Billy Raimondi/pagetext

From SABR Encyclopedia

Contents 1 Profile 1.1 Personal 1.2 Pre-professional career 1.3 Achievements 1.4 Outside of baseball 1.5 Career notes 1.6 Contract signing 1.7 Relatives 2 Sources

Profile

Personal

• Resided in Alameda, California in 1952.
• Self-identified as being of Italian ancestry.
• Was the oldest player in the Pacific Coast League, having spent the last 17 seasons in the league with all but 1950 with Oakland.
• Said in 1952 the funniest play he ever saw was Joe Becker stealing second, then reversing himself and stealing first, sliding into the bag both times.
• Said his greatest thrill came in helping his team win games.
• Was regarded as the best catching prospect in the league in 1935.
• Had a fling at managing the Oakland Oaks for weeks when Dolph Camilli resigned.

Pre-professional career

• Attended high school in Oakland, California.
• Was an all-city catcher for two years in high school.

Achievements

• As of 1952, had caught 100 or more games in the 16 of his 17 years in the Pacific Coast League, the lone year under 100 was 1941 when he caught 97 games.

Outside of baseball

• Was a laborer during the off-season in 1952.

Career notes

• "Inactive because of arm injury" in 1936.

Contract signing

• Was purchased by the New York Yankees but they were overstocked with high class receivers and he was sold to Cincinnati' he reported to the Reds with a bad arm and it shelved him throughout the 1936 season.
• Was released by Sacramento after the 1950 season and he signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels.

Relatives

• Three of his brothers also played in the Pacific Coast League.

Sources

• 1952 Pacific Coast League Thumbnail Sketches.