Nick Testa | |
Position: | Catcher |
Bats: | Right |
Throws: | Right |
Birth Date: | 29 June 1928 |
Birth Place: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Death Place: | Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S. |
Debutleague: | MLB |
Debutdate: | April 23 |
Debutyear: | 1958 |
Debutteam: | San Francisco Giants |
Finalleague: | MLB |
Finaldate: | April 23 |
Finalyear: | 1958 |
Finalteam: | San Francisco Giants |
Debut2league: | NPB |
Debut2date: | April 8 |
Debut2year: | 1962 |
Debut2team: | Damai Orions |
Final2league: | NPB |
Final2date: | September 20 |
Final2year: | 1962 |
Final2team: | Damai Orions |
Statleague: | MLB |
Stat1label: | Games played |
Stat1value: | 1 |
Stat2label: | At bats |
Stat2value: | 0 |
Stat3label: | hits |
Stat3value: | 0 |
Stat2league: | NPB |
Stat21label: | Batting average |
Stat21value: | .136 |
Stat22label: | Home runs |
Stat22value: | 0 |
Stat23label: | Runs batted in |
Stat23value: | 5 |
Teams: |
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Nicholas Testa (June 29, 1928 – November 16, 2018) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach. He played briefly in both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball.
Testa was born in New York City to Italian immigrants, and was raised in the Bronx. He began his professional career in at the age of 17 with the Newburgh Hummingbirds. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5feet tall and weighed .
Testa had one of the briefest major league careers ever. He played just one inning of one game for the San Francisco Giants in, never coming to bat in the major leagues. In his one chance on defense, he committed an error.[1] Later that season, Testa was named the team's bullpen coach.[2]
Testa played for several more seasons in the minor leagues, eventually making his way to Japan in . That year, he played in 57 games for the Daimai Orions, batting .136 with five RBI.[3] Testa later served as a coach for the St. Lucie Legends in the Senior Professional Baseball Association during their lone year of existence in . He also coached baseball at Lehman College.
After retiring from Lehman, Testa joined the New York Yankees as their batting practice coach, serving on five World Championship Teams. Testa died in 2018 at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, at the age of 90.[4]