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

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

man who played between 1970 and 1974 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 ...

. 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 and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

. 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 baseball field, diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, ...

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 syst ...

and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

, 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 Baseball scorekeep ...

. 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in 1964, spending seven years at different

minor league 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 Nort ...

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, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

, he hit .200 (3-for-15) in 10 games. Then, he was dealt by Boston to the

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

before the 1971 season in the transaction that brought

Phil Gagliano Philip Joseph Gagliano (December 27, 1941 – December 19, 2016) was an American professional baseball player who forged a 12-season, 702-game career in Major League Baseball as a utility infielder/outfielder and pinch hitter for four clubs (prin ...

to the Red Sox. His most productive season came with the 1972 Cubs, when he posted career-numbers in

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

(86),

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s (8),

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(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 (baseball), coach, and manager (baseball), manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second bas ...

. 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 (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

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 bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. The others are

Dale Long Richard Dale Long (February 6, 1926 – January 27, 1991) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates, History of the St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees ...

and Darrin Jackson. 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 base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. 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 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 ...

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 by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" prior to a game at

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

. 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

career as a

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

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 Lov ...

, a four-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominee as a jazz vocalist, reside in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population densit ...

. In the television series '' Transformers Animated'', 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 trumpeters American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Detroit 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 20th-century American sportsmen