Highlighted Year: Chris Cannizzaro, 1969

Catcher, San Diego Padres

Age:  31 (May 3)

1^st season with Padres

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 190 

Prior to 1969:

A California native, Cannizzaro was the son of a police officer who had once been a semipro shortstop. An uncle who managed a Boys Club team convinced the 11-year-old Cannizzaro to become a catcher due to his lack of speed. He became an all-state backstop at San Leandro High School and played American Legion ball during the summers. Heavily scouted in high school, he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals following his graduation in 1956. Cannizzaro was initially assigned to the Decatur Commodores of the Class D Midwest League in ’56 where he batted .212 with 13 RBIs in 40 games. With teams at the Class D and C level in 1957 he hit .257 with a .366 on-base percentage. He spent 1958 with Omaha of the Class AAA American Association where he batted .273 with 6 home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .340 OBP. A six-month Army stint delayed his entry into spring training in 1959 and he was reassigned to Omaha where he was beset by injuries which limited him to 101 games in which he hit .231 with a .306 OBP. A strong spring performance in 1960 led to his making the Cardinals as a fourth-string catcher. He started three straight games in April but was ejected and suspended in the last one for pushing an umpire while arguing a call over a play at the plate. Demoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League, Cannizzaro showed off his strong throwing arm but had difficulties with errors and passed balls. He batted .251 with a .340 OBP and received a September call-up to the Cardinals. 1961 proved to be a difficult year for the young backstop. Expected to compete for a spot on the major league roster, a mediocre spring performance had him initially assigned to Houston of the American Association where a bout with appendicitis sidelined him for a month. Never appearing with Houston, he was instead sent to the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League where he hit a disappointing .203 over the course of 41 games before being promoted to the Cardinals where he finished the season. Unprotected in the NL expansion draft for 1962, Cannizzaro was selected by the New York Mets. The Mets used a total of seven catchers during their inaugural season, and Cannizzaro saw the most action of any of them, appearing in 56 games behind the plate despite spending some time in the minors. His defense outweighed his offensive contributions as he batted .241 with a .335 OBP. He led the NL in percentage of runners caught stealing (56%). The acquisition of catchers Norm Sherry and Jesse Gonder cut into Cannizzaro’s playing time in 1963, not helped by his suffering a broken finger on his throwing hand that caused him to be demoted to the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, where he batted .266 in 93 games with 26 extra-base hits and a .324 OBP. In just 16 games with the Mets he hit .242 with a .257 OBP. Little utilized by the Mets early in 1964, Cannizzaro came on strong during the second half and finished at .311 with 10 RBIs and a .367 OBP. Defensively he threw out 59 % of baserunners attempting to steal against him. His overall defense showed improvement and in a May game he pulled off an unassisted double play, a rarity for a catcher. Manager Casey Stengel appreciated his savvy and tended to put him behind the plate when a young pitcher was on the mound. His performance slipped in 1965 as his production dropped to .183 with a .270 OBP. Late in the season, Wes Westrum, Stengel’s in-season successor as manager, publicly announced that he was giving up on Cannizzaro. In 1966 he was traded to the Atlanta Braves, who assigned him to Richmond of the International League. There, he hit .227 with 8 home runs, 41 RBIs, and a .289 OBP.  He spent 1967 with the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League after being obtained by the Detroit Tigers. He was a league All-Star, batting .255 with 8 home runs, 36 RBIs, and a .346 OBP. Obtained by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason, Cannizzaro again found himself in the International League in 1968, this time with the Columbus Jets. Called up to the Pirates in August, he appeared in 25 games and batted ,241 with a .343 OBP and five extra-base hits that included his first major-league home run. In March of 1969 he was part of a four-player trade that sent him to the expansion Padres and became the new club’s starting catcher.  

1969 Season Summary

Appeared in 134 games

C – 132, PH – 3

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 469

At Bats – 418

Runs – 23

Hits – 92

Doubles – 14

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 4

RBI – 33

Bases on Balls – 42

Int. BB – 8

Strikeouts – 81

Stolen Bases – 0

Caught Stealing – 1

Average - .220

OBP - .290

Slugging Pct. - .297

Total Bases – 124

GDP – 16 [10, tied with Clete Boyer, Don Money & Hal Lanier]

Hit by Pitches – 0

Sac Hits – 7

Sac Flies – 2

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 11, 3B – 2, HR - 2, RBI – 23, AVG - .246, OBP - .324

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Most hits, game – 3 (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 5/25, (in 5 AB) vs. Houston 7/5

Longest hitting streak – 7 games

HR at home – 3

HR on road – 1

Most home runs, game – 1 on four occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 2 on five occasions

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 3 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 722

Put Outs – 644

Assists – 69

Errors – 9

Passed Balls – 14

DP – 8

Pct. - .988 

Awards & Honors:

All-Star 

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In their inaugural season, the Padres went 52-110 to finish sixth (last) in the NL Western Division, 41 games behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves while leading the league in batting strikeouts (1143), fewest runs scored (468), fewest hits (1203), fewest doubles (180), fewest bases on balls drawn (423), lowest batting average (.225), lowest OBP (.285), lowest slugging percentage (.329), and fewest total bases (1764), while drawing a disappointing 512,970 fans to San Diego Stadium. The Padres started off well with a three-game sweep of Houston at home to start the season. They then lost their next six consecutive games and ended April at 9-14. They stayed well off the pace in the new NL West but became a factor in September when they dealt decisive blows to division contenders. First, they swept the visiting Dodgers in four straight games that effectively ended their division title hopes. They split their remaining four games apiece against Cincinnati and the Astros, who also ended up falling short. They ended up the campaign by winning two of three games at San Francisco, which ended the Giants’ title hopes. The one team they couldn’t handle was the Braves, who beat them six straight times down the stretch and ended up in first place.

Aftermath of 1969:

Cannizzaro started off well in 1970 with hitting streaks of 9 and 13 games between April 24 and May 30. He spent most of the season hitting around .300 and finished at .279 with 5 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a .366 OBP. He remained solid defensively. He started the 1971 season with the Padres but was dealt to the Chicago Cubs in May. An injury to starting catcher Randy Hundley had Cannizzaro handling most of the backstop duty for the Cubs and for the year he batted a disappointing .208 with 6 home runs, 31 RBIs, and a .314 OBP. Waived during the offseason he was picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers and again handled most of the catching for his new team in 1972 and hit .240 in 73 games with 8 extra-base hits and a .341 OBP. He also mentored promising young catchers Steve Yeager and Joe Ferguson. He was a little-used backup in 1973, but still appreciated for his leadership skills. Moving on to the Houston organization in 1974, Cannizzaro served as a player-coach with the Denver Bears of the Class AAA American Association. He was sold to San Diego in August where he concluded his major league career at age 36. For his major league career he batted .235 with 458 hits that included 66 doubles, 12 triples, and 18 home runs. He scored 132 runs and compiled 169 RBIs and a .319 OBP. With the Padres he batted .238 with 210 hits, 54 runs scored, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 10 home runs, 87 RBIs, and a .320 OBP. Defensively, he threw out 37 % of baserunners who attempted to steal against him. Cannizzaro never appeared in the postseason and was an All-Star only the one time in 1969. Appreciated for his leadership ability, baseball knowledge, and mentoring skill he acted as a player-coach for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League immediately following his major league playing career in 1975 and then coached for the Atlanta Braves and California Angels. He later managed at the minor league level and died at age 78 in 2016, a few months after being honored for having been the first All-Star representative of the Padres when San Diego hosted the game.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.