Craig Minetto

Craig Minetto was born in Stockton, in California’s Central Valley, on April 25, 1954, to Armando and Lorene Azzaro Minetto. He had an older sister, Chris.

Minetto spent much of his childhood at two businesses founded by his grandfather and operated by Craig’s mother, Lorene, the Alpine Nursery and the San Francisco Floral Company.1 Lorene took over managing Alpine Nursery after a divorce from Craig’s father.2

After attending the Cathedral of Annunciation School, Minetto lettered in baseball and basketball at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Stockton and was an All-City selection in both sports in his senior year of 1971-72. He set a record for assists on the basketball team that finished the season with a 25-0 record and went on to the Tournament of Champions. At the time, the Tournament of Champions were played regionally and was the only level of postseason tournament play. After his senior year, Minetto was drafted in the 35th round of the June 1972 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he did not sign.3

Minetto attended San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, where he played baseball in 1973 and ’74. The Dodgers drafted him again in the third round of the January 1973 draft-secondary phase and again he did not sign.

Minetto signed a contract with the Montreal Expos on May 19, 1974, as an amateur free agent. He reported to the Expos Rookie League team in the Gulf Coast League where he started five games and surrendered 32 hits in 19 innings. He was promoted to the Kinston Expos of the Class-A Carolina League where he pitched five innings before being released by the Expos on September 18.

Luckily for Minetto, an Italian scout in the Bay Area had a passion for looking up family trees. He discovered that Minetto’s grandfather had never become an American citizen, so Minetto was eligible to play in the Italian Baseball League. Another hurdle appeared. The league made Minetto agree that if Italy and the United States ever went to war, he would fight for the red, white, and green (Italy). Playing for Fortitudo Baseball Bologna in 1975, Minetto compiled an 18-3 record4 and struck out 253 batters.5

Minetto returned to the United States and played in the semipro Cal-Mex League. Harry Allen, a scout for the Oakland A’s, saw Minetto play and signed him to a minor-league contract in December 1976.6 Minetto started the 1977 season with Modesto of the Class-A California League, where he compiled a 5-4 record. He started 14 games, threw five complete games, including one shutout, and struck out 85 batters in 89 innings. That earned him a promotion to Chattanooga of the Double-A Southern League, where he was also 5-4, but his ERA was 3.12 compared with 4.96 at Modesto. He finished the season at San Jose of the Pacific Coast League, appearing in two games, with one start, a complete-game loss with 10 strikeouts.

Minetto started the 1978 season with the Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League, where he pitched in 23 games, starting 19. He threw six complete games, including two shutouts. In 134 innings, he gave up 142 hits. He started the season with a 7-0 record and that earned him a promotion on July 1 to the Athletics, with whom he spent five weeks and pitched 12 innings over four appearances, starting one game.

The 24-year-old Minetto made his major-league debut in Seattle on July 4, pitching 3⅓ innings before being replaced on the mound by Elias Sosa with the A’s leading 5-2. The 9-4 win went to Sosa. Four days later, on July 8, the Athletics hosted the Minnesota Twins. In the top of the 11th, the A’s Dave Heaverlo surrendered a run to the Twins and Minetto came in down 9-8 with one out and runners on first and second. Minetto retired the side, but the A’s couldn’t score in the bottom of the 11th and the Twins won.

Minetto pitched again on August 3, in Anaheim. He pitched the seventh and eighth innings and gave up two runs (one earned) in the Angels’ 8-1 win. On August 10, Minetto made his fourth and final appearance of the season for the A’s, against the Angels at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium. With the Angels leading 10-1 in the top of the fourth, two runners on base and none out, Minetto came in and gave up a walk to load the bases. He escaped the inning on a line drive double play and a fly out. Minetto stayed in the game and gave up two runs in the ninth. Minetto ended up pitching six innings, giving up six runs (two earned), walked six and struck out a batter in the longest outing of his brief major-league career. Soon after, he was sent back down to Vancouver.

