Al Naples
| Al Naples | |
|---|---|
| Shortstop | |
| Born: August 29, 1926 Staten Island, New York | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 25, 1949, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 26, 1949, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Games played | 2 |
| At bats | 7 |
| Hits | 1 |
| Teams | |
Aloysius Francis Naples (born August 29, 1926) is an American Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1949. He is one of about 200 players in major league history to be credited with exactly one base hit.[1]
I ran like all get-out when I poked that double down the right field line for my first hit in the Big Show. I felt rather good after that.
— Al Naples, One Hit Wonders: Baseball Stories (George Rose)[2]
Naples was born in Staten Island, New York and attended Georgetown University, where he majored in Latin,[2] from 1946 to 1949.[3] He signed a professional contract with the St. Louis Browns in 1949[2] and made his major league debut, starting against the Boston Red Sox on June 26, 1949. Naples had one hit, a double to right field, against Boston ace Mel Parnell (who won 25 games that year, including Naples' debut).[2]
Naples sat on the bench for a month (the Browns already had Eddie Pellagrini and John Sullivan to play shortstop), then started one more game and was sent down to the Class B[4] Springfield Browns of the Three-I League. That year, Naples hit .232 with no home runs in 56 games for Springfield,[5] who finished last[6] and folded after the season.[7] On October 21, 1949, Naples was released unconditionally by the Browns.[2]
Naples signed with the Browns' other Class B affiliate, the Wichita Falls Spudders of the Big State League for the 1950 season[2] but did not play for the Spudders that year[8] or for any other professional team afterwards;[9] at age 23, his professional baseball career was over.
References
- ^ Rose, 2004, p. xiii
- ^ a b c d e f Rose, George (2004). One Hit Wonders: Baseball Stories. iUniverse. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-0595318070.
- ^ Randy; et al. (July 21, 2005 – July 13, 2010). "Al Naples". Baseball Reference Bullpen. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "Springfield, Illinois Minor League City Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "1949 Springfield Browns". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "Springfield Browns". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ Mike McCann. "Illinois-Iowa-Illinois League". Mike McCann's Minor League Baseball Page. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "1950 Wichita Falls Spudders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "Al Naples". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Al Naples at the Baseball Almanac