Mario Cain "Milo" Candini (August 3, 1917 – March 17, 1998) 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 ...

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 ...

. A ,

right-hander In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, he played all or part of eight seasons 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 Washington Senators (1943–44; 1946–49) and Philadelphia Phillies (1950–51). After Candini’s big league career, he continued to pitch in the Pacific Coast League until 1957, primarily for the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

. All told, Candini’s professional career lasted 20 seasons.

Early life

Candini was born in Manteca, California, and he played football, baseball and basketball at

Manteca High School Manteca High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Manteca, California, United States that was established on May 21, 1920. It is the oldest school within Manteca Unified School District. Although originally built with a tower, ...

. He was the school's star pitcher as a junior and senior. His professional career began in 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 of ...

' farm system, but he never appeared for the Yankees. Instead, he was traded to Washington in January 1943 and made the Senators' opening day roster.

Career

After four standout appearances as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

, allowing no runs and five hits in 10 innings pitched, he received his first starting assignment June 2 against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. He threw a complete game, 13–1 victory, allowing eight hits. He also went two-for-five at the plate to help his own cause. He then won his next four starts, including an 8–0

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

of the Yankees June 23 in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. In that game, Candini allowed six hits, all singles, and again helped himself at the plate, going two for two with a

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 ...

, a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

, and two sacrifice bunts. At that point in the season, he had a 7–0

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

(including two wins in relief during May), and a brilliant 0.50

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 ...

(ERA) in 54 innings pitched. He continued to pitch effectively until the end of July, and then came back to the pack with some poor outings mixed in with four more complete games during August and September. His

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

1943 season, which would be his finest in the Majors, ended with an 11–7 record, a 2.49 earned run average (sixth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

), eight complete games and three shutouts. Candini pitched less effectively for Washington in 1944, then served in 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 ...

in 1945 in the

Pacific Theater of World War II The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the Theater (warfare), theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, ...

. He did not return to baseball until August 25, 1946. In his return, he threw four shutout innings of relief against the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

, and received credit for the 12- inning 5–4 win. His 1947 and 1948 campaigns were less successful; he went 5–7 in 73 games pitched with a composite 5.16 ERA. Candini spent most of 1949 in Triple-A, where he won 15 games for the Oakland Oaks, then was selected by the Phillies in the 1949 Rule 5 draft. He got into 18 games, all in relief, for the 1950 Phillies and won his only decision, July 26 against the Chicago Cubs, but his lone win contributed to the "Whiz Kids"' narrow triumph in the

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 ...

(NL) pennant race that season. Candini did not appear in the

1950 World Series The 1950 World Series was the 47th World Series between the American and National Leagues for the championship of Major League Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the New York Yankees, as 1950 Amer ...

, won by the Yankees in four straight games. He again pitched out of the Phillie bullpen in 1951, working in 15 games in his final MLB season. As a major leaguer, he won 26 of 47 decisions, and allowed 530 hits and 250 bases on balls in 537 innings pitched, with 183 strikeouts. In 174 games pitched, including 37 starts, he registered 13 complete games, five shutouts and eight saves. As a batter, he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.243, with 35 hits, six doubles, one home run, and eight

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 ba ...

(RBI), in 144

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 ...

. In the minor leagues, Candini won 133 games and his standout career as a relief pitcher was capped by his final season, with the 1957 Sacramento Solons, when he won nine games and compiled a low 1.98 ERA in 57 games pitched. He died in his birthplace of Manteca, California, at age 80 in 1998.

References

External links

Milo Candini
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Candini, Milo 1917 births 1998 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Baseball players from California El Paso Texans players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Newark Bears (IL) players Norfolk Tars players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Manteca, California Philadelphia Phillies players Sacramento Solons players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wenatchee Chiefs players Military personnel from California