Tito Francona
| John "Tito" Francona | |
|---|---|
 Francona in 1960. |
|
| Outfielder / First baseman | |
| Born: November 4, 1933 Aliquippa, Pennsylvania |
|
| Batted: Left | Threw: Left |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1956 for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 1970 for the Milwaukee Brewers | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .272 |
| Hits | 1,395 |
| Runs batted in | 656 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
John Patsy "Tito" Francona (born November 4, 1933, in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania) is a former outfielder/first baseman in professional baseball. He is the father of former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
[edit] Career
He was originally signed by the St. Louis Browns, in 1952. His major league career lasted 15 seasons, from 1956 to 1970. He played for the Baltimore Orioles (1956–1957), Chicago White Sox (1958), Detroit Tigers (1958), Cleveland Indians (1959–1964), St. Louis Cardinals (1965–1966), Philadelphia Phillies (1967), Atlanta Braves (1967–1969), Oakland Athletics (1969–1970) and Milwaukee Brewers (1970). Francona batted and threw left-handed.
On July 31, 1963, he hit the third home run in a series of four consecutive home runs in a single inning against pitcher Paul Foytack of the Los Angeles Angels. This was the second time in baseball history that a team hit four consecutive home runs in a single inning. It has happened three times since, including once by the Boston Red Sox, with his son, Terry Francona as manager.
Francona has a lifetime .272 batting average with 125 home runs and 656 RBI in 1719 games played.
In 1959, Francona had the highest batting average in the Major Leagues, but was denied recognition as the American League leader because he did not have the necessary 3.1 plate appearances per game to qualify (477). Francona batted .363, but had only 443 plate appearances, so the batting championship was awarded to Harvey Kuenn, with an average of .353. Hank Aaron won the National League title with .355.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
.jpg){kind=small}   |
This biographical article relating to an American baseball outfielder born in the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- American League All-Stars
- Atlanta Braves players
- Baltimore Orioles players
- Chicago White Sox players
- Cleveland Indians players
- Detroit Tigers players
- Milwaukee Brewers players
- Oakland Athletics players
- Philadelphia Phillies players
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Major League Baseball outfielders
- Baseball players from Pennsylvania
- American people of Italian descent
- 1933 births
- Living people
- American baseball outfielder, 1930s birth stubs