Minetto spent all of 1979 with Oakland. After two relief appearances totaling five innings, he got the call to take the mound against the Yankees in Oakland-Alameda County Stadium on April 25. He pitched 6⅓ innings, giving up seven hits, and left the game with a 1-0 lead.

Making only his second career start, Minetto gave up a couple of two-out singles in the first inning for the Yankees, but they did not score. He got through the second and third innings three-up, three-down. In the fourth inning, Thurman Munson reached on an error, Lou Piniella flied out to left, and Reggie Jackson singled, sending Munson to second. Minetto retired Craig Nettles and Chris Chambliss to get out of the inning.

Mickey Rivers with a two-out single was as the only Yankee base runner in the fifth inning. And in the six he retired all three batters he faced. The game was scoreless.

Glenn Burke tripled to open the bottom of the sixth for the A’s. After a walk to Joe Wallis, Mitchell Page grounded to second for a fielder’s choice, scoring Burke and giving the A’s a 1-0 lead.

After striking out Nettles in the top of the seventh, Minetto surrendered singles to Chambliss and Juan Beníquez and that ended his night. Jim Todd came in to pitch for the A’s and got pinch-hitter Jim Spencer to hit into a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the inning. Todd retired the Yankees one-two-three in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the save and give Minetto his only major-league career victory.

Minetto’s victory came on his 25th birthday. “I couldn’t have asked for a better present,” he said. “Right now I’m pretty celebrated out. I’m going to go home, relax, and tell everyone how I beat the world champions. I especially want to go over the game with my grandfather. He couldn’t come out to see me because it was a little late for him. I hope he makes it next time. Just think, if he had bothered to become an American citizen, I wouldn’t have been able to pitch in Italy and my career might have been over a long time ago.”7

A’s manager Jim Marshall said, “He wasn’t afraid. He goes out and challenges. Once in a while he gets ripped, but he’s not afraid.”8

“The kid showed a lot of poise, Yankees manager Bob Lemon said. “He didn’t walk anybody, did he?”9

For the next six weeks, Minetto was mainly in the starting rotation, with a couple of relief appearances mixed in. He pitched in 36 games, starting 13. He struck out 64 batters in 118⅓ innings. He finished the season with a 1-5 record and an ERA of 5.55. Minetto had plenty of opportunities to pick up another win, but couldn’t do it. On August 14, 1979, Minetto pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on six hits, but the A’s lost 6-2.

On July 24, 1979, Minetto caught Carl Yastrzemski’s 400th homer. Minetto was in the bullpen beyond the right-field wall at Fenway Park when Yastrzemski cleared the fence. Minetto jumped out of his bullpen seat and caught the ball. He flipped the ball to Bill Campbell in the adjoining Red Sox bullpen to give to Yastrzemski for his trophy case.10

The 1980 season started in Ogden in the Pacific Coast League for Minetto. He was used mainly as a reliever, appearing in 22 games. In 41 innings, he gave up 50 hits while striking out 35 batters before being called up to the A’s on July 12. A’s manager Billy Martin gave the ball to Minetto to finish the game with a 5-1 lead over the Angels. Minetto had not pitched since an Ogden game on June 21. There were two outs with a man on first and Rod Carew at bat. Carew took a called third strike and the A’s won.11 Minetto was awarded a save.

On September 1, 1980, while warming up in the bullpen, Minetto strained some ligaments in his left knee and was lost for the season.12

Minetto started the 1981 season with the A’s. He appeared in eight games for the A’s, pitching 6⅔ innings, before heading back to Triple A, this time in Tacoma. (Tacoma was Oakland’s fifth Triple-A affiliate in six years.) It was good for Minetta that he was sent down because major league players struck beginning June 12, and play did not resume until August 10. Minetto was able to keep pitching – and getting paid – while the major leaguers were on strike. “Pitching competitively is the only way to stay in shape,” he said, “Even the [major leaguers] who are throwing at home on their own … it just isn’t the same. I support the players totally in the strike. But it’s nice to be pitching.”13

