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John August Antonelli
New York Giants
Pitcher
Born: April 12, 1930, Rochester, NY
Signed: Signed by the Boston Braves as an amateur free agent, June 29, 1948
Major League Teams: Boston Braves 1948-1950; Milwaukee Braves 1953; New York Giants 1954-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1960; Cleveland Indians 1961; Milwaukee Braves 1961
Died: February 28, 2020, Rochester, NY (age 89)
Lefty pitcher Johnny Antonelli started slow with the Braves, missed two seasons serving in the Army during the Korean War, and then established himself as the All-Star ace of the Giants' pitching staff in the mid to late-1950s. He was a six-time All-Star, the National League's ERA leader in 1954 and he closed out the Giants sweep over the Indians in the 1954 World Series. Antonelli was a 20-game winner in both 1954 and 1956. During his career year of 1954, he went 21-7 with a 2.30 ERA and a league leading 6 shutouts, finishing in third place in that year's MVP voting behind teammate Willie Mays (#130) and the Reds' Ted Kluszewski (#25).
In 377 career games, Antonelli was 126-110 with a 3.34 ERA and 1,162 strikeouts. He was slated to begin the 1962 season with the expansion New York Mets, but opted for retirement instead. Following his playing days, Antonelli ran a successful Firestone tires business in his hometown of Rochester, New York for over 40 years.
Building the Set
Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #15
This was one of the Original 44, and I recently re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Ed Mathews (#107) post. There were a lot of these Original 44 cards bunched together, meaning the original owner must have opened a few Series Two packs. Seven of the Original 44 came from Series One, with 11 coming from Series Two. So far I've covered the cards of Mathews, Yogi Berra (#110), Jim Brady (#126), Eddie Yost (#128), Mays, the Cardinals team card (#134) and Johnny Logan (#136). Still to come from Series Two are the cards of Harvey Kuenn (#155), Red Schoendienst (#165) and Sammy White (#168).
The Card / Giants Team Set
Like many of the cards in this set, this marks Antonelli's return to Topps after a one-year absence. In the action shot, that's the number 43 peaking through on the back of his jersey, the number he wore with the Giants between 1954 and 1960. The back of the card highlights Antonelli's effective use of his fastball along with his off speed pitches and shows him leading the way to the Giants' 1954 World Series title. The final panel is in reference to his bonus baby status with the Boston Braves. Antonelli received a $52,000 bonus in 1948 and was forced to stay on the team's roster for the entire season. He was met with resentment from his more veteran Braves teammates and he appeared in only 4 games as a then 18-year-old prospect. His primary role with the team, and as their highest paid player, was as their batting practice pitcher.
1956 Season
Antonelli continued to lead the Giants' pitching staff in 1956, appearing in 41 games (36 starts) and going 20-13 with a 2.86 ERA. The team finished in sixth place, with Antonelli serving as one of the sole bright spots on an otherwise unremarkable pitching staff. No other Giants pitcher won more than 7 games that season, with fellow starting pitchers Ruben Gomez (#9), Al Worthington and Jim Hearn (#202) all owning losing records.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #74
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1952-1954, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JAN
85 - Antonelli non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/9/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
This was one of the Original 44, and I recently re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Ed Mathews (#107) post. There were a lot of these Original 44 cards bunched together, meaning the original owner must have opened a few Series Two packs. Seven of the Original 44 came from Series One, with 11 coming from Series Two. So far I've covered the cards of Mathews, Yogi Berra (#110), Jim Brady (#126), Eddie Yost (#128), Mays, the Cardinals team card (#134) and Johnny Logan (#136). Still to come from Series Two are the cards of Harvey Kuenn (#155), Red Schoendienst (#165) and Sammy White (#168).
The Card / Giants Team Set
Like many of the cards in this set, this marks Antonelli's return to Topps after a one-year absence. In the action shot, that's the number 43 peaking through on the back of his jersey, the number he wore with the Giants between 1954 and 1960. The back of the card highlights Antonelli's effective use of his fastball along with his off speed pitches and shows him leading the way to the Giants' 1954 World Series title. The final panel is in reference to his bonus baby status with the Boston Braves. Antonelli received a $52,000 bonus in 1948 and was forced to stay on the team's roster for the entire season. He was met with resentment from his more veteran Braves teammates and he appeared in only 4 games as a then 18-year-old prospect. His primary role with the team, and as their highest paid player, was as their batting practice pitcher.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #74
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1952-1954, 1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JAN
85 - Antonelli non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/9/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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