Leonard Richard Merullo (May 5, 1917 – May 30, 2015) was an American

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)

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1941 to 1947, and scouted for MLB from 1950 to 2003.

Chicago Cubs

A native of

East Boston, Massachusetts East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and d ...

, Merullo played shortstop for the Chicago Cubs for seven years in the major leagues in the 1940s. He appeared in three games during the

1945 World Series The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. Th ...

against two-time MVP

Hal Newhouser Harold Newhouser (May 20, 1921 – November 10, 1998), nicknamed "Prince Hal," was an American professional baseball player. In Major League Baseball (MLB), he pitched 17 seasons on the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, from 1939 through 19 ...

, pitchers

Virgil Trucks Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks (April 26, 1917 – March 23, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batte ...

Tommy Bridges Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges (December 28, 1906 – April 19, 1968) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers from 1930 to 1946. During the 1930s, he used an outstanding cu ...

, and slugger

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

of the Detroit Tigers, who defeated the Cubs in seven games in the Series, the last one the Cubs played in until . With the death of

Andy Pafko Andrew Pafko (February 25, 1921 – October 8, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59). He bat ...

on October 8, 2013, Merullo was the last surviving member of the 1945 team, as well as being the oldest living former member of the Cubs. Merullo's major league career began in 1941, and in 1942-45 he won the shortstop job, with

Stan Hack Stanley Camfield Hack (December 6, 1909 – December 15, 1979), nicknamed "Smiling Stan", was an American third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago Cubs and was the National League's top t ...

playing third base and Merullo's roommate, Phil Cavarretta, at first. In 1946,

Billy Jurges William Frederick Jurges (May 9, 1908 – March 3, 1997) was an American shortstop, third baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in the Bronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three (, and ) National ...

Bobby Sturgeon Robert Harwood Sturgeon (August 6, 1919 – March 10, 2007) was a shortstop and second baseman in Major League Baseball who played between 1940 and 1948 for the Chicago Cubs (1940–1942, 1946–1947) and Boston Braves (1948). Listed at , 17 ...

and Merullo shared the shortstop position until Merullo regained the position in 1947. During this period, Merullo was known to have the quickest throwing arm in baseball. Merullo's time with the Cubs caused him, in later years, to be a frequent subject of Chicago columnist Mike Royko's annual Cub Quiz.

Scout

After retiring from professional baseball, Merullo was chief scout for the Cubs from 1950–72, signing, among others,

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 ...

Moe Drabowsky Myron Walter Drabowsky (July 21, 1935 – June 10, 2006) was an American professional baseball pitcher, best-remembered for throwing scoreless innings of relief to win Game 1 of the 1966 World Series. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

. He left the Cubs in 1973 to join the then-fledgling

Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau The Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau is a centralized scouting resource that operates under the auspices of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Headquartered in Ontario, California, the MLBSB's efforts supplement the independent, prop ...

, where he served until his retirement at the age of 85 in 2003.

Personal life

Merullo had four sons, the eldest is nicknamed "Boots" because Merullo famously made four errors in a single inning, on September 13, 194

having been informed by the club's owner, Philip Wrigley, that his wife had just delivered. The following day the Chicago newspapers suggested his newborn baby should be called "Boots" in honor of the occasion. Boots went on to play in the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league system for three seasons and Merullo's grandson Matt had a six-year career playing for major league teams, mainly the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Matt Merullo was a scout for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

and is now manager of the

Aberdeen IronBirds The Aberdeen IronBirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in the city of Aberdeen in Harford County, Maryland. They are the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and compete in the South Atlantic League. They were previously members of the ...

Death

On May 30, 2015 in the early morning, Merullo had died, due to complications following a stroke a few weeks prior, aged 98, as announced by the Chicago Cubs. The team did not reveal details pertaining to his death.

Accolades

In 2000, Merullo was named a member of the inaugural class of the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame, having led the Barnstable Townies to the old Cape League title in 1935. He was awarded Scout of the Year in 1990, and the prestigious Judge Emil Fuchs Award for long and meritorious service to baseball in 2006.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merullo, Lennie 1917 births 2015 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Massachusetts Cape Cod Baseball League players (pre-modern era) Chicago Cubs players Chicago Cubs scouts Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball shortstops People from East Boston, Boston Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players