Rico Petrocelli and Topps Met in the Spring

They had some unfinished business to wrap up

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1977 Topps Rico Petrocelli (#111) - Card of the Day

For Rico Petrocelli, everything was going to plan, and probably even better than planned, all through his twenties.

Or, at the very least, up until just before his 29th birthday.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox in July of 1961 at age 18, Petrocelli debuted at Fenway Park on September 21, 1963. He went 1-for-4 with a double, but that would be his only taste of the majors until 1965.

That year, Petrocelli broke Spring Training with the Sox and started at shortstop on Opening Day and held onto the job most of the year. After a slow start at the plate, he ended the season with a .232 batting average, 13 home runs, and 33 RBI in 103 games. Solid power numbers for a middle infielder, and Petrocelli also proved himself to be a steady (and better) glove man at short.

From there on out, Boston managers had one less position on the field and in the batting order to worry about. They just plugged Petrocelli in at shortstop and as the number-five hitter in the order and let him roll (he also spent more than 100 games in his career in the cleanup and number-eight spots).

By the end of 1971, Petrocelli was a bona fide superstar, a Gold Glove caliber shortstop (who never actually won the award) who could pop 30 homers and drive in 100 runs a season. And he’d had a season for the ages in 1969, crushing 40 home runs and driving in 97 while hitting a career-high .297. Shortstops just didn’t hit for that kind of power back then (though Ernie Banks had been even more prodigious a decade before).

By comparison, the American League Gold Glove winner at the position in ‘69 was future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio who hit .313 with five homers and 51 RBI that summer.

And speaking of Aparicio, he played a part in changing the direction of Petrocelli’s career.

In particular, the White Sox traded Little Louie to the Red Sox in December of 1970 for Luis Alvarado and Mike Andrews. Even at age 37, there was little doubt Aparicio would be Boston’s shortstop in 1971.

And so he was, which moved Petrocelli to third base.

Americo started 156 games at the hot corner for the Red Sox in 1971, and the results at the plate were pretty much the same as always: .251, 28 home runs, 89 RBI. His defense wasn’t quite as snappy at third, though, and he also struck out 108 times, a career high.

Was Petrocelli pushing too hard, given that third base was more of a power position than shortstop? Hard to say for sure, but his production slipped to .240/15 HR/75 RBI in 1972. Then, in 1973, a calcium deposit in his right (throwing) elbow ended his season on August 11 and left him at .244/13/45 in just 100 games played at age 30.

Petrocelli was back to mostly full strength in 1974, though his power wasn’t quite the same as it had been a few years before. And then, on September 15, a bean ball from the Brewers’ Jim Slaton ended the slugger’s season.

The next summer turned out to be a sweet and sour one for Petrocelli. Sweet because he didn’t make an error all year, the Red Sox won the American League pennant, and Petrocelli hit .308 with four RBI in the World Series loss to the Reds. Sour because inner-ear problems (likely from the beaning) curtailed his season and left him with a .239 batting average, seven homers, and 59 RBI.

And, of course, because the Sox lost the Fall Classic.

Petrocelli continued to struggle with his inner ear and at the plate in 1976, and his season essentially ended with a trip to the disabled list in late August. He came to Spring Training with the Sox in 1977, but they released him before Opening Day.

And that was the end of a career that looked like it might have been headed toward Cooperstown just a few years earlier.

But the official end came too late for Topps to pull Petrocelli from their 1977 set, and so he became one of the few stars of the era to have a real, honest-to-goodness career-capper (Mickey Mantle is another notable name to land one). Here is the proof, in the form of the card back:

Today, Brooklyn native and Red Sox legend Americo Peter Petrocelli turns 82 years old.

1969 Globe Imports Bet on Tony Conigliaro

No doubt that 1974 pitch from Jim Slaton made Red Sox fans far and wide gasp and hold their breaths. After all, it had been just seven years since the pitch from Jack Hamilton altered the course of Tony Conigliaro’s career and life.

Neither Tony C. nor Petrocelli bowed out without a fight, though, and two years after his beaning, Conigliaro showed up as part of the 1969 Globe Imports set. The 55-card blank-back issue features 55 players presented as a deck of playing cards…albeit one with three extra aces.

You can find Tony C. as the three of hearts, and you can read more about this card right here.