Joe Cascarella
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Thomas Cascarella (June 28, 1907 - May 22, 2002) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with four different teams between 1934 and 1938. Listed at 5' 10.5", 175 lb., Cascarella batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cascarella filled various pitching roles, as a starter, or coming out from the bullpen as a middle-reliever or a closer. He reached the majors in 1934 with the Philadelphia Athletics, spending one and a half year with them before moving to the Boston Red Sox (1935-1936), Washington Senators (1936-1937), and Cincinnati Reds (1937-1938). In his rookie year he collected a career-high 12 wins, including seven in relief to lead the American League. He also was selected to an All-Star team which toured Japan after the season, but he never won more than nine games during a regular season.
In a five-season career, Cascarella posted a 27-48 record with 192 strikeouts and a 4.84 ERA in 143 appearances, including 54 starts, 20 complete games, three shutouts, 58 games finished, eight saves, and 540 ⅓ innings pitched.
Known as "Crooning Joe" for his fine tenor voice, Cascarella later became a popular singer on radio shows and in night clubs. He also worked as operational vice president of Laurel Race Track.
Cascarella died in Baltimore, Maryland at age 94.
[edit] Fact
- At the time of his death, Cascarella was the last surviving member of the 1934 U.S. All-Star touring team, which included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig Jimmy Foxx, Earl Averill, Charlie Gehringer and Lefty Gomez. It was also the trip that allowed Moe Berg to get atop a Japanese hospital and make the film that would be used in planning the Doolittle Raid after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
