Christopher John Cannizzaro (May 3, 1938 – December 29, 2016) 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 and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He played as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

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 ...

(MLB) from 1960 to 1974 for the

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

(1960–61),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

(1962–65),

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 ...

(1968),

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

(1969–71, 1974),

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 ...

(1971), and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

(1972–73).

Playing career

Cannizzaro was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

and attended

San Leandro High School San Leandro High School (SLHS) is a four-year public high school in San Leandro, California, USA. Academics Academic courses include Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses. SLHS has specialized programs, including the Academy of Business & ...

. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent on June 21, 1956. After playing 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 Nort ...

for four seasons, he made his major league debut with the Cardinals at the age of 21 on April 17,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. On October 10, 1961, he was drafted by the New York Mets from the Cardinals as the 26th pick in the

1961 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1961 MLB expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s, the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out o ...

. He appeared in 59 games for the 1962 Mets expansion team, which ended up with a record of 40–120. The 120 losses continues to be the most losses by any

team in a single season since the 19th century. Cannizzaro had his most productive years while with the San Diego Padres. In

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

he appeared in a career-high 134 games and became the first San Diego Padre selected to play in the

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, he posted career-highs with a .279 batting average, 5 home runs and 42 runs batted in. The Padres traded Cannizzaro on May 19,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

to the Chicago Cubs for

Garry Jestadt Garry Arthur Jestadt (born March 19, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs for all or portions of three seasons ( and –). Jestadt graduated from Fremon ...

. He became the Cubs regular catcher after

Randy Hundley Cecil Randolph Hundley Jr. (born June 1, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and the San Diego Padres. ...

was forced to sit out the season due to an injury. On December 17, 1971, Cannizzaro was selected off waivers from the Cubs by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He did the majority of the catching for the Dodgers in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

as the team finished in second place in the National League. He played in his final major league game on September 28, 1974 at the age of 36.

Career statistics

In a thirteen-year major league career, Cannizzaro played in 740

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 ...

, accumulating 458

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 1,950

at bats 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, b ...

for a .235 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, along with 18 home runs, 169

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 ...

and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

of .319. He had a career

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

of .983.

Coaching career

Cannizzaro served as the bullpen coach of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

from 1976 to 1978.

Death

Cannizzaro died from emphysema on December 29, 2016, at the age of 78.

Highlights

* 1969 National League All-Star *Was an original member of the 1962

*Was an original member of the 1969

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannizzaro, Chris 1938 births 2016 deaths Baseball coaches from California American people of Italian descent Ardmore Cardinals players Atlanta Braves coaches Baseball players from Oakland, California Billings Mustangs players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Columbus Jets players 20th-century American sportsmen Decatur Commodores players Deaths from emphysema Denver Bears players Hawaii Islanders players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball catchers National League All-Stars New York Mets players Omaha Cardinals players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Richmond Braves players Rochester Red Wings players Salinas Angels players San Diego Padres players St. Louis Cardinals players Toledo Mud Hens players San Leandro High School alumni