Harry Chiti

Harry Chiti in 1952 at the Polo Grounds

Catcher

Born: November 16, 1932
Kincaid, Illinois

Died: January 31, 2002 (aged 69)
Haines City, Florida

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 27, 1950, for the Chicago Cubs

Last MLB appearance

June 10, 1962, for the New York Mets

MLB statistics

Batting average

.238

Home runs

Runs batted in

179

Teams

Harry Chiti (pronounced /ˈtchiːtiː/) (November 16, 1932 – January 31, 2002) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. From 1950 through 1962, he played for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets. Chiti batted and threw right-handed. He was the father of major league coach Dom Chiti.

A competent defensive catcher with a great ability to handle the knuckleball, Chiti was only 17 years old when he broke into the majors with the Chicago Cubs, making infrequent appearances from 1950 to 1952.

After two years in the military during the Korean War, Chiti returned to Chicago and handled the starting job in 1955, batting .231 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in a career-high 113 games.

In 1956, Chiti shared catching duties with Hobie Landrith. On May 30 (Memorial Day) he made an entry for himself in Cubs trivia, during the second game of a windblown doubleheader against the Milwaukee Braves, in which 39 runs were scored overall. While being intentionally walked, Braves pitcher Ray Crone delivered a little too close to the outside corner of the plate, and Chiti smacked it into the right field corner, legging out a triple.

At season's end, he was sent to the World Series Champion New York Yankees, but he never saw any action with the Bombers. He was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics from New York in the 1957 Rule 5 draft. Chiti played with the Athletics from 1958 to 1960. The next three years he was part of transactions between the A's, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians.

...
Wikipedia