Nicholas Testa (June 29, 1928 – November 16, 2018) was a professional baseball catcher and coach. He played briefly in both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball.
Biography
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 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. Later that season, Testa was named the team's bullpen coach.
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. 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.
See also
List of Florida Gators baseball players
References
External links
1928 births
2018 deaths
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
American military personnel of the Korean War
American people of Italian descent
Baseball players from New York (state) Daimai Orions players Dallas Eagles players Dallas Rangers players Erie Sailors players Florida Gators baseball players Idaho Falls Russets players Jacksonville Tars players Johnstown Johnnies players Little Rock Travelers players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Newburgh Hummingbirds players Omaha Cardinals players Reno Silver Sox players San Francisco Giants coaches San Francisco Giants players Seaford Eagles players Sioux City Soos players Trenton Giants players Walden Hummingbirds players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Yakima Bears players New York Yankees coaches Burials at Saint Raymond's Cemetery (Bronx) Lehman Lightning baseball coaches