Mario Picone

Mario Peter Picone
(Babe)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• Debut September 27, 1947
• Final Game June 24, 1954
• Born July 5, 1926 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died October 23, 2013 in Brooklyn, NY USA

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Biographical Information

Righthander Mario Picone was a Brooklyn-born pitching prospect when he was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Giants before the 1944 season. The Giants farmed him out to the Bristol Twins of the class D Appalachian League and on June 15th, on his way to a 11-10 season, he struck out 28 batters in a 19-inning 3-2 victory over the Johnson City Cardinals. As of that date, this was considered to be a record in organized ball.

Mario had two more good years (1945 and 1946) in the minors and on September 27, 1947 he made his big league debut at the Polo Grounds, pitching seven innings in two games with no decisions. The twenty-year-old was sent back to the minors for more seasoning and after a 21-8 split season with the Sioux City Soos of the Western League and the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association in 1952, Mario got his second look at the major leagues. This time up he went 0-1 while pitching nine innings in two outings.

In 1953 Picone went back down in the minors one more time, coming up with a 14-8 year with the fifth-place (76-78) Millers while pitching 211 innings. This got the Giants' attention once again and Picone would get his third and last chance at the bigs in 1954, but he had no decisions, appearing in 9 games while pitching 14 innings. On June 8th, Mario was sold to the Cincinnati Redlegs for $15,000. Mario was with Cincinnati for 16 days, going 0-1 while appearing in four games and pitching 10 innings. This was it for Mario and he finished up his big league run with a 0-2 record and a 6.30 ERA while appearing in 13 games and pitching 40 innings.

Mario finished out 1954 with the AAA Minneapolis club and the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, going 4-6. In 1955, he had a very poor 7-16 record and finished out his 13-year minor league run with the AAA Buffalo Bisons in 1956, showing no decisions in one appearance. Altogether Mario had a good minor league record, winning 129 and losing 98 with a 3.93 ERA while pitching 1,971 innings.

Mario still resided in Brooklyn, where he was the long-time owner of an aluminum siding business, when he died in 2013. Mario also had a brother, Frank Picone, who was a pitcher in the minor leagues in 1953 and 1954.

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s