John Paul Poloni (born February 28, 1954 in Dearborn, Michigan, United States) is a left-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared in two games for the Texas Rangers in 1977. He was drafted by the Rangers in the sixth round of the 1975 amateur draft out of Arizona State University.

John spent three seasons in the minor leagues until making his big league debut on September 16, 1977. Pitching against the Minnesota Twins in his first match, Poloni pitched two innings, allowing one earned run while allowing two hits and striking out two batters. The first batter he faced was Butch Wynegar.

He started his second game on October 2 against the Oakland Athletics. He pitched five innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs, while striking out three batters and walking one, earning the win. He was relieved by Roger Moret, who earned the save. In total for his MLB career, Poloni went 1-0 with a 6.43 ERA in seven innings. He allowed eight hits and one walk while striking out five batters and earned a save.

Traded to the Red Sox for 1978 with cash for Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, Poloni spent the year at AAA Pawtucket. After not pitching in 1979, Poloni got his last significant time in 1980, with the Blue Jays at AA Knoxville. In eight seasons as a player on the farm, he went 45-44 with a 4.24 ERA in 120 games (95 starts).

By 1983, Poloni had started his coaching career, serving as pitching coach at single-A Wausau. He moved to the Blue Jays system for 1987 as coach at single-A Myrtle Beach. By 1990, he was pitching coach at AA Knoxville, 1991 at AAA Syracuse. By 1997, Poloni was a scout, scouting for Oakland. He moved to the Rangers by 2003. Then, in 2010, he is credited with with scouting for the Reds.

John was responsible for scouting A's pitcher Tim Hudson as he saw good things in the little righty. Poloni, derisively called the “fat scout” in Moneyball, praised Hudson’s “turbo” sinker and wicked splitter — two dynamic pitches he felt could make up for Hudson’s lack of size. John also loved Hudson’s athleticism, noting that he was, among other things, one of the best hitters on his college team. Hudson went on to be a 4x All-Star in a 17 year career.

(excerpted from The Greatest 21 Days, Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)