Johnny Romano

John Anthony Romano Jr. (August 23, 1934 – February 24, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox (1958–1959, 1965–1966), Cleveland Indians (1960–1964) and St. Louis Cardinals. He threw and batted right-handed.

Early life Born and raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, Romano graduated from Demarest High School (now Hoboken High School), where he hit .681 during his senior season, breaking a record that had been held by his older brother, Anthony.

Professional baseball career Romano was signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1954. In , while playing for the Waterloo White Hawks, Romano hit 9 home runs in nine consecutive games. He accumulated 38 home runs with a .321 batting average and led the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League with 108 runs scored and 124 runs batted in. His 38 home runs in 1955 set a league record. In , Romano played for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association. The Indians' manager was former major league All-Star catcher Walker Cooper, who tutored Romano and helped to greatly improve his catching skills. He made one plate appearance as a pinch hitter in the 1959 World Series as the White Sox were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a six-game series.

Romano was traded to the Cleveland Indians on December 6, 1959, and replaced Russ Nixon as the Indians' starting catcher. In 1960, he produced 16 home runs and 52 runs batted in along with a .272 batting average. He ended the season with a career-high .299 batting average, eighth highest in the league, along with 21 home runs and 80 runs batted in. Romano had another good year in 1962, hitting 13 home runs by mid-season, and was selected as a reserve catcher for the American League in the 1962 All-Star Games. He ended the season with career-highs of 25 home runs and 81 runs batted in. He tried to return to play too soon, and the injury never healed correctly and affected his batting. Romano missed 40 games that year and his batting average would drop to .216. In 1964, he platooned alongside catcher Joe Azcue, hitting .241 with 19 home runs.

Romano had a productive season in 1965 with the White Sox, hitting 18 home runs with a respectable .355 on-base percentage in cavernous Comiskey Park. Romano followed this performance with 15 home runs and a .344 on-base percentage in 1966 as he guided the White Sox pitching staff to lead the league in earned run average and in shutouts.

On December 14, 1966, the White Sox traded Romano along with Leland White to the St. Louis Cardinals for Don Dennis and Walt Williams. He played one final season as a backup catcher for Tim McCarver in 1967.

Career statistics In a ten-year major league career, Romano played in 905 games, accumulating 706 hits in 2,767 at bats for a .255 career batting average along with 129 home runs, 417 runs batted in and a .354 on-base percentage.