Daniel Joseph Morogiello, born March 26, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Frank, was the son of a New York City Police Department detective who’d emigrated from Italy. At Canarsie High School, he captained the Chiefs as a senior and earned three All-City selections. In one memorable outing, he outdueled future big leaguer Pete Falcone of rival Lafayette High, 1-0.

Dan was a 1976 third-round draft choice of the Atlanta Braves. Played a total of 10 professional seasons, reaching the majors with the 1983 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles.

On June 5, 1974, Morogiello was drafted in the eighth-round out of Canarsie High School but chose not to sign. Instead, he went on to pitch two seasons at Seton Hall University for head coach Mike Sheppard, leading the Pirates to the 1975 College World Series. Led by catcher Rick Cerone, the Seton Hall Pirates entered the 1975 College World Series ranked ninth in the nation. Future major league pitcher Charlie Puleo was also on the team, prompting one reporter to dub them the “Italian Battalion".

After being drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1976, he spent several years in the Minor League system before making his Major League debut with the Baltimore Orioles on May 20, 1983, against the Toronto Blue Jays. In his one year in Major League baseball, Morogiello compiled an 0-1 record, with 37.2 innings pitched in 22 appearances with a stellar 2.39 ERA for the World Series champions. On July 11, 1983, Dan picked up his only major league save. He pitched 2 shutout innings to help the Orioles defeat the Athletics, 7-6. His final Major League game was September 22, 1983.

Dan was strong — able to bench press 300 pounds at a time when most ballplayers still avoided the weight room — and his hand strength was legendary. “Morogiello’s claim to fame was that he could tear a phone book in half with his bare hands,” said Cal Ripken.

Following his professional career, he pitched 10 more years in the Met League and was inducted into the Bergen County (NJ) Hall of Fame. Active in over-30 leagues for several years after that, he also served as pitching coach at Hunterdon Central Regional HS from 1999-2002. In 2004, he joined the NJIT Baseball coaching staff where he became a volunteer assistant in working with the NJIT pitching staff.

Memorial Stadium is long gone, but Dan attends the occasional reunions of the 1983 World Series champion Orioles at Camden Yards. “Just getting to the big leagues after all those years in the minors is something that I appreciate,” he said

(excerpted from SABR, Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)