John Malangone

John J. Malangone

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 205 lbs.
• High school Benjamin Franklin High School (New York)

• Born 1932 in New York, NY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

John Malangone is one of baseball's most moving stories. The catcher was talented enough to be viewed as a possible heir to Yogi Berra when he played in the New York Yankees system in the 1950s. He had a powerful bat and a strong arm. But he was racked with guilt over a terrible childhood accident, and the resulting personal problems plagued him for decades.

Malangone grew up in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. He lived on East 114th Street, very near the famous Italian restaurant Rao's. One floor up in the same tenement lived John's best friend, Orlando Panarese, who was also his mother's little brother. When John was five and Orlando was seven, though, John hurled a homemade javelin in the street, striking his uncle in the head. A brain infection resulted, and it was before the advent of antibiotics -- little Orlando died.

His family hoped that Malangone could forget what had happened, but it wasn't possible. Nonetheless, the youth showed great baseball skill, even though a learning disability kept him from being eligible for his high school team at Benjamin Franklin High School (now the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics).

After observing Malangone at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem (right across the street from the family apartment), legendary Yankees scout Paul Krichell signed him to his first pro contract at age 17. (By one verbal account from Malangone, he was put on the major-league roster at this time, but verification is still pending.)

Malangone's pro career did not actually begin until 1952 (meanwhile, he continued to play sandlot ball in New York City). After the 1952 season, he entered military service (the Korean War was taking place at this time). He became the heavyweight boxing champion of Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Malangone returned to pro baseball in the winter of 1954-55. He played in the Occidental League in Venezuela and led the circuit in home runs with seven (in 33 games) while playing for the Espadón team. During spring training in 1955, a photo showed him flanked by two Hall of Fame catchers: Mickey Cochrane (then a scout and camp instructor for the Yankees) and Bill Dickey (then a Yankees coach).

Yet as much ability as he possessed, Malangone never rose above Class A ball in his four remaining seasons. His erratic, often clownish behavior - which stemmed directly from his unrelieved guilt - was one problem. His self-destructive bent was also visible in three motorcycle accidents.

Malangone was at last able to unburden himself to a friend in the early 1990s. He found out that his uncle's death had been ruled an accident. He continued to play baseball in a senior league near his home in New Jersey.

John Malangone's story was first told by Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News in May 1995. Two years later, Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated wrote an in-depth feature on Malangone; after retiring, the sportswriter called it one of the two stories that meant most to him personally. In 2006, an award-winning documentary called Long Road Home was released.

Further Reading

• Michael Harrison: Pinstripes and Penance: The Life Story Of John Malangone, Cincinnati Book Publishing, Cincinnati, OH, 2015. ISBN 978-0-9910-0777-6

Related Sites

• The Yankee Who Never Was, by Wayne Coffey
• Damned Yankee, by Gary Smith
• Long Road Home website