| Harry Chiti | |
|---|---|
 Harry Chiti in 1952 at the Polo Grounds | |
| Born |
November 16, 1932 Kincaid, Illinois |
| Died |
January 31, 2002 (aged 69) Haines City, Florida |
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.
Career[]
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 in a career-high 113 .
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.[1][2]
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.
On April 25, 1962—before he even played a game for the Indians—Chiti was acquired by the expansion New York Mets for a player to be named later. However, he was sent back to the Indians on June 15, 1962 after 15 games and a .195 batting average.[3] Since Chiti was the "player to be named later", he thus became the first player ever traded for himself. Three other players in history have been traded for themselves: Dickie Noles, Brad Gulden, and John McDonald. Chiti never played another major league game, spending two more years at Triple-A before retiring in 1964.
References[]
- ↑ "Memorial Day brings out Wrigley memories". http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-05-30/sports/0605300116_1_russ-meyer-wrigley-field-cubs. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ↑ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Milwaukee Braves 11, Chicago Cubs 9 (2)". http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1956/B05302CHN1956.htm. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ↑ CNN/Sports Illustrated "Worst Individual Seasons By a Team-1962 New York Mets"
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Baseball Library
- Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
- Retrosheet
- Rule V Draft
- Ultimate Mets Database
The original article can be found at Harry Chiti and the edit history here.