Dino Paolo Restelli (September 23, 1924 – August 8, 2006), nicknamed "Dingo", was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player in 1944 and from 1946–1955 who appeared in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in and . He threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, stood tall, and weighed . Born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Italian immigrants The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s ...

, he grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, he became a baseball player with the San Francisco Seals of 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 ...

, who traded him to the Pirates in June 1949. Restelli achieved a measure of fame with the Pirates, when he hit a record seven

home runs 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 ...

in his first ten games. He finished his rookie season with 12 home runs in 72 games. Restelli is tied with

Trevor Story Trevor John Story (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional baseball shortstop and second baseman for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies. Story made his MLB de ...

and

Trey Mancini Joseph Anthony "Trey" Mancini III (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

for most home runs through a players first 12 career games. After his baseball career, he became a San Francisco police officer. He later settled in nearby

San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish language, Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spain, Spanis ...

where he died at age 81 in 2006.

Footnotes

External links

Statistics at ''Baseball Reference''

Obituary from SF Chronicle
1924 births 2006 deaths American people of Italian descent Baseball players from San Francisco Channel Cities Oilers players Hollywood Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball center fielders Oklahoma City Indians players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Reno Silver Sox players Sacramento Solons players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players United States Army personnel of World War II Burials at Golden Gate National Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub