Frank Bertaina

A flaky southpaw from California with a deep repertoire of pitches, Frank Bertaina spent parts of seven major league seasons (1964-1970) with the Orioles, Senators and Cardinals. Primarily a starter, he was in Baltimore’s bullpen for the 1966 World Series but did not see action.

Frank Louis Bertaina was born on April 14, 1944, in San Francisco to Louis and Evelyn (Jacobsen) Bertaina.1 His father, a driver for the Crescent Pacific Oil Company, was the son of Italian immigrants while his mother, a Teamster’s daughter, had grandparents from Denmark and Sweden. The Bertainas lived in the Outer Mission neighborhood and had one more child, daughter Jackie, when Frank was four.

Frank attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. He was a 14-year-old freshman when major league baseball came to the Bay Area with the relocation of the New York Giants. Sacred Heart had produced two Hall of Famers and an MVP — Harry Heilmann, Joe Cronin, and Dolph Camilli, respectively, and recent grads Jim Gentile and Frank Zupo had debuted in the majors the previous year. The left-handed Bertaina had already shown promise with amateur clubs sponsored by Ellis Brooks Chevrolet, Spray Craft and Zane Erwin.2 At Sacred Heart, his player-of-the-year junior season included an 18-strikeout victory over Balboa and a no-hitter against Washington.3 Dodgers scout Al Campanis told the Los Angeles Times, “Our northern man, Bill Brenzel, tells us tells us that Frank Bertaina is a fine pitching prospect.”4

Bertaina pitched for LA’s Peninsula Winter League club and more than held his own. In one outing, The Sporting News reported that the 16-year-old tossed an 11-strikeout four-hitter and went 3-for-3 at the plate.5 As a 1961 Sacred Heart senior, Bertaina led the Fightin’ Irish to a second straight title by going 10-0 with a 0.27 ERA and 151 strikeouts while batting .451 — all league records.6 He was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame three times: as an individual and as a member of 1960 and 1961 championship squads.

City championships and All-Star contests were played at Candlestick Park, infamous for its swirling gusts. “I once threw a pitch that went into my hat, which had been blown toward the plate by the wind,” Bertaina described. “When it came out of the hat after the hat and ball traveled some 10 feet, it crossed the plate, a perfect strike.”7

Half of the majors’ two dozen clubs tried to land Bertaina, though he couldn’t sign before September 10 because of American Legion ball.8 “I thought about the Angels probably the most. Then I began studying the minor league systems of some of the clubs,” he said. “My friend, Jim Gentile … advised me about the benefits of the Baltimore organization.” On September 11, Bertaina turned down more money to accept scouts Don McShane and Fred Hofmann’s offer to join the Orioles.9 Baltimore officials insisted that the reported $75,000 bonus was exaggerated.10 “I got more than $50,000,” Bertaina said later.11 “It’s in real estate in San Francisco.”12

The Orioles were pleased to have the southpaw with a reported 90-6 record between high school and amateur ball in their fold.13 McShane called Bertaina, “The best pitching prospect to come out of the San Francisco Bay Area since Lefty Gomez.”14 “McShane is fairly conservative in his estimates of a ballplayer,” remarked Baltimore farm director Harry Dalton. “We’ve been looking at the boy and getting reports on him since 1958, when he was only 14 years old. … He’s gotten more outstanding each year since.”15

With the minor league seasons already over, Bertaina flew to Baltimore and threw batting practice the following week. “He’s got a good, live arm,” said former big league hurler Luman Harris, the Orioles’ skipper.16 In the Peninsula Winter League, Bertaina was 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA for Baltimore’s entry.17 In his first 17 innings, he struck out 28 and didn’t allow an earned run.18

In 1962, Bertaina debuted with the Aberdeen (South Dakota) Pheasants of the Class C Northern League. He hurled a three-hit shutout on the first home stand of the season, but recalled, “I was no ball of fire at the start. I was 4-9 at the All-Star break.” He rallied to finish 13-10 with a 3.40 ERA, and his 160 strikeouts led the circuit’s lefties. In the playoffs he earned two more victories, including an 18-strikeout performance against the Duluth-Superior Dukes.19

The Orioles promoted Bertaina to their 40-man roster, and he went 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA in the Florida Instructional League.20 After Baltimore lost a whopping 18 players to the minor league draft that fall, Dalton said, “We still have the four boys we regard most highly. They’re Frank Bertaina and Eddie Watt, both pitchers, and infielders Dave Johnson and Mark Belanger.”21

In spring training 1963, Bertaina told reporters that, except for a couple glasses of wine on New Year’s Eve, he’d stayed away from alcohol all off-season, determined “to give my body a chance.”22 He began the season with the Rochester Red Wings in the Triple-A International League. Before he was demoted in mid-June with a 3-3 record and 4.50 ERA, he once drove the ground crew’s tractor on the field to drag the infield between innings.23 In the Double-A Eastern League, Bertaina was 4-9 in 15 starts for the Elmira (New York) Pioneers. On August 26, he kicked down the door to the visitors’ clubhouse in Charleston, West Virginia, after being removed from one defeat and had to pay $31 for a replacement.24 In November, The Sporting News said he was the first player ejected from a Florida Instructional League game.25 He settled down to finish 7-1 with a 1.36 ERA under the guidance of Orioles’ pitching coach Harry Brecheen.26 “I learned you can’t always overpower a hitter,” Bertaina said. “Guys are getting good salaries to powder the ball, too.”27

The 1964 season started off on the wrong foot. When Bertaina and Steve Dalkowski were cut from Rochester’s spring training camp in Daytona Beach, they were sent to Thomasville, Georgia, for reassignment. It took the two southpaws five days to complete the 250-mile trip and, when they arrived, they were “both drunk, swigging from bottles of beer as they climbed out of the taxi at the training complex.”28 Bertaina was sent back to Elmira and lost his first two decisions.29 By the end of June, however, he’d won eight straight, plus an engraved Bulova watch as the Topps player-of-the-month.30 “I learned to pitch instead of throw. … Hitting is timing. Anything a pitcher can do to knock off this timing is to his benefit,”31 he explained. “I owe a lot to [Elmira manager] Earl [Weaver].” Weaver observed, “He’s steadily progressing into the complete pitcher .”32

Bertaina won 10 in a row before his streak ended. His record was 11-4 record with a 1.99 ERA when the Orioles summoned him to pitch an exhibition in Philadelphia on July 27.33 The Phillies were leading the National League at the time, but Bertaina whiffed 10 over eight innings of scoreless, four-hit work. The audition earned him a promotion to the majors to replace Chuck Estrada, whose elbow was ailing.34

On August 1, 1964, in Kansas City, Bertaina started and worked seven innings in his big league debut. He trailed, 2-1, when he departed for a pinch-hitter but received no decision as the Orioles rallied to victory. After two relief appearances and a 12-day layoff, he failed to last three innings in his next start. After another three weeks of inaction, Orioles manager Hank Bauer tabbed Bertaina to make a Saturday night start against the Athletics on September 12 with the surprising Orioles leading the American League by a half-game. “We were in a jam for a pitcher after three doubleheaders in five days,” Bertaina said. “It was nice they had confidence in me, but I wondered how they could because I hadn’t pitched for so long.”35

He tossed nine innings of one-hit ball, permitting only a fifth-inning double by Doc Edwards, but Athletics’ lefty Bob Meyer carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth. After Baltimore catcher John Orsino’s leadoff double broke it up, Bertaina bunted him to third and Jackie Brandt’s sacrifice fly gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead. That was the final score as Bertaina finished off his first big-league victory. He pitched only once more as the Yankees overtook the Orioles for the pennant with an 11-game winning streak.

One columnist described Bertaina as “always immaculately and expensively dressed.”36 Teammate Wally Bunker, another McShane signee who’d jumped from Single-A to the majors the previous year, called him “another San Francisco hot dog,”37 “Bunker and I are good friends,” Bertaina said. “I pitched against him during high school days.”38 After Bunker won his 19th game, the 19-year-old took Bertaina for a ride in his new Coupe and led Baltimore police on a two-mile, 2 a.m. chase. Nobody was hurt, but both pitchers had to apologize for the incident.39

Bertaina spent his off-season serving a six-month military hitch at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. He kept his arm in shape throwing to future Orioles star Paul Blair, who had one career at-bat at the time. The players visited spring training on a three-day pass in March before returning to base to finish up their commitment.40 Blair was Baltimore’s Opening Day center fielder, but Bertaina began at Rochester and went 7-9 through the end of July.41 He won his last six starts in impressive fashion, however. On August 8, he outdueled Jacksonville’s Dick LeMay, the IL’s winningest pitcher, 1-0, in only 88 minutes.42 In his final outing, Bertaina whiffed 14 Buffalo Bisons to finish with a league-leading 188.43 The Orioles called him up in September. In his first outing, he surrendered three first-inning runs at Yankee Stadium before New York’s Phil Linz led off the second by singling off the heel of his pitching hand.44 Bertaina had to exit with a bruise and pitched only once in the remaining 26 games.

When the Orioles shook up the baseball world on December 9 by trading pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun with outfielder Dick Simpson to the Reds for former MVP Frank Robinson, Bertaina was fishing for steelhead in the Russian River. “Milt Pappas! I never thought they’d trade him,” was his reaction when he found out three days later. “They must feel we can pick up the slack – John Miller, Jim Palmer and me.”45

In spring training 1966, Bertaina insisted, “Ain’t nothing gonna keep me from making the club this year.” After experiencing a muscle spasm above his elbow in a March 21 exhibition, he kept pitching, saying, “Can’t make the club sitting in the dugout.” For two years, Bauer and Brecheen had repeatedly encouraged him to drive at the hitter. “Hank kept saying, ‘Don’t be timid. You look like you’re afraid to throw the ball.’ Finally, this year, I understood. I’d been flipping the ball. I’ve been throwing wrong for four years.”46

Bertaina made the Opening Day roster. On May 8, he hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Bunker to earn a victory over the Indians that lifted Baltimore into a first-place tie. Though Bertaina pitched to a 3.02 ERA in 11 appearances, he didn’t win any of his eight starts. On June 29, he was demoted to Rochester when the Orioles recalled Bill Short, a 28-year-old southpaw who was pitching well in Triple-A. In 11 starts for the Red Wings, Bertaina excelled, posting a 9-2 record and 2.33 ERA. On July 23, he struck out 17 Toledo Mud Hens to set a single-game Rochester record.47 On August 25, 10 days after Short was sold to Boston, the first-place Orioles brought Bertaina back to the majors. He started against the Red Sox two nights later but was relieved after walking the bases loaded in the fifth. After tripping over first base and hurting his knee in his final outing with Rochester, he’d aggravated the injury sliding after singling against Boston.48

In September, Bertaina made four relief appearances and limited opponents to five hits in 11 innings. After Baltimore clinched the pennant, he teamed up with notorious prankster Moe Drabowsky for two memorable stunts in Anaheim. First, they moved the giant gong from their hotel lobby’s Oriental art exhibit right outside teammate Charlie Lau’s room and struck it, waking all the guests. Before leaving town, the pitchers visited a pet store early one morning and turned several snakes and mice loose in the Orioles’ clubhouse, disrupting batting practice and scaring Bauer and some of the players. “I got more blame than Moe but, after that, other guys started buying snakes, toy snakes,” Bertaina recalled. He soon acquired the nickname “Toys in the Attic,” or “Toys” for short.49 When Baltimore swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series, the club’s starting pitchers were so effective that Drabowsky was the only reliever utilized. Nevertheless, Bertaina was voted an 82 percent playoff share, a healthy $9,580.09.50

