Tony Lazzeri

Who was Tony Lazzeri?

Anthony Michael "Tony" Lazzeri was an American professional baseball second baseman during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s, along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel.

Lazzeri was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He dropped out of school to work with his father as a boilermaker, but at the age of 18, began to play baseball professionally. After playing in minor league baseball from 1922 through 1925, Lazzeri joined the Yankees in 1926. He was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. He was nicknamed "Poosh 'Em Up" by Italian-speaking fans, from a mistranslation of an Italian phrase meaning to "hit it out".

Lazzeri is one of only 14 major league baseball players to hit for the natural cycle and the only player to complete a natural cycle with a grand slam. Lazzeri was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1991.