Peter William Cimino (born October 17, 1942) is an American former 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 who played four seasons for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

and

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 ...

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), ...

. He once scored 114 points in a high school

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

game and also had 20

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in one minor league baseball game. During his playing career, Cimino stood at and weighed 195 lbs."Pete Cimino Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-24.

114-point game

Cimino was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. A star athlete at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

High School, he was both a

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 ...

on the baseball team and a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

on the basketball team. Cimino might be best known for scoring 114 points in a high school basketball game on January 22, 1960. The single-game shooting outburst occurred during a 134–86 win over Palisades High School, in a Lower Bucks County League match. In the game, Cimino made 44 of 79

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

attempts and 26 of 29

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

attempts. He scored all 69 of his team's second half points. The 114-point total is still a Pennsylvania state record and is also the fourth highest in any United States boys high school game. The 44 field goals made and 79 attempts were both national single-game records at the time. Afterwards, Cimino said, "All I wanted to do was break the league mark of 62. But the guys on the team kept getting the

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and I was able to score a lot on the fast break."

Baseball career

Later in 1960, Cimino signed a professional baseball contract with the Washington Senators. He started his career that season as a pitcher for the Class D Wytheville Senators and went 6–2 with a 3.43

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 ...

. The next season, he moved up to the Class B

Wilson Tobs The Wilson Tobs are an amateur baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League, an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the ...

, of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. Cimino didn't have much success in 1961, going just 4–5 with a 5.61 ERA."Pete Cimino Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-24. However, he bounced back in 1962. On April 30, 1962, he tied a Carolina League record by striking out 20 batters in one game. He went 12–13 that season and lowered his ERA to 3.36, while using his "blazing fastball" to record 190 strikeouts in 190 innings. Cimino started 1963 with the AA

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. He pitched well early in the season and then moved up again, to the AAA Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers. In 1964, he had a mediocre year 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 ...

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

, going 3–6 with a 4.50 ERA in 120 innings. He rebounded once again the following season 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 ...

Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, winning 9 of 16 decisions. He was then called up to the major league Minnesota Twins. In his major league debut on September 22, he pitched one inning without allowing a baserunner. Cimino spent 1966 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 (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the Twins. He pitched 64.2 innings in 35 games and struck out 57. His 2.92 ERA was better than the league average. On December 2, he was traded, along with

Jimmie Hall Jimmie Randolph Hall (born March 7, 1938) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and left-handed batter who played eight seasons in the big leagues. A two-time All-Star, Hall made his debut with the Minnesota Twins (1963–66), followed ...

and

Don Mincher Donald Ray Mincher (June 24, 1938 – March 4, 2012) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and longtime minor league executive. He played in the majors from 1960–1972 for the "original" Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins, Cal ...

, to the California Angels, for

Dean Chance Wilmer Dean Chance (June 1, 1941 – October 11, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chancde01.shtml Dean Chance Page at Baseball-Reference.com he played in 11 Maj ...

and

Jackie Hernández Jacinto Hernández Zulueta (September 11, 1940 – October 12, 2019)Dipaola, Jerry.Ex-Pirates SS Jackie Hernandez, member of 1971 World Series champs, dies, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 16, 2019. was a Cuban professional baseball playe ...

. In 1967, he had 80 strikeouts in 88.1 innings for the Angels. He also started off 1968 with the major league club, pitching in four games, but was sold to the Seattle Angels on May 8.Cimino sold
/ref> Cimino never returned to the major leagues.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cimino, Pete 1942 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers California Angels players Minnesota Twins players Atlanta Crackers players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Dallas Rangers players Denver Bears players El Paso Sun Kings players Seattle Angels players Wilson Tobs players Wytheville Senators players Baseball players from Philadelphia Basketball players from Philadelphia Forwards (basketball)

114-point game

Baseball career

See also

References

External links