Carmen Ronald Fanzone (born August 30, 1941) is a former

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosoph ...

man who played between 1970 and 1974 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), ...

. Listed at , , he batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. Fanzone was a versatile and effective utility man who was able to play all four

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-c ...

positions,

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

and right field, playing mainly as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. Fanzone was signed as an amateur free agent by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in 1964, spending seven years at different minor league levels before joining the big team in 1970. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, he hit .200 (3-for-15) in 10 games. Then, he was dealt by Boston to the Chicago Cubs before the 1971 season in the transaction that brought Phil Gagliano to the Red Sox. His most productive season came with the 1972 Cubs, when he posted career-numbers in games (86),

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 (8),

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(42) and runs (26). He wore number 23, now retired in honor of

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

. Fanzone is known for catching the last out in

Milt Pappas Milton Steven Pappas (May 11, 1939 – April 19, 2016) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through . Nicknamed "Gimpy", the 17-year veteran pitched for the Baltimore Ori ...

's no-hitter on September 2, 1972 when Gary Jestadt of the Padres popped out to him. He appeared in 227 games with Chicago, mostly in

pinch-hit 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 ...

duties, and did not return to the majors after the 1974 season. He also is one of three players in Cubs history to hit home runs in consecutive pinch-hit at bats. The others are Dale Long and

Darrin Jackson Darrin Jay Jackson (born August 22, 1963) is the current radio color analyst for the Chicago White Sox and also a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played 12 years for the Chicago Cubs (1985–1989), San Diego Padres (1989–1992 ...

. In a five-season career covering 237 games, Fanzone was a .224 hitter (132 hits in 588 at bats) with 20 home runs and 94 runs batted in, 27 doubles and three stolen bases. After that, he played with the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

1975 Pacific Coast League champion team. Fanzone is an accomplished horn player. On June 18, 1972 he played "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" prior to a game at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. Following his playing retirement, Fanzone started a

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a maj ...

career as a flugelhorn player. Fanzone and his wife

Sue Raney Raelene Claire Claussen, known professionally as Sue Raney (born June 18, 1940, in McPherson, Kansas) is an American jazz singer. Raney was signed by Capitol Records in 1957 at age 17. That same year, she recorded her debut album, ''When Your Love ...

, a four-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nominee as a jazz vocalist, reside in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

. In the television series ''

Transformers Animated ''Transformers: Animated'' is an American Superhero fiction, superhero animated television series based on the Transformers (toy line), ''Transformers'' toy line. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro, Hasbro Entertainment and an ...

'', the captain of the Detroit Police Department was named Carmine Fanzone as a tribute. Fanzone is a professional trumpeter and is married to vocalist

References

External links

Baseball Reliquary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanzone, Carmen 1941 births Living people Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball third basemen American jazz horn players American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Michigan Hawaii Islanders players Wellsville Red Sox players Winston-Salem Red Sox players Tacoma Cubs players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Pittsfield Red Sox players Central Michigan Chippewas baseball players