Bertaina was instructed to rest his ailing knee that winter. When he alerted the team that he couldn’t fully straighten it, however, they flew him to Baltimore the day after Christmas for surgery to repair torn cartilage.51 He missed the beginning of spring training.52 When Frank Robinson pinch-hit during one Grapefruit League game, he drew an appreciative roar from the crowd for his 1966 Triple Crown season. Bertaina — on his way to the bullpen — playfully doffed his cap as if the cheers were for him.53

In 1967, Bertaina appeared in five games (two starts) for Baltimore before he was traded to the Senators on May 29. Washington also received Mike Epstein — a slugging first baseman blocked by Boog Powell — in exchange for lefty starter Pete Richert, a two-time All-Star. “It was Richert for Epstein. I was tossed in for laughs,” Bertaina joked.54 That wasn’t how Senators GM George Selkirk explained it. “Bertaina wasn’t any throw in. The Orioles kicked up an awful fuss when I asked for Bertaina in addition to Epstein. We wrangled about Bertaina for two months until they finally panicked and felt they had to make the deal for a first-line pitcher.”55

In four June starts for Washington, Bertaina’s record was 1-1. His elbow was sore when he departed for a two-week tour of duty with the Maryland Air National Guard on July 1.56 It took him a while to shake off the rust when he returned, but he went 5-3 in his last nine starts, including four complete-game shutouts. “There are individuals with a better fastball, better change, better slider and better curve,” observed Washington manager Gil Hodges. “But I don’t know any pitcher who has them all together like Frank has.” Catcher Paul Casanova insisted that Bertaina’s repertoire was even deeper – two varieties of each of his four main weapons, plus an occasional screwball. “He is my baby,” Casanova said. “He gives me more good pitches than anybody else we got. Nine different pitches he’s got.”57

On February 13, 1968, former model and Playboy club bunny Gloria Novotny became Bertaina’s wife.58 When the couple showed up at a Baltimore city church with a Baltimore county marriage license, however, the entire wedding party had to hike a few blocks across the county line to a different sanctuary.59 Married life would be an adjustment. “I have the image of a clown,” Bertaina conceded. “I’ve been as free as a bubble, floating around in the sky. When you’re a single guy, and a ballplayer, too, you’re almost obligated to be, well, a wild guy. It’s your place in life.”60 Their union lasted less than four years but produced a son, Frank, Jr., born on New Year’s Eve, 1969.

Bertaina arrived at spring training a few pounds overweight, admitting he hadn’t picked up a baseball all winter. Nevertheless, he insisted that both his arm and mind were fine.61 New Senators manager Jim Lemon named him the club’s number three starter behind Camilo Pascual and Phil Ortega. “Frank Bertaina has the job,” Lemon said. “All he has to do is keep it.”62 Bertaina’s biggest question mark entering the season concerned whether his 175th Tactical Squadron would be called up to active duty, keeping him off the field for up to two years.63 As it happened, his unit had to serve only a few short local stints. He started a career-high 23 games in 1968.

On the mound, the southpaw constantly fiddled with his socks, uniform and cap.64 When he was pitching, he talked to himself. When he wasn’t, he kept up a constant stream of chatter from the dugout in his high-pitched voice.65 On May 15 at Fenway Park, Bertaina was ejected for calling umpire Hank Soar a “homer” after the official denied Washington’s appeal that a Boston baserunner had tagged up prematurely.66 It was the second time he had been tossed for bench jockeying since joining the Senators. “I’m somewhere between a nice guy and an SOB,” he once told a reporter.67

When Bertaina beat the Oakland Athletics on June 6, his record was 4-4. Over the next two-and-a-half months, however, he lost eight consecutive decisions. When he held onto his curveball for too long, it tended to bounce.68 At one point, he threw at least one wild pitch in six straight starts (nine total) and finished the season tied for tops in the AL with 17, despite working 104 fewer innings than co-leader Blue Moon Odom. Bertaina went the distance only once in ’68. Even when he shut out the Twins on two hits over 11 innings and notched his major league high of nine strikeouts, he received no-decision. The southpaw finished the year with a 7-13 record and 4.66 ERA.

