Bob Giallombardo

Robert Paul Giallombardo

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Sewanhaka High School, Lafayette High School (Brooklyn)
• Debut June 21, 1958
• Final Game July 27, 1958
• Born May 20, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died October 19, 2022 in Waxhaw, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Before the 1956 season Bob Giallombardo a 19-year-old pitcher was signed as an amateur free agent by the Brooklyn Dodgers. The young lefthander was assigned to the PONY League class D Hornell Dodgers. He went 2-6 in 15 appearances his first year out and was with the Reno Silver Sox in the class C California League in 1957, winning 21 and losing 6 in 219 innings with a 3.08 ERA and made the All-Star team.

The Brooklyn-born lefthander joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in their new home on the West Coast in 1958 after his showing in Reno the season before. Giallombardo was the star pitcher at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn the year after Sandy Koufax graduated from the same school. Bob was 1-1 in five starts with his victory coming by a 3-2 score over the Cincinnati Redlegs.

The lefthander was also with the AAA Montreal Royals of the International League in 1958, pitching 148 innings, winning 12 and losing 9 for a 2.74 ERA. During the next three seasons (1959-1961) Giallombardo was with the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League, going 11-14 during this period with a combined 5.44 ERA. He also had a short run with the Greenville Spinners of the South Atlantic League, going 2-5 with a 4.66 ERA.

The 24-year-old pitcher had spent six years in pro baseball and decided to seek other avenues after the 1961 season. During these years he had appeared in 143 contests, winning 48 and losing 40, while pitching 735 innings, giving up 654 base hits along with 390 base on balls and 303 earned runs for a career 4.59 ERA.

After leaving baseball, Bob managed the Gil Hodges Bowling Lanes in Brooklyn, sold insurance, then was a supervisor of roofers for the New York Housing Authority for twenty years before retiring in the late 1990s to Waxhaw, a small village some 20 miles south of Charlotte, NC. It was reported that he had died in 2023, but with pertinent details missing. He actually died in October 2022.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page