Joe Moceri
| Date and Place of Birth: | May 24, 1924 Detroit, MI |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 30, 1944 Normandy, France |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Private |
| Military Unit: | 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Joseph T. Moceri grew up in Detroit dreaming of playing for the
Tigers. He was always playing baseball and was a standout athlete at St.
Clair High School. In 1939, the big 15-year-old had a 14-1 won-loss
record pitching for the Roose-Vanker Post 286 American Legion junior
baseball team that competed in the national regional baseball
tournament. On August 13, 1939, Moceri struck out 16 Louisville American
Legion batters in an 11-9 semi-final win to help his team advance to the
Eastern Sectional Finals in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they were
eventually stopped.
Moceri was signed by Detroit Tigers scout Aloysius "Wish" Egan in
October 1940. "A big boy," said Egan later. "He was the kind of prospect
you don't find every day and is almost certain to make the grade in the
big show."
In 1941, Moceri was 17, and joined the Tigers for spring training at
Lakeland, Florida, before being one of four newly signed Detroit
youngsters assigned to the Muskegon Reds of the Class C Michigan State
League.2 Moceri was the Opening Day starter for the Reds and although
beaten by Grand Rapids, 4-3, he hurled a strong seven innings, allowing
eight hits and striking out two. He went on to pitch another 28 games
for the fourth-place club, for a 9-5 won-loss record, and his seemingly
high 4.53 ERA ranked eighth best in the league. Furthermore, he showed
promise at the plate with a .324 batting average (22 for 68). One of
Moceri's best performances of the season was against St. Joseph on June
22, when he beat the Autos, 7-4, on seven hits and struck out 11, while
collecting three hits at the plate.
In 1942, he was assigned to the Winston-Salem Twins of the Class B
Piedmont League, and was the starting pitcher on Opening Day against
Greensboro. In near freezing weather, Moceri lost the game, 11-10. It
was the first of 13 losses he would suffer during the year with the
basement-dwelling team. The season did, however, have occasional
highlights. On June 17, he threw a 3-1 five-hit victory against
Richmond, and on August 4 he beat Richmond again on five hits, 5-1,
bagging himself a double and single at the plate.
Moceri entered military service with the Army at the beginning of 1943,
and initially served at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he was the
pitching ace of the 106th Infantry Division Lions. Private Moceri was
sent overseas to England in 1944, where he joined the 175th Infantry
Regiment of the 29th "Blue and Gray" Infantry Division. At 6:30 A.M. on
June 7, 1944 (D-Day plus one) the 175th Infantry Regiment landed at
Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. They were faced with the carnage and
devastation that had besieged their comrades 24 hours earlier, stepping
over bodies as they made their way to the causeways that led them
inland. Nearly 1,300 American troops had lost their lives on Omaha
Beach.
The regiment moved inland where hedgerows - high earthen walls, topped
with bushes and trees - lined every field of the picturesque but deadly
Normandy countryside. Behind these barriers the veteran German
infantrymen waited and struck the young GIs when they were at their most
vulnerable. Bitter fighting persisted as they made their way towards
their objective, the town of Saint-Lo, 25 miles inland. On June 30,
1944, as the regiment approached the outskirts of the town, Private
Moceri was killed in action. His ball glove was found among his
possessions.
Moceri was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in
Colleville-sur-Mer, France, but at the request of the family, his body
was returned to the United States after the war ended and now rests at
Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
IP |
ER |
BB |
SO |
W |
L |
ERA |
| 1941 | Muskegon | Michigan State | C | 29 | 153 | 77 | 71 | 94 | 9 | 5 | 4.53 |
| 1942 | Winston-Salem | Piedmont | B | 25 | 138 | 62 | 96 | 87 | 5 | 13 | 4.04 |
Thanks to Paul Corcoran MD for help with this biography.
Date Added February 2, 2012 Updated June 6, 2014
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