The last-place Senators hired Ted Williams to manage in 1969. During spring training, a reporter overheard Williams hollering at Bertaina, “I’ll get you a Cadillac if you throw eight straight strikes.” The pitcher’s initial offering was in the zone, but he bounced the next two.69 In the regular season, Bertaina beat Baltimore with seven strong innings, but most of his work came out of the bullpen as his walk rate soared to just under six per nine innings. The Senators had already decided to demote him to Triple-A before he surrendered a decisive, 13th-inning homer to Reggie Jackson on June 11.70 When he balked at reporting to the Buffalo Bisons, he was traded back to the Orioles’ organization for minor leaguer P.J. Campbell. In his Rochester debut, he shut out Buffalo for seven innings.71

A 7-3 record and 3.56 ERA in 14 starts for the Red Wings earned Bertaina a September return to Baltimore. He told reporters that he still hoped to be a late bloomer like fellow Orioles’ southpaw Mike Cuellar — on his way to the AL Cy Young Award at age 32, five years after Bertaina saw him in Triple-A. “I realize I’ve been a flaky guy, and extremist with the clothes I wear and all that, but I don’t think that’s the cause of me being an unsuccessful pitcher,” Bertaina insisted.72 “Gil Hodges didn’t think I was serious enough, and Ted Williams told me I wasn’t, but I didn’t horse around on the field.”73

Bertaina acknowledged that he had matured and now pitched with more composure. “It’s tough enough pitching in the big leagues when you’re a man,” he said. “You want to be one of the gang. Maybe you try too hard to fit in. … Very few people, in their early 20s are real men, know where they’re going or where they’re at. All I can do is play the game, search my conscience and do the best I can. If that’s not good enough, it’s not. The only disappointment to me in baseball has been myself.”74

The Orioles already had the 1969 AL East title well in hand when Bertaina arrived. He retired 10 of 11 Tigers in his first game back and finished with six scoreless innings in three relief appearances, allowing only one hit. He wasn’t on Baltimore’s post-season roster, but he hurled batting practice during the Orioles’ ALCS sweep of the Twins and World Series loss to the Mets. That winter, he pitched winter ball in Puerto Rico for manager Frank Robinson’s Santurce club.75 In spring training 1970, Bertaina competed with Cuban veteran Marcelino Lopez for the number-two lefty role in Baltimore’s bullpen behind Richert. “It’s strictly a case of which one of us, Marcelino or me, is going to kick the chance away the furthest,” Bertaina said.76 Lopez had been part of an Orioles team that won 109 regular-season games the previous year, so skipper Earl Weaver wasn’t anxious to make changes. Bertaina returned to Rochester after no team claimed him on waivers.77

On June 6, Bertaina homered in a 4-0 victory over the Columbus Clippers and came within one pitch of hurling a perfect game, permitting only a two-out, seventh-inning triple to Chuck Goggin.78 He made the International League All-Star team but had to miss the contest against the Orioles because of a military meeting.79 Baltimore couldn’t recall him because he was out of options, but Weaver said it would take $100,000 for an interested club like the Braves or Pirates to acquire the lefty, though he’d prefer two young players.80 Bertaina was 12-3 with a 3.67 ERA when the Cardinals purchased him for about $70,000.81 Another report said the figure was $50,000.82

