Frank Viola
Pitcher, Baseball Player
1960 –
Who is Frank Viola?
Frank John Viola, Jr. is an American former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Toronto Blue Jays. A three-time All-Star, he was named World Series MVP with the Twins in 1987 and won the AL Cy Young Award in 1988. Long-time Tigers manager Sparky Anderson said of Viola, "...He's an artist; I love watching him work..."
He batted and threw left-handed, and was nicknamed "Sweet Music" – a nickname he picked up after a Minnesota sports writer declared that when Viola pitched, there was "Sweet Music' in the Dome. The nickname was a play on the fact that his last name is also a name of a musical instrument, although pronounced differently. A fan began displaying a banner bearing the phrase in the outfield's upper deck whenever Viola pitched. Twins fans considered the banner to be a good luck charm. The banner is now property of the Minnesota Historical Society. It was again displayed when Viola was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. Frank was honored as a member of the Twins' "All Dome" team in 2009.
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- Born
- Apr 19, 1960
East Meadow - Spouses
- Kathy Daltas
(1983/12 - )
- Kathy Daltas
- Children
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- St. John's University
- East Meadow High School
- Lived in
- New York City
- East Meadow
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Frank Viola." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/frank_viola>.
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