Fred Caligiuri
Date and
Place of Birth:
October 22, 1918
Baseball
Experience:
Major League
Position:
Pitcher
Rank:
First Sergeant
Military Unit: US Army
Area Served: European and Pacific Theater of Operations
Major League Stats: Fred Caligiuri on Baseball-Almanac
Frederick J. “Fred” Caligiuri was born on October 22, 1918 at
Caligiuri signed with the Greenville Greenies of
the Coastal Plain League in 1937 and was 8-15 his rookie year. In
1938, he had a 10-7 record with the Greenies and was 8-4 in 1939.
Still with
After four seasons of Class D baseball, Caligiuri
finally made the jump to Class B in 1941. He joined the Wilmington
Blue Rocks – a Philadelphia Athletics farm team – in the Interstate
League. However, the young pitcher’s season almost ended before it
began. The Blue Rocks’ bus overturned on a mountainside near
Panorama,
Caligiuri had his second successive all-star
season in 1941. On May 14, he hurled a 3-0 two-hitter against
The 6-foot right-hander got the call from
Caligiuri started the 1942 season with the Athletics but had a few shaky outings and was used primarily in relief. There were occasional moments of brilliance including a late relief performance against the Browns on May 12. With one out in the ninth and the Athletics clinging on to a 5-4 lead, Caligiuri relieved Phil Marchildon and struck out Vern Stephens and Tony Criscola to preserve the win.
The Athletics sent Caligiuri back to
On March 15, 1943, Caligiuri entered military
service with the Army. He was stationed at
He was reassigned to Army amphibious operations
and served in English Channel transport, then in the Philippines and
other parts of the Pacific Theater. Caligiuri was discharged from service in early 1946. Returning to
the Athletics he was out of shape after three seasons away from the
game and the Athletics released the 27-year-old on May 8. He
returned to
Caligiuri called it a day after the 1946 season.
He moved to
Created December 18, 2007. Updated December 27, 2015
Copyright © 2015 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.