For St. Louis, Bertaina was 1-2 (3.16) in eight appearances (five starts). On September 9 in Pittsburgh, he earned his last big league win. In Montreal 16 nights later, he delivered his final pitch in the majors. During his seven-week stint with the Redbirds, he impressed teammates as an expert mimic. Beat writer Neal Russo noted that the pitcher’s “hoodlum clothes” and big cigar made him a convincing gangster. Catcher Joe Torre imitated the way Bertaina chomped on his chewing gum in the dugout. After the Cardinals traded for Drabowsky that off-season, Russo predicted the club’s bullpen would be a fun place in 1971.83

Bertaina failed to make the club in spring training, though. One Cardinals official told Russo, “He kept saying he was not ready to pitch.”84 When he did toe the rubber for the Tulsa Oilers in the Triple-A American Association, he performed poorly. In 10 outings (seven starts), his record was 0-4 with a 5.77 ERA. His season ended abruptly on June 19. Warming up in the bullpen for a start, Bertaina was struck by a thrown ball that fractured his skull.85 Though he reportedly suffered no permanent damage and was expected to miss four-to-six weeks, Bertaina never returned. In 1972, he went to spring training with the Syracuse Chiefs, a Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, but spent the season on the temporarily inactive list.86 At the end of spring training in 1973, he was released.87

After baseball, Bertaina started Fishing International in Santa Rosa, California, one of the pioneering travel agencies geared towards anglers. He became a part-owner of the Lava Creek Lounge in Fall River Mills, the only place near Ahjumawi where visitors could rent a cabin to watch birds, fish and canoe.88 “There’s something here that freshens up my reason for being alive,” Bertaina wrote to a friend.89

Though his 19-29 record in 99 major league games is underwhelming, he was inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame in 1994. For his 44-20 record in five seasons with Rochester, he is also a member of the Red Wings Hall of Fame. He missed the induction ceremony in 2005 because he’d recently suffered a stroke.90 For the last dozen years of their lives, Bertaina and Ann Marie Joergensen, an art therapist, were companions.91 Six weeks after she died in January 2010, Frank passed away on March 3 due to complications from a heart attack. He was 65. His remains were cremated.92 Bertaina’s obituary included one of his favorite sayings, “Get your casts in while you can, for tomorrow is promised to no one.”93

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Eric Vickrey and Norman Macht and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted www.ancestry.com and www.baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 “Frank Bertaina,” https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=frank-bertaina&pid=140927617 (last accessed January 15, 2021).

2 Frank Bertaina, Publicity Questionnaire for William J. Weiss, January 9, 1962.

3 Al Moss, “Bertaina’s No-Hitter Keeps Irish On Top,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 1960: 26.

4 Braven Dyer, “Giants Fit Park Best — Bavasi,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1960: C2.

5 Bill Jones, “Orioles Sweep Towards Repeat Winter Crown,” The Sporting News, November 30, 1960: 41.

6 Jim Elliot, “Birds Sign Hurler, 17, for ‘$75,000 Bonus’,” Baltimore Sun, September 12, 1961: S19.

7 Bertaina, Publicity Questionnaire.

8 Elliot, “Birds Sign Hurler, 17, for ‘$75,000 Bonus’.”

9 Mallette, “Strong-Armed Bertaina Using Head to Cross Up Hitters.”

10 Doug Brown, “Bird Seed,” The Sporting News, September 20, 1961: 6

11 Al Mallette, “Bonus Kid Bertaina Now a Pitcher, Not a Thrower,” Star Gazette and Advertiser (Elmira, New York), July 12, 1964: 37.

12 Shirley Povich, “This Morning” Washington Post, March 4, 1968: D1.

13 Elliot, “Birds Sign Hurler, 17, for ‘$75,000 Bonus’.”

14 Brown, “Bird Seed.”

15 Elliot, “Birds Sign Hurler, 17, for ‘$75,000 Bonus’.”

16 Lou Hatter, “Birds Scouts Here to ‘Begin ‘62’,” Baltimore Sun, September 20, 1961: S22.

17 “Prides of Peninsula,” The Sporting News, November 29, 1961: 53.

