Richard Anthony Lancellotti (born July 5, 1956) is a former

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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 c ...

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), ...

who played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

(),

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

() and

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 ...

(). He batted and threw left-handed. Lancellotti moved frequently in his youth, leaving Concord, New Hampshire, for Cherry Hill, New Jersey, as a teenagerMotyka, Paul
Rick Lancellotti

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

. Accessed January 2, 2018. "Rick and his family moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, when he was a junior in high school. The move was tough for the teenager as he was leaving behind a comfortable smaller-town environment for one where he didn’t know anyone and the high school was much larger: 3,500 students as opposed to 800 in Concord." and transferred to

Cherry Hill High School East Cherry Hill High School East (also known as Cherry Hill East or CHE) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Cherry Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating a ...

in his junior year where he made the baseball team as a pitcher. A gifted slugger who led four different leagues in home runs, Lancellotti received only limited opportunities on the Major League level to showcase the power he displayed in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

. A perennial minor-league All-Star, he played in 15 different leagues and several countries, including stints in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Colombia,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Japan,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. In 1979, Lancellotti was named the Eastern League most valuable player after he led the league with 41

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 and 107

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 ...

while playing for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. On August 5, 1980, Lancellotti, along with

Luis Salazar Luis Ernesto Salazar Garcia (born May 19, 1956) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball from 1980 to 1992 as a third baseman and outfielder for the San Diego Padres (1980–84, 19 ...

, was traded to the

for a player to be named later and Kurt Bevacqua. The Padres later sent Mark Lee to Pittsburgh to complete the trade. He made his Major League debut with the San Diego Padres in , appearing in 17 games. His career-highlight came in , when he led all professional baseball with 131 RBI and hit 29 home runs while playing for Triple-A

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, a San Diego affiliate. In , Lancellotti led the Pacific Coast League with 31 home runs while playing for

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, at the time the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. At 30, he was promoted to the big club and hit .222 with two home runs and six RBI in 18 at-bats. In and he played in Japan, hitting 58 home runs in 190 games for Hiroshima, including a league-leading 39 homers in 1987. Two years later he played in the now defunct

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

. Lancellotti did not win another chance in the majors until August 1990, when he played four games for the Boston Red Sox and went 0-for-8. Lancellotti was a major player in the Red Sox famous Rally Cap game where several teammates used cups on their ears, hats on catcher-style, and shave cream on their faces. Dwight Evans homered to turn the game around during this comedic mêlée. Before the promotion he had 10 home runs for Triple-A Pawtucket. He returned just in time to finish the month with 11 home runs to win the International League title with 21. Lancellotti was named the best player in the Red Sox farm system by the Boston Sportswriters Association. At the same time, Boston released him. In , he played for the Parma Angels of

, being named the Best Hitter during the European Cup held in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He retired after the season and settled in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, where he established a baseball school in 1993.Buffalo School of Baseball
/ref> He still owns and operates this school to the day and is close friends with cartoonist Ken Newton. In a three-season major league career, Lancellotti was a .169 hitter with two home runs and 11 RBI in 36 games. He belted 276 home runs in his minor league career, setting a mark that still stands to this day. Lancellotti gained induction into the

Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame The Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame was started by the Buffalo Bisons organization in 1985 to honor former members of the Buffalo Bisons (1878, 1887–1888), Buffalo Bisons (1879–1885), Buffalo Bisons (1886–1970), Buffalo Bisons (1890), Buffalo ...

in August 1995. Lancellotti's daughter, Katie Lancellotti, played

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

at Canisius College from 2009 to 2012.

References

External links

Rick Lancellotti
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Life in the Minors: No Fame or Fortune, Only Diamonds in seven countries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancellotti, Rick 1956 births Living people Águilas de Mexicali players Amarillo Gold Sox players American expatriate baseball players in Japan American people of Italian descent Baseball players from New Jersey Baseball players from Providence, Rhode Island Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Charleston Patriots players Cherry Hill High School East alumni Erie Kats baseball coaches Hawaii Islanders players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Oklahoma City 89ers players Parma Baseball Club players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Concord, New Hampshire Phoenix Firebirds players Phoenix Giants players Portland Beavers players Salem Pirates players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Sun City Rays players Rowan Profs baseball players Tidewater Tides players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Wichita Aeros players