Joe La Fata 1947-49 NY Giants

[hifijoe]

Hii---newbie here. just joined this forum and im glad i did.
Lots of great info on Polo Grounds and the Classic old teams. My uncle Joe La Fata #24 ,played on the Ny Giants from 47-49, also with Minneapolis Millers in the 50s. Lost him in May 2004 and diong some research came across this forum.Looking foward to many more posts.

Joe

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

Hii---newbie here. just joined this forum and im glad i did.
Lots of great info on Polo Grounds and the Classic old teams. My uncle Joe La Fata #24 ,played on the Ny Giants from 47-49, also with Minneapolis Millers in the 50s. Lost him in May 2004 and diong some research came across this forum.Looking foward to many more posts.

JoeJust want to say welcome to the board. i am sure that you will enjoy yourself here. looking foward to your posts. Donald

[Brownie31]

Hii---newbie here. just joined this forum and im glad i did.
Lots of great info on Polo Grounds and the Classic old teams. My uncle Joe La Fata #24 ,played on the Ny Giants from 47-49, also with Minneapolis Millers in the 50s. Lost him in May 2004 and diong some research came across this forum.Looking foward to many more posts.

Joe

Welcome aboard, hifijoe! Glad to have you here. I have only been here a couple of months myself. The baseball-fever posters are great as you will find out!

Brownie31

[musial6]

Joe spelled his name LAFATA.. In 1948, during his one AB (a K), he wore #26.

[VIBaseball]

I have to figure the family's original spelling is La Fata and that it's variously shown as LaFata or Lafata (I saw it both these ways in the papers).

I decided to look for fun facts about Joe, and here's one: on August 21, 1949, the Giants were playing the Phillies in Philadelphia. They were up 4-2 in the 9th and the umpires ruled that Richie Ashburn trapped rather than caught a ball hit by Joe. "The fans reacted with pop bottles, vegetables, and beer bottles. Umpire Al Barlick was hit with a tomato and a bottle bounced off the shoulder of umpire Lee Ballanfant. They awared the game to the Giants."

Joe was involved in the trade that brought the Giants Rafael (Ray) Noble, the Cuban catcher, and slick-fielding/light-hitting veteran Negro League shortstop Artie Wilson, whom Leo Durocher demoted for not hitting against Brooklyn in a clutch situation.

The last mention I see of Joe is playing 1B for the Portland Beavers in 1952.

[JohnGelnarFan]

Joe wore #24 in his two other seasons in the majors.