18 Bill Jones, “Big Bonus Boys Bertaina, Nieson Notch Hill Gems,” The Sporting News, November 1, 1961: 25.

19 Mallette, “Strong-Armed Bertaina Using Head to Cross Up Hitters.”

20 “Florida Flashers,” The Sporting News, December 22, 1962: 28.

21 Doug Brown, “Orioles Stunned, Proud at Losing 18 Kids in Draft,” The Sporting News, December 8, 1962: 9.

22 Lou Hatter, “Bertaina Finds Maturity, Hopes for Brighter Future,” Baltimore Sun, September 6, 1969: B1.

23 Bob Broeg, “Frank Bertaina Plays it Just for Laughs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1971.

24 “Reliever Needs No Relief,” The Sporting News, September 7, 1963: 38.

25 Lonnie Burt, “Florida Filters,” The Sporting News, November 9, 1963: 24.

26 “Florida Flashers,” The Sporting News, December 14, 1963: 30.

27 Mallette, “Strong-Armed Bertaina Using Head to Cross Up Hitters.”

28 Bill Dembski, Alex Thomas and Brian Vikander, Dalko (Inluence Publishers, Nashville, 2020): 150.

29 “Eastern Excerpts,” The Sporting News, June 27, 1964: 40.

30 “Tiant Wins PCL Player of Month Award by Topps,” The Sporting News, August 1, 1964: 28.

31 Mallette, “Strong-Armed Bertaina Using Head to Cross Up Hitters.”

32 Mallette, “Bonus Kid Bertaina Now a Pitcher, Not a Thrower.”

33 “Eastern League,” The Sporting News, July 25, 1964: 37.

34 Doug Brown, “Bertaina Earns Oriole Berth After Zero Effort on Phillies,” The Sporting News, August 8, 1964: 9.

35 Brown, “Hats Off…!”

36 Brown, “Hats Off…!”

37 Doug Brown, “Hats Off…!” The Sporting News, September 26, 1964: 19.

38 Mallette, “Strong-Armed Bertaina Using Head to Cross Up Hitters.”

39 Doug Brown, “Bunker Whiz at Steering Wheel, Also,” The Sporting News, October 17, 1964: 11.

40 Doug Brown, “Bird Seed,” The Sporting News, March 20, 1965: 19.

41 “Int. Averages,” The Sporting News, August 14, 1965: 29.

42 “Wings Altobelli Lowers Boom, Raps Three Winning Homers in Four Days,” The Sporting News, August 21, 1965: 36.

43 “Bertaina Baffles Bisons,” The Sporting News, September 18, 1965: 38.

44 1966 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 28.

45 Doug Brown, “Bertaina Too Eager to Pitch, Now He’s Nursing a Sore Arm,” The Sporting News, April 2, 1966: 11.

46 Brown, “Bertaina Too Eager to Pitch, Now He’s Nursing a Sore Arm.”

47 “Bertaina Fans 17, Cracks 78-year Red Wing High,” The Sporting News, August 6, 1966: 30.

48 Lou Hatter, “Frank Bertaina Limping, May Miss Turn,” Baltimore Sun, August 29, 1966: C1.

49 Broeg, “Frank Bertaina Plays it Just for Laughs.”

50 Barney Kremenko, “Balm for Dodgers — A Record $$ Haul,” The Sporting News, November 5, 1966: 29.

51 Doug Brown, “Bertaina Couldn’t Straighten Knee,” The Sporting News, January 7, 1967: 34.

52 1967 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 33.

