John D'Acquisto
From BR Bullpen
John Francis D'Acquisto
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.
- Debut September 2, 1973
- Final Game October 1, 1982
- Born December 24, 1951 in San Diego, CA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
In 1989, John D'Acquisto played for the St. Lucie Legends and Bradenton Explorers of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. He went 4-3 with 5 saves for the teams.
NL Rookie of the Year (The Sporting News) 1974
NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year 1974
San Diego Hot Stove League Player of the Year 1974
He was sentenced to prison in 1996 for trying to pass off a forged certificate of deposit and was also indicted on charges of defrauding investors of about $7 million and on 39 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. In that case it was found that D'Acquisto was not responsible for any of the charges in the 39-count indictment and out of the 39 counts 37 were dropped and two were taken with no additional time, for misrepresentation. It was later found that the people who perpetrated the civil lawsuit and criminal investigations as well as the convictions against John D'Acquisto were arrested and are still serving jail sentances in Europe. The consensus is that John D'Acquisto was set up and used to cover up a larger scheme by others; according to the court documents in his sentencing memorandum [1], he never stole any money or committed fraud.
He was released from Federal Prison in January of 2002. On June 11th of 2004 John D'Acquisto was awarded his Doctor of Science degree from Rochville University in Exercise Science and Physiology. He also was awarded the "Award of Excellence" in Exercise Science and a Distinction in Advanced Exercise Physiology.
His name was pronounced "Dee Ah cquisto". He is a cousin of Lou Marone.
In any five-year period, there are forty guys who are claimed by somebody to be as fast as Walter Johnson, or as fast as Bob Feller, or as fast as Nolan Ryan, as fast as whoever the standard is at the moment. People made the same exact sort of comments about Pete Broberg that they did about David Clyde. We have the same kind of quotes about Gary Gentry, claiming he was as fast as Ryan. The fastest known radar reading from that era, other than Nolan Ryan, was for John D'Acquisto. - The Mighty Fastball By Bill James, The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers
