{{short description|American baseball player (born 1957)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name = Tony Brizzolara |image =Tony Brizzolara Atlanta Braves.jpg |caption = |position = [[Pitcher]] |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|01|14}} |birth_place= [[Santa Monica, California]], U.S. |death_date = |death_place= |bats = Right |throws = Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate = May 19 |debutyear = 1979 |debutteam = Atlanta Braves |finalleague = MLB |finaldate = September 28 |finalyear = 1984 |finalteam = Atlanta Braves |statleague = MLB |stat1label = [[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]] |stat1value = 8–11 | stat2label = [[Earned run average]] | stat2value = 5.06 | stat3label = [[Strikeouts]] | stat3value = 98 | teams = * [[Atlanta Braves]] ({{mlby|1979}}, {{mlby|1983}}–{{mlby|1984}}) }} '''Anthony John Brizzolara''' (born January 14, 1957) is an American former professional [[baseball]] [[pitcher]]. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] for the [[Atlanta Braves]] between 1979 and 1984.
==Amateur career== Brizzolara graduated from [[Beloit Memorial High School]] in [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], and played [[college baseball]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. In 1975, he played [[collegiate summer baseball]] in the [[Cape Cod Baseball League]] for the [[Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox|Yarmouth Red Sox]].<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf |title=Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League |publisher=capecodbaseball.org |date= |access-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-date=December 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207020925/http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> He was selected by the Braves in the second round of the [[1977 Major League Baseball draft]].
==Professional career== After going 17-12 with a 2.74 [[earned run average]] in the Atlanta farm system between 1977 and 1979, the Braves brought Brizzolara up to the majors in May 1979. He remained in the Braves' starting rotation for the rest of the season, going 6-9 with a 5.28 ERA in 107.1 innings of work.
Brizzolara spent 1980 to 1983 with the [[Triple A (baseball)|Triple A]] [[Richmond Braves]]. In July 1983, he received his second call to the majors. Though he was a starter in 1979 and for most of his minor league career, he was used strictly in [[relief pitcher|relief]] by manager [[Joe Torre]] during the 1983 season, posting a 3.54 ERA in 14 appearances. On October 2, 1983, Brizzolara recorded his one and only save at the major league level. It came in game 162 of the 1983 season. He pitched 2 scoreless innings to secure a 4-3 Braves win over the Padres. He preserved the win for Ken Dayley.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN198310020.shtml|title=Atlanta Braves at San Diego Padres Box Score, October 2, 1983|access-date=September 12, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831012915/https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN198310020.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
Once more, he opened the 1984 season at Richmond, and went 7-7 with a 3.23 ERA as a [[starting pitcher]]. He came up to Atlanta in August, and went 1-2 with a 5.28 ERA through the end of the season. After going 10-12 with a 3.27 ERA for Richmond in 1985, he signed as a minor league free agent with the [[Chicago White Sox]]. He spent one season with their Triple A affiliate, the [[Buffalo Bisons]], going 6-6 with a 5.40 ERA.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=b/brizzto01|fangraphs=1001452&position=P|brm=brizzo001ant}} *[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbrizt001.htm Retrosheet]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brizzolara, Tony}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Atlanta Braves players]] [[Category:Baseball players from Santa Monica, California]] [[Category:Baseball players from Wisconsin]] [[Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players]] [[Category:Greenwood Braves players]] [[Category:Kingsport Braves players]] [[Category:Leones del Caracas players]] [[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Beloit, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Richmond Braves players]] [[Category:Savannah Braves players]] [[Category:Texas Longhorns baseball players]] [[Category:Tiburones de La Guaira players]] [[Category:Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]