"Gino was a part of history not just as a member of both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, but throughout the game of baseball because of his role in the first-ever big league game on the West Coast. The rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants picked up where it left off in New York and Gino was the fortunate one to lead off that afternoon in his hometown." - Los Angeles Dodger Press Release (Ken Gurnick, 'First West Coast batter Cimoli dies at 81', 02/13/2011, Source)

Gino Anichletto Cimoli was born on December 18, 1929, and grew up in the predominantly Italian-American North Beach section of San Francisco. He was an outfielder who for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Angels from 1956 through 1965. He was an MLB All-Star in 1957.

Gino was also a member of the 1960 World Series champion Pirates. In the famous Game 7 in which the Pirates won a series they had been solidly out-played in, Gino pinched hit a single and scored a run.

Cimoli's baseball card in 1958 (No. 286, Topps) in which the background was painted out (see above), shows him swinging a bat, without the bat — which was also painted out.

After retiring from baseball, Cimoli worked as a delivery driver for United Parcel Service where, in 1990, the company honored him for completing 21 years of service without a traffic accident. Baseball players' fortunes have surely changed.

On October 17, 1989, Cimoli and a friend, Ed Silva, went for coffee after Gino completed his shift at UPS. Then the rumbling began, as San Francisco experienced one of its more turbulent earthquakes. Gino and Silva ran out into the street and the UPS truck became an ambulance. They checked houses along the street. In one house Cimoli rescued a woman who had been trapped on the third floor. He helped out other victims as well, traveling throughout the Marina area.

Cimoli served a term as president of the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club (2001-2002), and in his later years could always be found there at the card table.

(excerpted from SABR, BR Bullpen, and Wikipedia)