Herron: Former Giant Antonelli enjoys life in Santa Fe

From SABR member Gary Herron at the Rio Rancho Observer on July 25, 2012:

 

Like most ballplayers, young Johnny Antonelli set some lofty goals before he got to the big leagues: “I wanted to be an all-star, win 20 games, get to the World Series, win a World Series game.”

In 1954, he accomplished all of those goals.

Of course, there was more to come. Antonelli, one of the best lefties in the National league in the 1950s, was 126-110 in his 12-year career.

But that glorious 1954 campaign, topped with a sweep of the Cleveland Indians by Antonelli and the New York Giants, was a dream come true.

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Now, the former big-league star and Firestone Tire franchisee (he had 28 stores and 300 employees at its peak) is also an author of sorts: “Johnny Antonelli: A Baseball Memoir” (published by RIT Press in Antonelli’s hometown, Rochester, N.Y.) is on the shelves in bookstores.

“We worked on this book, I’d say, nine months,” Antonelli said.

Still appearing in good shape for an 82-year-old, Antonelli answered questions thrown his way last Tuesday evening by 50-60 visitors at Collected Works in Santa Fe, where Antonelli and his wife of seven years spend part of every year.

Read the full article here: http://www.rrobserver.com/sports/article_f5712bf0-d5d7-11e1-82a7-0019bb2963f4.html



Originally published: August 6, 2012. Last Updated: August 6, 2012.