Joe DiFabio, left, poses with Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver at spring training. Back in 1965, DiFabio was the Cards’ first-ever draft pick.
Courtesy DiFabio family
He’s the trivia answer.
The problem is, you’ve never heard of him.
As the Cardinals prepare for Sunday’s first round of the Major League Baseball draft — St. Louis has the fifth pick, its highest since 1998 — we remember (or, perhaps, learn of) the team’s first-ever draft pick, from the summer of 1965.
This career minor leaguer became the first of many first-round “what-ifs” for St. Louis. In fact, years before his 2014 death, the Post-Dispatch in 1993 listed many of them, along with the headline: “Where have you gone, Joe DiFabio?”
Yes, Joseph Phillip DiFabio became part of Cardinals history 60 years ago — but never played for the Cardinals.
“It’s a shame he never got any further than Triple-A,” said DiFabio’s younger brother, Al. “I guess he was one of (those players) that just didn’t like to work out. And what happens when you don’t like to work out? There’s always something. There’s always some tweak, whether it be a shoulder or an elbow. And you know how that works.”
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A right-handed hurler, DiFabio was quite a fascinating fellow. Two of his high school baseball coaches went on to become Hall of Fame coaches — basketball Hall of Fames. Meanwhile, his college coach pitched against the Cardinals in the World Series. And in DiFabio’s final season in college, his ERA was barely an ERA at all — just 0.55.
DiFabio hailed from Cranford, New Jersey, a town of around 23,000 — and he went to Cranford High. Sure enough, so did Gordon Graceffo, a 2021 Cardinals draft pick who has pitched in 10 games for St. Louis this season.
Joe DiFabio, the Cardinals’ first-ever draft pick, poses in the team’s 1967 yearbook.
Courtesy St. Louis Cardinals
Hall of Fame and Museum
“That’s a crazy coincidence,” said Graceffo, who in a way, 60 years later, is living out DiFabio’s dream as a Cranford Cardinal.
When DiFabio pitched for Cranford High, family members said, Rollie Massimino was one of the coaches, followed by Hubie Brown. Massimino, famously, led Villanova’s basketball team to the 1985 NCAA championship (he’s in the College Basketball Hall of Fame). Brown became the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks — and later was one of basketball’s finest television commentators (he’s in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame).
“You know, you’re a product of the people you hang out with,” Al DiFabio said. “So if you hang out with quality people, chances are you’re going to be quality. … And he had a good change-up and a nasty curveball. That’s what he was known for.”
Joe DiFabio didn’t have children — but he became the godfather of his nephew Tony. Over the decades, Tony has collected memorabilia and memories about his trivia-answer uncle.
“From what I hear, he was just amazing (in high school),” Tony said. “I used to go to the Yogi Berra annual golf outing in New Jersey up until he died. You ever heard of Al Santorini? He’s also from Jersey. He had a decent playing career (including 24 starts for the Cardinals in the early 1970s). We were talking at that event, and he was telling me some stories about how (DiFabio) was untouchable.”
To this day, there are some fun stories they tell back home.
One time, scouts watched DiFabio pitch, while Tony’s dad, Tony Sr., was the catcher.
“So,” Tony said, “he told my dad to make it look like it hurt!”
Another time, some neighborhood no-good didn’t think DiFabio was all that. He wanted to see for himself. So he asked to catch a DiFabio throw.
“Well, he uncorked one,” Al said, “and the glove flew off the guy’s hand!”
At Delta State (in Mississippi), DiFabio played for Dave “Boo” Ferriss, who went 26-5 for the 1946 Red Sox. That fall, of course, Boston played St. Louis. Ferriss pitched a shutout in Game 3 of the World Series. And he started the famous Game 7 — allowing three runs in 4 1/3 innings (Boston later tied the game, until Enos “Country” Slaughter’s “mad dash” scored the go-ahead run for the Cards in the bottom of the eighth).
Before 1965, ballplayers were simply signed out of high school or college. But the new draft would create opportunities for smaller-market teams — or perennial losing teams — to draft players they might not have otherwise signed. Rick Monday, who went on to play 19 MLB seasons, was the first-ever first pick (he was selected by the Kansas City Athletics). Some other notable names from baseball history were nabbed in the 1965 first round — Ray Fosse, Gene Lamont and Bernie Carbo. And with the final pick (No. 20) in the first round, the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals selected 20-year-old Joe DiFabio from Delta State.
When DiFabio received the Cards’ call, as detailed in the next day’s Newark Star-Ledger, his voice got high-pitched, and he said: “What? Holy mackerel!”
But when he arrived in the minors, it appeared as if at school he often ate a school of mackerel.
“When he got drafted, he got chubby for, like, the first couple years,” Tony said. “They made him lose 20 pounds.”
After a disappointing 1965, DiFabio was fabulous in 1966 for the Class A club (11-3, 1.86 ERA in 17 starts) — but he struggled in Class AA (0-2, 5.57 in six starts).
With pitching coach Warren Spahn in Tulsa, DiFabio had a 3.65 ERA in 10 starts during a 1967 stint in Triple-A. But he never got the call; St. Louis instead called upon other young hurlers, notably a certain lefty.
Joe DiFabio, left, the Cardinals’ first-ever draft pick, stands with St. Louis outfielder Roger Maris at spring training.
Courtesy DiFabio family
In 1968, DiFabio had a tiny 2.17 ERA — but that was back down in Class AA.
In 1969, he was horrible in Class AAA.
In 1970, he was back in Class AA.
In 1971, he was released and signed with the Reds organization.
In 1972, he was out of baseball.
DiFabio later spent time in New Jersey and Florida and New Jersey again.
“He died in the house he grew up in.” Tony said. “… When he was alive, you know, I kind of took it for granted. I didn’t realize what a big deal that he really was — I didn’t know until the last 10 years that he was the actual first Cardinal ever drafted.”
But his legacy lives on in the stories back in Jersey — and in Graceffo’s right arm.
Tony owns a pest control company, and he also runs an online sports collectible store. While on the phone for this piece, I told him about the Cranford High connection with 2025 Cardinal Gordon Graceffo.
“Wait, I know that name!” Tony said. “I literally have his first Topps autographed rookie right here on my desk. I didn’t know he’s from Cranford! That’s crazy.”
Joe DiFabio, the Cardinals’ first-ever draft pick, poses in the team’s 1967 yearbook. Photo courtesy of St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum.
In today’s 10 AM “Ten Hochman” video, Ben Hochman discusses SLU’s Terrence Hargrove and Mizzou’s Tamar Bates, both teammates on the Nuggets’ summer league team! Plus, a happy birthday shoutout to So Taguchi! And as always, Hochman picks a random Cards card out of the hat!
Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
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