John Lawrence Antonelli (July 15, 1915 – April 18, 1990) was an

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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), ...

in 1944–45 and a longtime

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and

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at the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

level. The native of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

A manager at age 19

Antonelli was one of the youngest and least-experienced managers in minor league baseball annals. In , he signed his first professional contract with his hometown

Memphis Chicks Memphis Chicks may refer to: *Memphis Chicks (Southern Association), a Minor League Baseball team that played from 1901 to 1960 *Memphis Chicks (Southern League) The Memphis Chicks were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Southern Lea ...

of the Southern Association, played in three games, batted 11 times, and garnered two

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s for a .182 batting average. He was then assigned, at age 19, to be the playing manager of the

Lexington Giants Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

of the Class D

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, where he batted .326 and led the Giants to a 42–44 won/loss mark. Antonelli remained a playing skipper in the KITTY League through , where in his final season he managed the

Union City Greyhounds Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, a farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals, to a first-place finish.Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, eds., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball.'' Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007. After 1937, he suspended his managing career and was purely a second baseman and third baseman with the Cardinals'

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

and

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

farm clubs for almost seven full seasons. Antonelli batted over .300 only once, but led his leagues in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

as both a second- and third baseman.

MLB service with Cardinals and Phillies

On September 16, 1944, at age 29, Antonelli was recalled by the Cardinals and played his first

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

game. He appeared in eight games for the Cardinals and two more in the beginning of before St. Louis swapped him to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

on May 8. Antonelli played 125 games for the 1945 Phils and batted .256. With the end of the

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manpower shortage, Antonelli's major league playing career ended. In 135 games and 528 at bats, he batted .252 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 29

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

Manager in Mets' organization

Antonelli's minor league playing career ended in 1950 as a playing manager, when he led the Hot Springs Bathers to the championship of the Class C Cotton States League. He briefly scouted for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in the years following, but largely spent the period of 1951–67 out of professional baseball. In , the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

established a Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

farm team, the Memphis Blues, in Antonelli's hometown and Antonelli returned to uniform as a coach. In , Antonelli succeeded

Pete Pavlick Peter Pavlick, Jr. (January 16, 1926 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA – September 5, 1990) was a minor league baseball manager who is notable for leading the Georgia State League's Sandersville Giants to a co-league championship in 1955. He also pla ...

as Memphis manager' and held the post until

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arrived from Class-A Visalia to take over the helm. Then, in , Antonelli was named the permanent pilot of the Blues, and he continued as a manager in the Mets' farm system through 1976 with Memphis (1970–72), the Triple-A

Tidewater Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

(1973–74), and the Double-A Jackson Mets (1975–76). His career record as a minor league manager was 745–688 (.520). Antonelli then served as a roving minor league infield instructor in the Mets' system, through 1985. He died in 1990 in Memphis at the age of 74 and is buried at Calvary Cemetery.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonelli, John 1915 births 1990 deaths Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago White Sox scouts Columbus Red Birds players Hot Springs Bathers players Houston Buffaloes players Lexington Giants (KITTY League) players Major League Baseball third basemen Memphis Chickasaws players Norfolk Tides managers Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players Union City Greyhounds players

A manager at age 19

MLB service with Cardinals and Phillies

Manager in Mets' organization

See also

External links

References