
John Anthony Cangelosi was born on March 10, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. The small 5 foot eight switch hitting Italian American played hard to make up for his size. After attending Miami Dade Community College he was drafted by the White Sox in 1982. In 1986 he was the surprise of White Sox Spring Training taking the centerfield job from Daryl Boston & Rudy Law. He only hit .235 that season, but stole 50 bases, second most in the American League. He walked 71 times, hit 16 doubles and drove in a career high 32 runs. Cangelosi would go on to be a backup outfielder in Pittsburgh, Texas, Houston, Florida, Colorado & one season with the New York Mets.
He signed as a free agent for the 1994 season, and returned home to the New York City area. Cangelosi began the year as a pinch hitter & reserve outfielder. In his second game in a Mets uniform he got a pinch hit single, stayed in the game and drew a walk & scored two runs. In a May game in Montreal, he had a four hit day, driving in two runs. That month he had 14 hits seeing the most action, 23 games, & playing all outfield positions.That season he played in 62 games for the Mets batting .252 with five stolen bases which were enough to lead the slow footed team. Of his 28 hits, he had four doubles & drove in four runs.
That summer in a game against the Braves, Cangelosi got plunked by John Smoltz after Ryan Thompson took his time rounding the bases after a grand slam. Cangelosi charged the mound only to get tackled from behind by former Met, catcher Charlie O’Brien. Iit was the first time Cangelosi had ever charged the mound in his career, and the second time that season Smoltz had hit him with a pitch. "Obviously, Ryan Thompson hit a grand slam and he was frustrated," Cangelosi said. "We were hitting him pretty good today. But just because someone's hitting you and you're not doing your job, that doesn't mean you should hit somebody else." All in all Cangelosi was released at the end of June as the team continued to struggle. The next season he stole 21 bases in Houston, batting a career high .318 in 90 games. He stole 17 bases the next year, before moving on t
o the Florida Marlins. He was the first Marlin position player in their history to pitch a game that July. In his career he made three pitching appearances, never allowing a run in four innings pitched. He appeared in seven post season games for the 1997 Champion Marlins, going 1-3 in the World Series. He finished his 13 year career in 1999 batting .250 with 501 hits 12 HRs 73 doubles 134 RBIs & 154 stolen bases. After his playing days he started the successful Cangelosi Baseball Academy in the Chicago area. 









He would go on to play in seven World Series during the Brooklyn Boys of Summer hey days. In his first World Series (1947) he hit .353 going 6-21 with two doubles & three RBIs. In the 1952 Series, he made a spectacular catch over the fence on a near HR by Johnny Mize in the 11th inning of a 6-5 game. In the 1953 Series he hit a two run HR in the top of the 9th inning to tie up Game #6. Overall he hit .333 with four RBIs in that Series. Furillo was a member Brooklyn’s 1955 Championship team, starting out going 3-4 in Game #1 with a HR and two runs scored. Overall he hit .296 (8-27) in the Series. He played in the last Brooklyn World Series in 1956 and the first Los Angeles Dodger Series as well in 1959. 




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