centerfield maz

Daniel Lewis Gardella was born on February 26th 1920 to an Italian American family in New York City. He originally signed with the Detroit Tigers but  did not get to the major leagues. Six years later, while working in a ship yard, he signed with the New York Giants.  He was a wild character who was known on the field to walk on his hands to the cheers of the Polo Grounds crowds. On the road, he would scare his roomates by hanging out of hotel windows by his finger tips.  Gardella would imitate his Hall of Fame manager Mel Otts' one legged batting stance, with a comedic twist getting huge laughs from team mates. He would sing openly and burst out into song out of nowhere, with his baratone voice any chance he got.  The muscular Gardella was one of the first players to work out with heavy weights. He would swing an Iron bat to loosen up as well.  He only played for the Giants for two seasons, seeing action first in 1944, batting .250 in 47 games. In 1945...

Phillip Arden Lombardi was born on February 20, 1963 at Abilene, Texas. The six foot two catcher was drafted right out of high school in the third round of the 1981 draft by the A.L. New York club. He hit over .290 at AAA Columbus in 1986 earning him a big league call up.  He made his debut in the Bronx in 1986, replacing Ron Hassey behind the plate and immediately made a throwing error as Cleveland's Bret Butler was trying to steal a base. In just twenty games he hit .278 with 2 HRs & 6 RBIs. After five brief games at the big league level in 1987 he was traded across town to the New York Mets, along with Steve Frey & Darren Reed for short stop Rafael Santana. Lombardi hit a team leading .308 at AAA Tidewater in 1988 with 9 HRs & 44 RBIs in 85 games. Although he fell off to .261 the next year he led the team hitting 14 HRs & was second to Tom O'Malley driving in 73 runs. Lombardi was called up in June 1989 when the Mets needed help behind the plate. He was ...

Peter Jude Zoccolillo was born on February 6, 1977 in the Bronx, New York. He soon moved to Westchester County, going to White Plains high School, playing baseball there among other sports. He then attended Rutgers University where he was a four year Letterman in baseball, breaking ten different school records. The three year All American still holds the schools record for most career RBIs (tied).  He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1999 in the 23rd round as an outfielder. He was soon traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal involving David Weathers. From 2000 to 2003, he batted over .290 three times at the minor league levels, making a brief big league appearance in 2003. He only played in just 20 games in the outfield, for the 2003 Brewers getting 4 hits in 37 at bats (.108) with three RBIs.  He never made the big leagues again, going to the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals & Colorado Rockies organizations. In 2006 Zocco, played for Team Italy in the World ...

As a member of Bill Kent's NY Baseball Giants Nostalgia Society, darthmaz & I were able to attend the Giants return to New York, as they displayed their World Series trophy. More importantly on the bill was special guest, the great Willie Mays.  The event was held at the Westin Hotel on 42nd St. off 3rd Ave, for invited guests only. The room was full of a huge group of Giants fans, many of them, long time New York Giants fans from the days of the Polo Grounds. They came from all over the country for this very special event. The Giants baseball club, remembers its roots in New York & continues to honor it's history in the city. The team was actually in New York City longer than they have been in San Francisco.   The Giants brought along their top Management; Brian Sabean, Larry Baer & owner Peter Magowan. McGowan, born in New York, told his interesting story of how he grew up a Giants fan, watching Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds. Heartbroken as 14 year ol...

Ramon Monzant was born on January 4th, 1933 in Maracaibo Zulia Venezuela. The six foot right handed pitcher was signed by the New York Giants at age 18 becoming the second pitcher from Venezuela to make the big leagues. In 1953 he was 23-6 in the Carolina league at Danville. The next year he was 11-7 at AAA Minneapolis getting called up to the Giants big league team in July. He pitched in six games before getting demoted back to the minors at the end of the month, as the Giants went on to win the World Series. In 1955 he started out the year at AAA Minneapolis getting back to the Polo Grounds by early June. He got the start against the Chicago Cubs and allowed three runs in three innings taking the loss. In his next start he went seven innings and took another 2-0 loss to the Cubs in Chicago. At the end of the month he took another loss in a start & then was beaten in the 11th inning by the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field. On July 6th he earned his first career win, it c...