Fred Caligiuri

Who is Fred Caligiuri?

Frederick John Caligiuri is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1941 through 1942 for the Philadelphia Athletics. Listed at 6' 0", 190 lb., he batted and threw right-handed.

A native of West Hickory, Pennsylvania, Caligiuri was one of many major leaguers who saw his baseball career interrupted by a stint in the army during World War II. A late-season 1941 call-up from Wilmington of the Interstate League, he entered the baseball record books while starting the last game of the season against the Boston Red Sox at Shibe Park. It was the game in which Ted Williams was 2-3 and finished this historic season with a .406. batting average, the most recent in the majors. Williams went 2-for-3 against Caligiuri, who did not yield a run until the ninth inning, and finished with a complete game, six-hit, 7–1 victory over Lefty Grove and the Red Sox. This game also marked the last start for Grove, who retired before the 1942 season.

In a two-season career, Caligiuri posted a 2-5 record with a 4.52 ERA in 18 appearances, including seven starts, giving up 49 runs on 90 hits and 32 walks while striking out 27 in 79 ⅔ innings of work.