John Costa Rizzo (July 30, 1912 – December 4, 1977) was an American

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 catch ...

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 ...

from 1938 to 1942. Rizzo set 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 ...

record for most home runs in a season, with 23 in his rookie year of 1938. , Rizzo still holds the Pirates record for most

RBIs 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 ...

in a game, with nine. In 1938, Rizzo's rookie season with the Pirates, he ended the season with a .301 batting average and 111 runs batted in. His 167 hits including 31 doubles, nine triples and 23 home runs.Johnny Rizzo
Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed November 17, 2008. Rizzo set a Pirate record for home runs that lasted until

Ralph Kiner Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. Fo ...

tied Rizzo with 23 in 1946 and took sole possession with 51 in the 1947 season. No other rookie would break a team single-season home run record until

Pete Alonso Peter Morgan Alonso (born December 7, 1994), nicknamed "Polar Bear", is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Internationally, Alonso represents the United States. Alonso played co ...

of the

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 ...

did so in 2019. Rizzo held the Pirate rookie record with Kiner until

Jason Bay Jason Raymond Bay (born September 20, 1978) is a Canadian-American former professional baseball left fielder who played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Initially drafted by the Montreal Expos, he played for the San Diego Padres, Pitts ...

hit 26 in his first season in 2004. The

Rookie of the Year Award A Rookie of the Year award or ROY is given by a number of sports leagues to the top-performing athlete in his or her first season within the league. Athletes competing for the first time in any given league are also known as "rookies". Principal ...

had not yet been established, but Rizzo finished sixth in the balloting for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

in his inaugural season, an award won by

Ernie Lombardi Ernesto Natali Lombardi (April 6, 1908 – September 26, 1977) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants durin ...

the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. Rizzo was third in the National League in runs batted in, fifth in home runs, sixth in runs scored (with 97) and ninth in hits. Rizzo's batting went into a slump in the 1939 season, which he finished with a .261 average, six home runs and 55 RBI. That season's bright spot was in the second game of a doubleheader against 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 ...

on May 30, 1939, when he hit nine RBI in a game with two home runs, leading the Pirates to a 14–8 win to salvage a split of the twin bill. Rizzo went five-for-six in the game, helping to singlehandedly erase a seven-run Cardinals lead. The nine RBI by Rizzo set a Pirates single game team record that has not been broken since then. Rizzo continued his slump into the 1940 season, hitting for a .261 average in nine games with the Pirates. He was traded by the Pirates to the

on May 8, 1940, in exchange for outfielder

Vince DiMaggio Vincent Paul DiMaggio (September 6, 1912 – October 3, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 10-year baseball career, he played for the Boston Bees (1937–1938), Cincinnati Reds (1939–1940), Pittsburgh Pirates ( ...

. Rizzo perked up with the Reds, hitting for a .282 average and four home runs in 31 games with the team. In turn, the Reds traded Rizzo to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

on June 15, 1940, in exchange for outfielder

Morrie Arnovich Morris Arnovich (November 16, 1910 – July 20, 1959), nicknamed "Snooker", was an American baseball player. Arnovich played in Major League Baseball between 1936 and 1946 and played in the World Series winning team in 1940 as a part of the Cinc ...

. Rizzo continued his improvement, hitting .292 with 20 home runs in 103 games over the remainder of the season with the Phillies. Between the three teams, Rizzo finished the 1940 season with a .283 batting average, 24 home runs and 72 RBI. Rizzo finished in third place in the National League for home runs that season. He received three points in voting for the NL's Most Valuable Player that season, enough to tie him for 29th place in the balloting. Rizzo played the entire 1941 season for the Phillies, finishing with a .217 average and four home runs in 99 games. After the season, he was purchased by the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

on December 10, 1941, from Philadelphia. He played 78 games for the Dodgers in the 1942 season, finishing with a .230 batting average and four home runs in 99 games. He played the final game of his Major League career that year on September 25. In 557 games over five seasons, Rizzo posted a .270

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 ...

(497-for-1842) with 268 runs, 61

home runs 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 ...

, 289

and 200

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .961

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 ...

playing at all three outfield positions and several games at third base. Rizzo enlisted as a Seaman in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in December 1942, days before a ban placed by President Roosevelt on such enlistments.Staff
Briefs
''

Time (magazine) ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published Weekly newspaper, weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first publishe ...

'', December 14, 1942. Accessed November 17, 2008.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzo, Johnny 1912 births 1977 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Brooklyn Dodgers players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Cincinnati Reds players Baseball players from Houston United States Navy sailors Minor league baseball managers Galveston Buccaneers players Corpus Christi Seahawks players LaFeria Nighthawks players Muskogee Chiefs players Hutchinson Wheat Shockers players Bartlesville Broncos players Elmira Red Wings players Houston Buffaloes players Columbus Red Birds players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sacramento Solons players Chattanooga Lookouts players Lakeland Pilots players