Lawrence Thomas Ciaffone (August 17, 1924 – December 14, 1991), nicknamed "Symphony Larry", 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 professional ...

player whose ten-year playing career (1946–55), largely as an

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, included a six-game trial with the

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during the opening weeks of the season. Ciaffone threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, he attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where he was a teammate of and catcher for his cousin Frank Ciaffone, a star pitcher. Both signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers upon graduation but their baseball careers were delayed by military service in World War II. Larry entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, and saw combat at the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

in 1944–45. Frank enlisted in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

and fought in the Pacific Theater of Operations, participating in the Battle of Iwo Jima. During the course of the invasion of the Japanese stronghold, Frank Ciaffone, 19, was fatally wounded on March 3, 1945. Returning from wartime service at the age of 22, Larry Ciaffone began his playing career in the Brooklyn farm system, but was drafted by the Cardinals after only one season at the Class B level. He progressed through the Cardinal system, and after

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.324 for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 1950,Minor league statistics
from

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he made the Cardinals' early-season, 28-man roster in 1951. Ciaffone appeared in six games as a pinch hitter and substitute

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. He went hitless in five

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

with one base on balls, then returned to Rochester for the balance of the season.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
1924 births 1991 deaths Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni Allentown Cardinals players United States Army personnel of World War II Chattanooga Lookouts players Houston Buffaloes players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Mets scouts Newport News Dodgers players Baseball players from Brooklyn Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Rochester Red Wings players Sabios de Vargas players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals scouts Military personnel from New York City Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub