Italian American Player of the Day: John D'Acquisto (1973-1982)

John Francis D'Acquisto was born December 23, 1951 in the Little Italy section of San Diego, California. The tall right hander was a first round draft pick for San Francisco in 1970, the 17th pick overall.

After a brief seven games in September 1973, he rose on the scene in 1974. He was said to have registered the second best fast ball after Nolan Ryan on the radar gun in the mid seventies. His first game was a relief appearance at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, facing Johnny Bench with a 3-1 count and two on. He struck out Bench and saved his spot on the roster. In his next outing he struck out eight Dodgers in three innings of relief and earned a starting job. He then won seven of nine decisions and became one of the Giants best pitchers.

For 1974 he won the NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award, and the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award, going 12-14 with a 3.77 ERA, striking out 167 batters (10th in the NL) with 215 innings pitched. He was 4th in the league with his strikeout to walk ratio, and his 36 starts were 9th best. He allowed a lot of walks (124) second most in the league, and hit six batters. At the plate he hit a HR and drove in 3 runs, while batting .113 for the 5th place Giants.

With his career looking bright, he needed elbow surgery in 1975 and it pretty much ruined his career. He got traded to the Cardinals with Mike Cauldwell and Dave Radar for Willie Crawford, John Curtis & Vic Harris. As soon as the season started he was sent to his hometown of San Diego in exchange for former Rookie of the Year Butch Metzger.

He made a good comeback in 1978 going 4-3 with 10 saves and a 2.13 ERA. In 45 games he struck out 104 batters in only 93 innings pitched. The next season the Padres tried him as a started again, but it didn’t work out, he won 9 games and saved 2, but lost 13 and had an ERA near five. He hung on for three more seasons in Montreal, California & Oakland, finishing his ten year career at 34-51 with 15 saves and a 3.56 ERA.

Set Up: After baseball he became a successful investment banker. In 1996 he was sentenced to prison for 39 accounts of defrauding investors of seven million dollars. The charges included illegal money wiring and laundering. In 2002 it was proven that he was set up to cover up the bigger investment thieves. He was released from prison and his name cleared. He went on to earn a PH.D and win awards in Physiology. He currently is a regional director for Sorganics/Ocean Solutions.