Anthony Thomas "Nino" Bongiovanni (December 21, 1911 – January 6, 2009) was a professional

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 ...

player and manager. He played two 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), ...

for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. Bongiovanni was 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed 175 pounds."Nino Bongiovanni Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.

Career

Bongiovanni was born in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, in 1911. He started his professional baseball career in 1933 with the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Seattle Indians Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

. Bongiovanni played in the PCL for five seasons,

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 ru ...

over .300 in three of them."Nino Bongiovanni Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011. In 1937, he batted .322 and led the league with 236

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

. He was then drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in October of that year. Bongiovanni appeared in two games for the Reds in 1938 but spent most of the season with the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, where he batted .321 with 12

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 ...

s. In 1939, Bongiovanni returned to the Reds. He started the season as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, became the team's regular

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

in July, and then returned to mostly pinch hitting by September. In 66 games, he had a .258 batting average. Cincinnati won 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 s ...

pennant, and Bongiovanni appeared in the

1939 World Series The 1939 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds, who were making their first Series appearance since winning the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. The Yankees swept the Series in fou ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. He made an out in his only

at bat 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 ...

, which came in game 3."Nino Bongiovanni Postseason Batting Gamelogs"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011. In January 1940, Bongiovanni was traded to the Yankees. He went into the Yankees's farm system that year and never played in the majors again. Bongiovanni's career was interrupted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when he was in the military. He returned to professional baseball in 1946, and in 1947, he batted a career-high .363 in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. In 1948, he became a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the Far West League's Oroville Red Sox, batting .350 in 82 games. He finished his career the following season as a player-manager for the California League's

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

. In later years, Bongiovanni owned a business and worked for the

Santa Clara Unified School District The Santa Clara Unified School District is a school district in Silicon Valley, serving three cities in Santa Clara County, California: Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and San Jose. Santa Clara USD operates sixteen elementary schools (K-5), three middl ...

. He died in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, in 2009. He was survived by his wife, Dora, and three children - Linda, Terry, and Daniel."Anthony 'Nino' Bongiovanni Obituary"
''San Jose Mercury News''. January 18, 2009. Daniel Bongiovanni played baseball for Santa Clara University in 1976–78

Daniel's son Tony Bongiovanni played for University of California, Davis Baseball team 2007–2010

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongiovanni, Nino 1911 births 2009 deaths American people of Italian descent Baseball players from New Orleans Cincinnati Reds players Indianapolis Indians players Jersey City Giants players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Newark Bears (International League) players Oroville Red Sox players Portland Beavers players San Jose Red Sox players Seattle Indians players Stockton Ports players Syracuse Chiefs players Baseball coaches from Louisiana