The major reason for Minetto’s lack of appearances early in the 1981 season was that A’s manager Billy Martin had the starting rotation pitching complete games. In the prervious season, 1980, Oakland’s starters threw 94 complete games, a modern-day record. This was with a rotation of Mike Norris, Matt Keough, Rick Langford, Steve McMatty, and Brian Kingman. “It’s been a pattern around here and we learned to accept it,” said Minetto. “Of course, we’re all anxious to get in there when we can. We have a lot of time on our hands. But we spend that time talking about baseball. Jeff Jones and I are always helping each other out with different ways to improve.”14

After pitching in relief on May 15 against Milwaukee, Minetto was sent down to Tacoma and never pitched in the majors again. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles after the season for Allen Edwards. He spent the 1982 season with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, where he appeared in 55 games, with 71⅔ innings pitched. He finished the season with a 4-5 record and an ERA of 3.27.

Minetto was back with Rochester in 1983. He recorded a 3-6 record with a 3.59 ERA in 95⅓ innings. After the season he was traded to the Houston Astros for Bobby Sprowl.

Minetto reported to the Tucson Toros of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for the 1984 season. In 45 games and 58⅓ innings, he had a 5-5 record with an ERA of 4.47.

As a free agent after the 1984 season, Minetto was invited to spring training with the Giants in 1985. He did not make the cut and decided to retire from baseball.15

Minetto went back home to Stockton and joined the family business. His mother still owned Alpine Nursery, but Minetto managed it. After 75 years in business, the Minettos closed Alpine Nursery in 2012. “We’ve been here 75 years, and we decided that 75 was a good number to go out on,” Minetto said. Craig was 58 and his mother was 87 when the business closed.16

As of 2023, Minetto was a scout for the San Francisco Giants and an instructor at the Baseball Factory.17 Baseball Factory has worked with over 100,000 college players, 5,000 drafted players, and over 600 Baseball Factory alumni have played in the major leagues.18

Minetto resides in Lodi with his wife, Barbara. They have one daughter, Annalisa.19

Notes

1 Reed Fujii, “Nursery Calls It Quits,” Recordnet.com (Stockton Record) June 29, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2023, from https://www.recordnet.com/story/lifestyle/home-garden/2012/06/29/nursery-calls-it-quits/49579007007/.

2 Lorene Azzaro Minetto obituary, https://www.recordnet.com/obituaries/pyrk0473983

3 Stockton Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 2, 2023, from https://stocktonhalloffame.com/craig-minetto/.

4 Tom Weir, “Minetto Pours Out Winning Tonic for A’s,” Oakland Tribune, April 26, 1979: 45.

5 Stockton Hall of Fame

6 “Stockton Prep Standouts Will Play for Modesto A’s,” Modesto Bee, December 16, 1976: 15.

7 United Press International, “A’s Minetto Gets Birthday Present,” Napa Valley Register (Napa, California), April 26, 1979: 12.

8 “Minetto Pours Out Winning Tonic for A’s.”

9 Eric Prewitt, “A’s Blank New York,” Merced (California) Sun-Star, April 26, 1979: 17.

10 Associated Press, “400th Homer Troubled Yaz,” Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, July 25, 1979: 16.

11 John Hillyer, “Relivers, Armas Glitter in A’s Victory,” San Francisco Examiner, July 13, 1980: 36.

12 Bruce Jenkins, “Yanks Top A’s; 6th Loss in Row,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 3, 1980: 57.

13 Bob Slocum, “Minetto Craves Major Role,” Modesto Bee, June 19, 1981: 43.

14 Terence Moore, “A’s Bullpen: Time on Their Hands,” San Francisco Examiner, April 19, 1981: 29.

15 Stockton Hall of Fame.

16 Reed Fujii, “Nursery Calls It Quits.”

17 Retrieved August 13, 2023 from BaseballFactory.com: https://www.baseballfactory.com/training/spring-training-west-coast-hs/.

18 Retrieved August 13, 2023 from BaseballFactory.com: https://www.baseballfactory.com/our-alumni/.

19 Stockton Hall of Fame.