Lennie Merullo
From BR Bullpen
Leonard Richard Merullo Sr.
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11½", Weight 168 lb.
- School Boston College, Villanova University
- Debut September 12, 1941
- Final Game August 22, 1947
- Born May 5, 1917 in Boston, MA USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Lennie Merullo played shortstop for the Chicago Cubs for seven years in the major leagues in the 1940s. He appeared in three games in the 1945 World Series.
Lennie came up briefly in 1941, and then from 1942 to 1945 was the club's starting shortstop. Stan Hack played third, and Phil Cavarretta played first. In 1946, Billy Jurges, Bobby Sturgeon, and Merullo shared the shortstop position, but in 1947, Merullo had it back most of the time.
He spent 25 years as a scout and 25 more as the top scout of the Cubs.
According to the similarity scores method, the most similar player to Merullo is Rafael Santana, a shortstop from the 1980s.
He is the grandfather of catcher Matt Merullo, who had a six-year career in the majors, mostly with the Chicago White Sox. The story is he named his son "Boots" because on the day he was born, Lennie made several errors. Boots went on to play baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
He was named to the Hall of Fame of the Cape Cod League. He played for the Barnstable Townies in the old Cape League in 1935.
