Frank Calo

Frank Joseph Calo

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born April 12, 1924 in Syracuse, NY, USA
• Died January 16, 1973 in Syracuse, NY, USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Long-time minor league presence Frank Calo broke into professional baseball in 1946 with the Pittsfield Electrics, hitting .300/~.349/.375 in 27 games as a catcher and with the Portland Gulls, playing in fewer than 10 contests. In 1947, he slipped to .236 for Pittsfield but batted .325 for the Dayton Indians. Moving to the high-offense Lone Star League in 1948, Calo batted .340 with 70 RBI for the Marshall Tigers; he was approximately sixth in the LSL in batting average. In '49, Frank had a .300 campaign for the Lamesa Lobos of the West Texas-New Mexico League.

1950 saw Calo at .292/~.351/.360 for Lamesa and the Clovis Pioneers, while his 28 errors were the most of any WT-NML backstop. In '52, Frank hit .255/~.364/.362 in only 16 games for Lamesa and the Pampa Oilers. Spending most of that year in the Longhorn League, Calo hit .284/~.369/.369 as a backup catcher for the Roswell Rockets. In 1953, Frank hit .236 for the Tyler Tigers of the Big State League as he played in his fourth league in Texas. For the bulk of the year, he was with the Grand Forks Chiefs and posted a .277 average, driving in 84 runs. Calo also managed the Chiefs for part of the season.

In 1954, Calo hit .312 for Grand Forks (where he again managed for part of the season) and the Eau Claire Braves and .300 for the Lincoln Chiefs. The 1955 season had Frank back in Texas, now with the Port Arthur Sea Hawks and having a .281 season with 7 homers and 73 RBI. In 1956, Calo hit .293 for Roswell and also was with the Syracuse Chiefs, hitting .263 in his longest crack at class A ball. A year later, he was Syracuse's player-manager, hitting .234/~.347/.283. The club went 56-81-4 and finished 5th in the six-team loop and moved to Allentown, PA during the season, becoming the Allentown Chiefs. In 1958, Calo joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization as player-manager. Playing for the 1958 Keokuk Cardinals, Calo collected a .298 average and then hit .281 in limited time for that club in '59, leading the team to identical 62-60 records. He finished his 15 years as a player by batting .304 for the 1960 Daytona Beach Islanders and winning a game as a pitcher (he had lost a decision in '53 for Grand Forks). Calo returned to managing in 1963 for the Pocatello Chiefs in the Cubs' chain, going 44-83 in the Pioneer League.

After his playing career ended Calo became the head coach of the LeMoyne College baseball program from 1965-1968. He later became a National League scout. Calo died in January 1973 in an automobile accident near Syracuse, NY

Sources include 1947, 1951, 1953, 1958 and 1974 Baseball Guides and Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	notes
1953	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	39-44	6th	none		replaced Carl Hosler (16-26) on June 24
1954	Grand Forks Chiefs	Northern League	18-43	--	none	--	replaced Virl Minnis (14-20) on June 10 / replaced by Frank Major (11-28) on August 3
1956	Syracuse Chiefs	Eastern League	3-3	5th	Detroit Tigers		replaced Joe Torpey (40-46) September 3
1957	Syracuse/Allentown Chiefs	Eastern League	56-84	5th	none
1958	Keokuk Cardinals	Midwest League	62-60	5th	St. Louis Cardinals
1959	Keokuk Cardinals	Midwest League	62-60	4th	St. Louis Cardinals
1960	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	66-69	5th	St. Louis Cardinals
1963	Pocatello Chiefs	Pioneer League	44-83	6th	Chicago Cubs
1970	Danville Warriors	Midwest League	64-59	4th	Co-op