{{Short description|American baseball player (1926–2021)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Al Naples |position=Shortstop |image= |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1926|8|29}} |birth_place=Staten Island, New York, U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|2021|2|26|1926|8|29}} |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=June 25 |debutyear=1949 |debutteam=St. Louis Browns |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=July 26 |finalyear=1949 |finalteam=St. Louis Browns |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Games played |stat1value=2 |stat2label=At bats |stat2value=7 |stat3label=Hits |stat3value=1 |teams= *St. Louis Browns ({{mlby|1949}}) }}
'''Aloysius Francis Naples''' (August 29, 1926 – February 26, 2021) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the St. Louis Browns in {{mlby|1949}}. He is one of about 200 players in major league history to be credited with exactly one base hit.<ref>Rose, 2004, p. xiii</ref>
{{Rquote|left|I ran like all get-out when I poked that double down the right field line for my first hit in the Big Show. I felt rather good after that.|Al Naples|''One Hit Wonders: Baseball Stories'' (George Rose)<ref name=rose/>}} Naples was born in Staten Island, New York and attended Georgetown University, where he majored in Latin,<ref name=rose>{{cite book |last=Rose |first=George |title=One Hit Wonders: Baseball Stories |year=2004 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0595318070 |pages=33–34}}</ref> from 1946 to 1949. He signed a professional contract with the St. Louis Browns in 1949<ref name=rose/> and made his major league debut, starting against the Boston Red Sox on June 26, 1949. Naples had one hit, a double to right field, against Boston ace Mel Parnell (who won 25 games that year, including Naples' debut).<ref name=rose/>
Naples sat on the bench for a month (the Browns already had Eddie Pellagrini and John Sullivan to play shortstop), then started one more game and was sent down to the Class B<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?city=Springfield&state=IL&country=US&empty=0 |title=Springfield, Illinois Minor League City Encyclopedia |work=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> Springfield Browns of the Three-I League. That year, Naples hit .232 with no home runs in 56 games for Springfield,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=716a13f4 |title=1949 Springfield Browns |work=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> who finished last{{cn|date=July 2022}} and folded after the season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://minorleaguesource.com/threei4661.htm |title=Illinois-Iowa-Illinois League |author=Mike McCann |work=Mike McCann's Minor League Baseball Page |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> On October 21, 1949, Naples was released unconditionally by the Browns.<ref name=rose/>
He signed with the Browns' other Class B affiliate, the Wichita Falls Spudders of the Big State League for the 1950 season<ref name=rose/> but did not play for the Spudders that year<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=4ab71591 |title=1950 Wichita Falls Spudders |work=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> or for any other professional team afterwards;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=naples001alo |title=Al Naples |work=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 27, 2014}}</ref> at age 23, his professional baseball career was over.
Naples died on February 26, 2021, at the age of 94.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aloysius Naples Obituary |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/orleans-ma/aloysius-naples-10076336 |website=Dignity Memorial |access-date=11 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats |mlb=119649 |espn= |br=n/napleal01 |fangraphs=1009447 |brm=naples001alo |retro=N/Pnapla101}} *[https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=napleal01 Al Naples] at the Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naples, Al}} Category:1926 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Major League Baseball shortstops Category:Baseball players from Staten Island Category:St. Louis Browns players Category:20th-century American sportsmen