Frank James Malzone (February 28, 1930 – December 29, 2015) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman who played for the Boston Red Sox (1955–65) and California Angels (1966).
Early life
Malzone was born on February 28, 1930, in the Bronx, New York. He was the son of an Italian immigrant, Francis Malzone, and Pauline (Dazago) Malzone. Malzone attended Samuel Gompers High School, where he played baseball. He was signed as a free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1948, his senior year. Malzone was the first Gompers graduate to reach the major leagues. He had also tried out for the New York Giants in 1948, but was told he was too light and small. He had a .304 batting average that year. In 1949, he was assigned to the Oneonta Red Sox of the Canadian-American League, where he hit .329, with 107 runs scored and 92 runs batted in, with 26 doubles and 26 triples.
In 1951, he played for the Scranton Red Sox in the Eastern League, but served in the U.S. Army in 1952 and 1953. In 1956, he started out with the Red Sox and played in 27 games, but was hitting poorly. He was sent to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, playing in 87 games. Stengel promised to play Malzone in the game, who he said had "come along great". Malzone came into the game for George Kell, with no hits in two at bats.
In 1958, Malzone led the league with 627 at-bats, games played (playing in every Red Sox game), Malzone played in over 150 games seven years in a row (1957-1963), and had a streak of playing in 475 consecutive games. As of 2024, Malzone was 34th all time in double plays made by third basemen, even though only playing 12 years. Malzone enjoyed his best season in 1962, batting .283 with 21 home runs and 95 RBIs. In 1959's second All-Star Game, Malzone hit a home run against future Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale.
See also
- List of Gold Glove Award winners at third base