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Atlanta Braves history: Johnny Antonelli the first Bonus Baby

By Fred Owens

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23, 1954: Members of the New York Giants pose for a team portrait on September 23, 1954 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York. (L to R) (front row) Johnny Antonelli, Sal Maglie, Whitey Lockman, Larry Jansen, coach Fred Fitzsimmons, secretary Ed Brannick, manager Leo Durocher, coach Frank Shellenback, coach Herman Franks, Davey Williams, Hank Thompson, tean physician Dr. Anthony Palermo; (second row) clubhous custodian Ed Logan, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dusty Rhodes, Willie Mays, Don Mueller, Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, Bill Taylor, Bobby Hofman, Joe Garagiola, Ruben Gomez, trainer Frank Bowman; Paul Giel, Joe Amalfitano, Don Liddle, Billy Gardner, Al Worthington, Foster Castleman, John "Windy" McCall, Alex Konikowski, Al Corwin, Marv Grissom, Ray Katt, George Spencer, Wes Westrum, Jim Hearn. (Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23, 1954: Members of the New York Giants pose for a team portrait on September 23, 1954 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York. (L to R) (front row) Johnny Antonelli, Sal Maglie, Whitey Lockman, Larry Jansen, coach Fred Fitzsimmons, secretary Ed Brannick, manager Leo Durocher, coach Frank Shellenback, coach Herman Franks, Davey Williams, Hank Thompson, tean physician Dr. Anthony Palermo; (second row) clubhous custodian Ed Logan, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dusty Rhodes, Willie Mays, Don Mueller, Alvin Dark, Monte Irvin, Bill Taylor, Bobby Hofman, Joe Garagiola, Ruben Gomez, trainer Frank Bowman; Paul Giel, Joe Amalfitano, Don Liddle, Billy Gardner, Al Worthington, Foster Castleman, John "Windy" McCall, Alex Konikowski, Al Corwin, Marv Grissom, Ray Katt, George Spencer, Wes Westrum, Jim Hearn. (Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves Kyle Wright
Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright had more experience than Johnny Antonelli and still struggled in his first year. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

Johnny be good

As discussed in Antonelli’s Sabre bio, Johnny’s father, Gus Antonelli, immigrated to America in 1913 and worked hard to give his family a better life. He recognized his son’s baseball talent early and began grooming him for professional ball.

(Unless otherwise specified, all quotes come from his bio linked above. I tried to get to their source material listed in the footnotes, but much of it isn’t available online.)

The young lefty threw three no-hitters before his senior year in high school, impressing Carl Hubble so much that he said Antonelli had the best all-around stuff he’d ever seen.

After graduation, Gus rented a minor league ballpark in Rochester and invited scouts to watch Johnny pitch against a semi-pro team. He threw a complete-game no-hitter striking out 17, and the battle of checkbooks began. Braves scout Jeff Jones told team president, Lou Perini, the kid was good.

"“He’s by far the best big-league prospect I’ve ever seen. . . He has the poise of a major league pitcher right now and has a curve and fastball to back it up . . .  if I had to pay out the money myself, I wouldn’t hesitate . . ."

The Baseball Almanac show Antonelli received a $65,000 bonus, about $696,000 today,  from the Boston Braves making him the first player in baseball history – and the only player under the first version of the rule – to carry the Bonus Baby tag,

Left-hander MacKenzie Gore drew similar comments before the 2017 draft. Baseball America (behind a paywall, so I’m paraphrasing and not allowed to link), suggested Gore topped the list of high schoolers, possessed poise beyond his years, had great stuff, and pounded the zone.

Imagine the Atlanta Braves bypassing Kyle Wright and signing Gore for the $6.7M the Padres gave him, knowing he had to take a 25-man roster spot in 2018 and make more money than everyone except Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis, and Julio Teheran. Would the players like that?

No, and Antonelli’s teammates didn’t either.

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