53 Dick Kaegel, “An Oriole by Day,” The Sporting News, August 8, 1967: 24.

54 Merrell Whittlesey, “Throw-In Bertaina Now Mixing Wins with Capital Grins,” The Sporting News, June 8, 1968: 16.

55 Shirley Povich, “This Morning,” Washington Post, March 4, 1968: D1.

56 Bob Addie, “Nat Notes,” The Sporting News, July 15, 1967: 30.

57 Whittlesey, “Throw-In Bertaina Now Mixing Wins with Capital Grins.”

58 William Gildea, “Senators Serious, Bertaina Critical,” Washington Post, February 5, 1968: D3.

59 Povich, “This Morning.”

60 William Gildea, “Senators Serious, Bertaina Critical,” Washington Post, February 5, 1968: D3.

61 Bob Addie, “Bertaina Overweight,” The Sporting News, March 9, 1968: 24.

62 Povich, “This Morning.”

63 Merrell Whittlesey, “Freshman Senator from Illinois Sets Tongues Wagging,” The Sporting News, May 4, 1968: 8.

64 Bob Addie, “Nats See Bertaina as Jackpot Prize,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1967: 40.

65 Whittlesey, “Throw-In Bertaina Now Mixing Wins with Capital Grins.”

66 “Boston Red Sox 6, Washington Senators 4,” https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1968/B05150BOS1968.htm (last accessed January 19, 2021).

67 “Bob Addies Atoms…,” The Sporting News, February 24, 1968: 16.

68 Whittlesey, “Throw-In Bertaina Now Mixing Wins with Capital Grins.”

69 “Williams,” The Sporting News, March 15, 1969: 4.

70 “Senators’ Slants,” The Sporting News, June 28, 1969: 16.

71 “Frustrated Pfiel,” The Sporting News, July 5, 1969: 38.

72 Lou Hatter, “Bertaina Finds Maturity, Hopes for Brighter Future,” Baltimore Sun, September 6, 1969: B1.

73 Broeg, “Frank Bertaina Plays it Just for Laughs.”

74 Hatter, “Bertaina Finds Maturity, Hopes for Brighter Future.”

75 1970 Baltimore Orioles Media Guide: 44.

76 Phil Jackman, “Different in Old Days,” The Sporting News, April 11, 1970: 28.

77 “Rochester’s Bertaina on O’s Trading Block,” The Sporting News, August 22, 1970: 37.

78 “Near Perfect Game,” The Sporting News, June 20, 1970: 40.

79 George McClelland, “Game Notes,” The Sporting News, July 18, 1970: 51.

80 “Rochester’s Bertaina on O’s Trading Block.”

81 Neal Russo, “Allen’s Injury Halts Drive to Cards’ Homer Mark,” The Sporting News, August 29, 1970: 14.

82 “N.L. Flashes,” The Sporting News, September 5, 1970: 27.

83 Neal Russo, “Cardinal Bullpen a Joke; Moe May Help,” The Sporting News, December 12, 1970: 60.

84 Neal Russo, “Bertaina Goes,” The Sporting News, April 24, 1971: 15.

85 “A.A. Atoms,” The Sporting News, July 3, 1971: 38.

86 Craig Stolze,” Veterans’ Bolster Chiefs’ Pennant Hopes,” Democrat and Chronicle, March 21, 1972: 37.

87 “Syracuse Chiefs,” Democrat and Chronicle, April 12, 1973: 38

88 Tom Stienstra, “‘Ahjumawi’ — Quiet Place of Pure Rhapsody,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 1, 2001: C15.

89 Bob Matthews, “Former Wing Bertaina Dies” Democrat and Chronicle, March 24, 2010: 2D.

90 Jim Mandalero, “Carew Says A-Rod’s the Best,” Democrat and Chronicle, July 28, 2005: D7.

91 Clark Mason, “Ann Marie Joergensen,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 2010: B2.

92 “Frank Bertaina,” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49450148/frank-bertaina (last accessed January 19, 2021).

93 Frank Bertaina,” https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=frank-bertaina&pid=140927617 (last accessed January 19, 2021).