Frank Joseph Riccelli (born February 24, 1953) is an American former

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, for the

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

, and and for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. Riccelli attended Christian Brothers Academy in

DeWitt, New York DeWitt is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,074. The town is named after major Moses DeWitt, a judge and soldier. An eastern suburb of Syracuse, DeWitt also is the site of most o ...

, where he was a high school

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 ...

standout. He was three times named to the All-

Central New York The central region of New York state includes: * Auburn in Cayuga County * Cortland in Cortland County * Oneida in Madison County * Syracuse, the largest city of Central New York, in Onondaga County * Fulton and Oswego in Oswego County ...

team. As a junior in 1970, he had an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 0.74 and 140 strikeouts in 73 innings. As a senior in 1971, he struck out 139 batters in 65 innings. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the eighteenth pick of the

1971 MLB Draft The 1971 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1971 MLB season. The draft saw the Chicago White Sox select Danny Goodwin first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1971 Major League Base ...

, ahead of future

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hit ( ...

and

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time Al ...

. Riccelli began his professional career in Montana in 1971 with the

Great Falls Giants Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

. In 1972, with the

Amarillo Giants Amarillo, yellow or golden in Spanish, may refer to: Places * Amarillo, Texas, city in the US * Amarillo, Western Australia, former name for Keralup, Western Australia People * Amarillo Slim (1928–2012), American poker player * Eric Amari ...

, Riccelli had 16 and 17-strikeout games en route to a 183-strikeout season, a total he would not top again in any one year. On September 11, 1976, Riccelli made his Major League debut. He and

Bob Knepper Robert Wesley Knepper (born May 25, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. From 1976 to 1990, he pitched 15 seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, earning two All-Star appearances as well as the 1981 NL Com ...

, who had debuted the day before, became the first starting pitchers in San Francisco Giants history to make their debuts in consecutive games. Riccelli finished the season in the Major Leagues before returning to the Triple-A

Phoenix Giants Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), an immortal bird in ancient Greek mythology * Phoenix, Arizona, the capital of the U.S. state of Arizona and the most populous state capital in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: ...

for the entirety of the following season. On October 25, 1976, Riccelli was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. On June 8, 1978, the Cardinals sent Riccelli to Houston for

Bob Coluccio Robert Pasquali Coluccio (born October 2, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), between 1973 and 1978, for the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, and St. ...

. Riccelli would appear in two games for the Astros that year, pitching three scoreless innings. During a start in 1979, Riccelli suffered an injury which required him to undergo

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. He returned to baseball with 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 ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

organizations in 1980 and 1981 respectively but never returned to the Major Leagues. He later pitched for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

in the

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 ...

References

Sources

1953 births Living people Alexandria Dukes players Amarillo Giants players Baseball players from Syracuse, New York Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Charlies players Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players Great Falls Giants players Houston Astros players Lafayette Drillers players Major League Baseball pitchers Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Springfield Redbirds players Syracuse Chiefs players Christian Brothers Academy (DeWitt, New York) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub