Former Dodger player battled batters on both coasts

Moorpark resident played with team during its move from Brooklyn



LET’S PLAY BALL—Moorpark resident Ralph Mauriello played for the Dodgers organization while taking classes at USC. He wrote a book about his experiences titled “Tales Beyond the Dugout: The Zany Antics of Baseball Players of the Fifties. Here the 83-year-old is in his office on Jan. 11. Photos by RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

LET’S PLAY BALL—Moorpark resident Ralph Mauriello played for the Dodgers organization while taking classes at USC. He wrote a book about his experiences titled “Tales Beyond the Dugout: The Zany Antics of Baseball Players of the Fifties. Here the 83-year-old is in his office on Jan. 11. Photos by RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

Ralph Mauriello has lived in California since 1948, but his voice still carries a hint of a Brooklyn accent.

HOME RUN—The official program from a 1958 Major League game that Moorpark resident Ralph Mauriello—who played on the Dodgers’ minor league team— pitched against the Cubs, along with a picture of him the day after.

HOME RUN—The official program from a 1958 Major League game that Moorpark resident Ralph Mauriello—who played on the Dodgers’ minor league team— pitched against the Cubs, along with a picture of him the day after.

The Moorpark resident’s East Coast roots are part of his book, “Tales Beyond the Dugout: The Zany Antics of Baseball Players of the Fifties,” which he self-published in 2017.

Mauriello dictated the majority of the memoir, which features tales of his time with the Dodgers, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles.

The 83-year-old was born and raised in Brooklyn, but he moved with his parents to California when he was 14 years old. He first made a name for himself in the world of high school baseball.

“I was a bit of a celebrity when I went to North Hollywood High School in the early ’50s and as the result of that I got to be picked for a national all-star team,” he said.

Mauriello was the all-star team’s starting pitcher when it played a 1952 game in New York City. As if playing in his hometown wasn’t enough of a thrill for the teenager, he was invited to work out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers were impressed with his skills and offered him a contract in August 1952. The Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians showed interest as well, but Mauriello signed with the Dodgers because he wanted to play in his hometown.

For the next eight years, he played for the Dodgers organization. When he wasn’t playing baseball, he was taking classes at USC, slowly working toward a bachelor’s degree.

He started at the university in 1952, the same year he joined the Dodgers. When he enrolled, Mauriello informed the school registrar he wanted to major in engineering. The university official told him to be more specific. Mauriello asked what type of engineering was the hardest.

“Electrical,” the registrar replied.

“Sign me up,” said Mauriello.

During baseball season, April through September, the right-hander pitched for various minor league teams affiliated with the Dodgers, like the Mobile Bears in Alabama and the Santa Barbara Dodgers.

“The best way to sum up my career: I was a winning pitcher in the minor leagues, but I was never quite good enough to (succeed in the majors),” Mauriello said.

His one chance to play in the majors came in 1958, the year the Brooklyn Dodgers headed west and became the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched in three major league games, earning just one win.

Although many Dodger fans were outraged by the team’s move from Brooklyn to L.A., Mauriello was psyched about the change.

“It was wonderful because it told me I was going to have a chance to play at home,” he said. “Home for me was Los Angeles. The time I was with the (L.A.) Dodgers, it was great. I lived at home and I drove to the ballpark.”

After 1958, Mauriello pitched for two more seasons in the minor leagues before deciding to finish his bachelor’s degree and pursue a career in electrical engineering.

In his book, he’s less concerned with what happened on the field than what happened off it as he includes many accounts about his teammates.

His favorite story, he said, is when Mobile Bears teammate Kenny Hemphill went missing for a week in 1955 and, upon returning, said he’d gotten married. When a few married teammates invited him and his wife to dinner, Hemphill said she couldn’t come because she had school the next day.

“Just how old is she?” Mauriello and his teammates demanded.

“Thirteen,” Hemphill said.

After his wild career in baseball, Mauriello became an electrical engineer. He earned his bachelor’s degree from USC in 1961 and his master’s four years later. He got a job designing computers with Litton Industries, a San Fernando Valley-based electronics company.

Mauriello and his wife, June, were married in 1959 and moved to Moorpark in 2000, attracted by the city’s fair weather. Their long love story is chronicled in the book, too.

“I picked him up at a ballpark,” June Mauriello said. “He was playing for the L.A. Angels, who were owned by the Dodgers then. My sister and I kind of faked a car problem and he helped us start the car and that was kind of the beginning.”

The pitcher-turned-engineer wrote his book at the urging of his wife and three daughters, Tami, Gina and Michelle.

“(My daughters and I) get a lot of (stories) and we get a lot of repeats, too, because he tells the stories to so many different people and I’m there usually,” June said. “But it’s OK because he loves doing it and he loves talking to people and telling them about his life.”

These days, Mauriello is retired and splits his time between singing and volunteering.

He’s been a member of the San Fernando Valley Male Chorus since 1964 and the Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church Choir since 1971. Once a year, he sings the national anthem for the Dodgers. On Feb. 24, he’ll perform the anthem at a Simi Valley Little League game.

He’s dedicated to Moorpark, as well. In 2006 he was named Senior of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce for his work with the High Street Arts Center, and every year he helps organize Country Days.

“I know how to get things done, and I do it,” he said.