 1929 births 2011 deaths Baseball players from San Francisco Baltimore Orioles players Brooklyn Dodgers players Fort Worth Cats players Kansas City Athletics players Los Angeles Angels players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Braves players Montreal Royals players Nashua Dodgers players National League All-Stars Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from Roseville, California

Career

Later life

See also

External links