Ralph Alexander Citarella (born February 7, 1958) is a 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, ...

. The right-hander was drafted by 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 ...

in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1979 amateur draft (secondary phase), and he played for the Cardinals (1983–1984) and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1987). On September 13, 1983, Citarella made his major league debut in relief at

Three Rivers Stadium Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) ...

. He struck out the first batter he faced, catcher

Tony Peña Antonio Francisco Peña Padilla (; born 4 June 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Cleve ...

, in the 7th inning. In 1.2 innings that night he gave up one hit (a double to Johnny Ray) and one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

, and the Cards lost, 6–0. Citarella was successful in his two short stints with St. Louis, posting ERAs of 1.64 and 3.63, but didn't fare as well with the White Sox in 1987. In five appearances, he gave up nine earned runs in eleven innings, including four home runs. He retired in 1988 after pitching for multiple minor league teams at the AAA, AA, and A levels between 1985 and 1988. In 3 seasons he appeared in a total of 21 games and had a 0–1 record, 2 starts, 0

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, and 6

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is the ...

. In 44.1

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

he gave up 20 earned runs for an ERA of 4.06, and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2 to 1 (28 strikeouts and 14 walks). Citarella made his first MLB start on June 23, 1984, a nationally televised NBC Game of the Week 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 ...

versus 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 ...

. He pitched 5.1 innings and hit an RBI single that sparked a six-run second inning for the Cardinals. The Cardinals held a 9-3 lead when Citarella left the game in the sixth inning with two runners on base. That meant Citarella would have earned his first major-league win, even though both of those Cub base runners scored, if the Cardinals had maintained the lead. The high-scoring extra-inning affair came to be known as the "Sandberg Game" in recognition of Cubs second baseman

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 ...

, who homered to tie the game in the ninth inning and again in the tenth against

Bruce Sutter Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...

. In 2006, Ralph Citarella became the Athletic Relations Liaison for the Habana Joe Trading Company for its Dock to Dine men's clothing line. From 2012 to 2013, Citarella served as the pitching coach for the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

-based

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

of the independent

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional baseball league with teams in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. Founded in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, the league was for ...

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citarella, Ralph 1958 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players Chicago White Sox players El Paso Diablos players EFSC Titans baseball players Florida Southern Moccasins baseball players Fresno Suns players Gastonia Cardinals players Hawaii Islanders players Johnson City Cardinals players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball coaches Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Sportspeople from East Orange, New Jersey Baseball players from Essex County, New Jersey Portland Beavers players Springfield Redbirds players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Tacoma Tigers players Tigres de Aragua players St. Thomas Aquinas High School (New Jersey) alumni Bloomfield College alumni 20th-century American sportsmen