Ricky Paul Bottalico ( born August 26, 1969) is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers. He compiled a career 3.99 earned run average (ERA), with 116 saves. Bottalico played for South Catholic High School in Hartford, Connecticut under coach Tom DiFiore; Bottalico went on to attend Central Connecticut State University. On August 2, 1998, while pitching for the Phillies in a game against the San Francisco Giants, Bottalico hit Barry Bonds with a pitch, after which Bonds charged the mound in pursuit of Bottalico, igniting a bench-clearing brawl. The incident resulted in the ejection from the game of both players by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson. After having spent the majority of his early career as a closer, Bottalico’s saves dwindled to a total of five in his last five seasons. As his playing career wound down, the Brewers released him in July 2005. Following a brief August trial with the Boston Red Sox’ AAA team, he was released again, later that month. In 2006, Bottalico was signed by the Baltimore Orioles to a minor-league contract and invited to spring training; however, he failed to make the team, and was released. Throughout his career, Bottalico had many more games finished (GF) (301) than save opportunities (SVO) (160). Bottalico is a commentator for Phillies Pregame Live and Phillies Postgame Live, appearing before and after Phillies broadcasts on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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