Former Hoboken N.J. Born Italian / American Catcher: Johnny Romano (1958-1967)

-
John Anthony Romano Jr. was born on August 23, 1934 in Hoboken, New Jersey. At a young age his uncle gave him the nickname of “honey” which would stick withhim. His father was a semi pro base ball player and taught Johnny to play the game. The five foot ten inch, two hundred pound catcher, got signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1954.

He then put up some impressive numbers in the minor leagues. Romano bashed 38 HRs while batting .351 at Waterloo in 1955 winning the MVP Award, getting promoted to the Pacific Coast League the next year. He soon set a minor league record by hitting HRs in seven straight games. In 1957 he played at AAA Indianapolis under Former New York Giants catcher Walker Cooper the teams manager. Cooper helped Romano work on his catching abilities. In 1958 he hit .291 with 25 HRs & 89 RBIs getting his big league call up.

He debuted in the big leagues in 1958 playing briefly with the White Sox for two seasons. There he learned even more about the art of catching from manager Al Lopez, one of the best catchers of his era. In 1959 Romano batted .294 with .407 on base % , five HRs & 25 RBIs in just 126 at bats (53 games) for the A.L. Champion (Go Go) Chicago White Sox. In the World Series he got one at bat going hitless. In December 1959 he was traded with Norm Cash and Bubba Phillips to the Cleveland Indians for Dick Brown, Don Ferrarese, Minnie Minoso and Jake Striker. It was in Cleveland he would have his best years.

In 1961 he made his first of two straight All Star appearances, batting .299 with 21 HRs 29 doubles a .39 on base % & 80 RBIs. That season he set a club mark for catchers with a 22 game hitting streak, later broken by Ray Fosse in 1970. He threw out 40% of would be base stealers over the next three seasons, averaging a .990 fielding percentage. In 1961 he was first in the league throwing out 31 base runners; he would come in second & third in that category over the next two years.

In 1962 he had career highs in HRs (25) RBIs (81) 7 triples (3) while batting .261. He was injured part of the next season and after a .242 batting averahe & 19 HR year in 1964 he was Traded in a three-team deal. Romano went back to the White Sox along with future Met Tommie Agee and Tommy John, other notables involved in the trade were Rocky Colavito & Cam Carreon, former Met Mark Carreon’s dad.

He spent two more seasons with the White Sox hitting over 15 HRs both times, and playing a solid defense behind the plate. In 1965 he led all catchers in assists with 61. He was traded to the St. Louis Cards in 1967 for Walt “no neck” Williams & Don Denis. He played in 24 games for the ’67 World Champion Cardinals behind Tim McCarver & Don Ricketts, but did not play in the World Series.

Retirement: Romano retired after the season, batting .255 lifetime with 706 hits 129 HRs 112 doubles & 417 RBIs. He posted a .990 fielding percentage throwing out 35% of would be base stealers.

After his playing days he sold swimming pools in New Jersey & worked for the offices of Bergen County, New Jersey. He retired in Naples, Florida and has taken up the hobby of flying model airplanes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more

The Odd Couple TV Show's Beloved Supporting Cast

-
Image
On this the 45th Anniversary Season of when my favorite television show of all time The Odd Couple first debuted it's time to pay tribute to the great supporting  cast. Murray Greshler was a  big hit with fans as the simple minded bumbling NYPD Officer: Murray the Cop . Murray was a long time friend of Oscar Madison & usually becomes the subject of Oscar's jokes. Some great lines referenceing Murrays nose are "N ose' Feliciano" / "Tokyo Nose" & "Come inside Murray, your sucking up all the air in the hallway".  Even Felix chimed in asking him if the other army reserve soldiers made fun of him saying "when you look up it looks like a two car garage". Murray would become one of both Felix & Oscars best friends appearing 73 of the 114 Odd Couple episodes . Murray wouldn't think twice about double parking his patrol car double parked outside the Park Avenue or Central Park West building where Felix & Oscar
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Fictional Mets Infielder Chico Escuela ( of SNL) Visits Mets Spring Training (1979)

-
Image
Bill Murray interviews (Garrett Morris) Chico Escuela In March 1979, original Saturday Night Live cast member; Garrett Morris joined the Mets at Miller Huggins Field for Spring Training. At the time the Mets were still holding Spring Training in St. Petersburg Florida.  Morris was filmed being interviewed by his SNL cast mate, Bill Murray as the fictional Mets player: Chico Escuela who wore uniform #5 (cinque).  Escuela was famous for his spoof of the Latin players of the time, who did not speak much English. His famous quote "baseball been berry- berry good to me" began the previous year on SNL's weekend update. Bill Murray & Ed Kranepool It was said during the mock 1979 Spring Training interview, that Chico who was a nine time All Star second baseman, had given up his job at the Weekend Update Sports desk to make a comeback with the Mets at age 41.  Chico had fictionally written a tell all baseball book; "Bad Stuff About the Mets" which tick
Read more