On opening day in 1936, I was sitting on the bench in Boston. They had made a deal with San Diego for Bobby Doerr and George Myatt. Mr. Cronin said [Bill] Lane had called and told him, “You either send me Salvo right away or I’m calling this deal off!” Cronin showed me the telegraph and asked how I’d like to go. I said I’d prefer to fly... They held up the plane and it was raining like hell. It was my first flight in a plane. It was one of those old Tri-Motors with motors on each wing and one in the middle. I met the team in Oakland. [Manny Salvo interview by Bill Swank, 4 February 1995.]

A native of Sacramento, California, Manuel Salvo (June 30, 1912 – February 7, 1997) was the son of Giuseppe "Joseph" Salvo and Vincenza Asta; brother of Joseph, Mary, Nunzie, Jasper and Dominic. He was a Major League Baseball pitcher. The 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 210 lb (95 kg) right-hander played for the New York Giants (1939), Boston Bees (1940), Boston Braves (1941–43), and Philadelphia Phillies (1943). His nickname was "Gyp", short for "Gypsy".

The tall right-hander pitched in professional baseball for 17 seasons, 1932 through 1949, with the exception of one season (1945) when he served with the United States Army during World War II. His first appearance in pro ball was made with the Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League at the age of 20 in 1932. This would be the first of 13 seasons for Salvo in the minor leagues.

In 1938, when he went 22-9 with a 2.60 ERA for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League and in 1944 when he was 18-7 with the Oakland Oaks of the same league. Salvo would have seven double digit winning seasons in the minors, five of them on the plus .500 side, building a 143-125 record and a 3.31 ERA, while pitching 2,273 innings.

Manny would also spend all or parts of five seasons in the major leagues from 1939 through 1943. He had his best MLB season statistically in 1940 with the Bees. He won 10, lost 9, making it the only season of his career in which he finished with more wins than losses. He also shared the National League lead with 5 shutouts, and ranked eighth in the league with a 3.08 earned run average.

While Salvo had a poor win-loss record, his career Adjusted ERA+ was only slightly below average at 98. He only pitched for one winning team, the 1939 Giants, and at 77–74 they were barely over the .500 mark.

Salvo died at the age of 83 in Vallejo, California.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, Find A Grave, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)