Thomas Vardasco "Tony" Robello (February 9, 1913 – December 25, 1994) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 16 games in Major League Baseball, primarily as a second baseman, for the –

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, and later spent 49 years as a

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for four big-league teams. He is credited with scouting and signing

Johnny Bench John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from through , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of t ...

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

catcher, for Cincinnati in 1965.Sandoval, Jim, ''Tony Robello,''
Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project Robello threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and . Born in

Pahala, Hawaii Pahala is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 1,403 at the 2020 census. History Pahala was created by a sugarcane plantation. The area selected to house the sugar refinery had several k ...

, and raised in

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...

, Robello entered in baseball in 1932; the following August, he received his MLB trial for the last-place Reds, and collected seven

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in 34 at bats, including three doubles. Three of his hits came on the 1933 season's last day in Cincinnati's last game. He then went hitless in two at bats 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 ...

for the 1934 Reds. He returned that year to the minor leagues, where he became a player-manager in 1937, and served in the United States Navy during World War II. Robello was a prodigious power hitter during his prewar days as a playing manager in the lower minors. He led the Class C

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and runs batted in in both 1937 and 1938. Then, in 1939, with the Pocatello Cardinals of the Pioneer League, he led the Class C circuit in almost every offensive category:

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

(168), hits (205), home runs (58), and runs batted in (179); his .404 batting average was five points behind the league's batting champion. His production declined in 1940, when he was playing skipper of Salt Lake City in the same circuit, but he still topped the Pioneer League in home runs (with 22) and batted .343.Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007, pages 351–373 Postwar, Robello returned to managing in 1946 in the St. Louis Browns' organization and began his scouting career in 1947. He signed future World Series perfect game pitcher

Don Larsen Don James Larsen (August 7, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore O ...

for the Browns, but made his greatest imprint scouting for the Reds, to whom he returned in 1962 and where he spent 34 years until his 1995 retirement. In addition to Bench, he signed National League All-Star pitcher Gary Nolan and other key members of the " Big Red Machine" dynasty of the early to middle 1970s. In between his work for the Browns and Reds, he scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees.

References

External links

Sandoval, Jim, ''Tony Robello,''
Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project 1913 births 1994 deaths Baseball players from California Baseball players from Hawaii Cincinnati Reds players Cincinnati Reds scouts Columbus Red Birds players Fort Worth Cats players Jacksonville Jax players Major League Baseball second basemen Minor league baseball managers New York Yankees scouts Pine Bluff Judges players People from San Leandro, California Pocatello Cardinals players Rock Island Islanders players St. Louis Browns scouts St. Louis Cardinals scouts Salt Lake City Bees players Springfield Browns players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tucson Lizards players Twin Falls Cowboys players Wilmington Pirates players {{baseball-second-baseman-stub