Dom Zanni

From BR Bullpen

Dominick Thomas Zanni

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
Debut September 28, 1958
Final Game October 1, 1966
Born March 1, 1932 in Bronx, NY USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Dom Zanni who grew up in the Bronx tenements put some ink on a New York Giants contract in 1951 and started on a seven year journey to the show. When he started on this trip he was headed for the Polo Grounds and when he arrived he was in San Francisco. There are plenty of reasons for the length of this trip, one being going 1-12 with a 7.39 ERA his first year out and then following it up with a 20-8 with a 3.10 ERA just one year later. There were a lot of hamburgers and french fries on this ride along with 76 wins and 78 losses and a 4.10 ERA.

Dom picked up his first big league win beating Sam Jones and the St. Louis Cardinals at Seals Stadium in 1958. Zanni would be around the major leagues from 1958 to 1966 shuttling up and down from the minors. The hard throwing right-hander wore the uniforms of the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds during his 9-6 111 game ride in the bigs, spent mostly as a reliever.

After the 1961 season the Giants traded him to the White Sox in a deal that brought Billy Pierce and Don Larsen to San Francisco. In 1962 he had his best season going 6-5 with 5 saves in 44 appearances. His greatest thrill was coming to Yankee Stadium and fanning Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Elston Howard, however his efforts went up in smoke when Turk Lown came in in the tenth inning and threw a first pitch home run to Dale Long.

Early in the 1963 season Zanni was traded to the Reds for pitcher-author Jim Brosnan and between 1964-66 he commuted between Cincinnati and it's farm teams. Dom pitched his last of 15 seasons (1951-67) with the Buffalo Bisons of the IL going 6-5 with a 2.67 ERA to end his minor league run at 140-122 and a 3.46 ERA, which he thought wasn't to bad for a tired old pitcher who's warranty had run out.

One thing the right-hander always wanted known was that he had spent two seasons with the Sioux City Soos of the Western League and on June 5, 1954 had pitched a No-Hitter, beating the Denver Bears 3-0. His last out to get was none other than Earl Weaver who would gain fame as a Baltimore Orioles manager. In a 1994 interview Zanni recalled, "I'll never forget Weaver saying, 'just throw a strike, buddy, and that's the end of your no-hitter.' But he just popped it up to second. "That's Weaver for you. He would bother you for everything...."

As of this writing (2009) Dom is retired in Massapequa, NY, after 27 years in the insurance business.