Henry Paul Riconda (b. March 17, 1897 in New York City – d. November 15, 1958 in Mahopac, New York), was a professional baseball player who played third base from 1923 to 1930. Harry Riconda played six years in the baseball major leagues and even longer in professional basketball leagues. His pro basketball career ran from 1918 to 1930. Harry served in World War I.

Riconda was mainly a third baseman in the majors, except in 1928 when he mostly played second base, and in 1929 when he appeared in four games, all at shortstop.

He originally came up with the 1923 Athletics, mostly playing third base, and the next season was the regular third baseman, appearing in a few more games than Sammy Hale, who had been the regular in 1923. After a cup of coffee with the 1926 Boston Braves, he came back with the 1928 Brooklyn Robins, at age 31, as their most-utilized backup. The team age was 31, so he fit right in with veterans such as Dave Bancroft (age 37) and Max Carey (age 38). He was back in the majors in 1929 and 1930 for brief appearances with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Interestingly, Harry became part of a manager strategy that has only been employed six times in MLB history - intentionally walking a hitter with the bases loaded. On 5/2/1928, John McGraw paid the supreme compliment to Dodger rookie Del Bissonette by ordering him walked in the 9th inning with the bases loaded and two out. Giants pitcher Larry Benton had allowed two hits before the 9th inning and was nursing a 2-0 lead. Bissonette's walk forced home a run‚ and then Riconda then struck out.

Harry started in minor league ball in 1916, and went on to play at least nine years in the minors. When he hit .335 for the New Haven Indians in 1922, he came to the majors the next year. In 1925, back in the minors, he hit .320 for the Portland Beavers. After a year in the majors, he was back in the minors with Milwaukee in 1927, hitting .353 with a high of 11 home runs. 1929 was a good year as he played on the very successful Kansas City Blues team that won 111 games, with Harry hitting .320 with a lot of doubles.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)