Antonelli received the biggest bonus in history to that point when he signed with the Braves for $65,000 in 1948. Rules at the time mandated that he spend two full years on the big league club for receiving a large bonus, but he was little used and then served in Korea. By the time he became a regular in 1953, he showed little of his initial promise. He was dealt to the Giants along with several other players for Bobby Thomson.

The trade ended up being a steal for the Giants. Thompson fractured his ankle early in the 1954 season while Antonelli went 21-7, led the league in ERA (2.30), was selected an All-Star, and led the Giants to a pennant, facing the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. Antonelli started and won Game 2, then came into Game 4 as a reliever to shut down an Indian rally, as the Giants pulled off a surprising sweep. Antonelli pitched well for several more years, making four straight All-Star teams from 1956-59, before his skills suddenly faded.

YEAR TEAM AGE W L PCT G GS CG SV GF IP H R ER BB SO ERA RSAA 1948 Braves 18 0 0 4 0 0 1 4 4 2 1 1 3 0 2.25 1 1949 Braves 19 3 7 .300 22 10 3 0 6 96 99 49 38 42 48 3.56 3 1950 Braves 20 2 3 .400 20 6 2 0 6 59 81 46 38 22 33 5.80 -15 1953 Braves 23 12 12 .500 31 26 11 1 2 175 167 83 62 71 131 3.19 14 1954 Giants 24 21 7 .750 39 37 18 2 2 259 209 78 66 94 152 2.29 53 1955 Giants 25 14 16 .467 38 34 14 1 1 235 206 105 87 82 143 3.33 16 1956 Giants 26 20 13 .606 41 36 15 1 5 258 225 93 82 75 145 2.86 22 1957 Giants 27 12 18 .400 40 30 8 0 6 212 228 98 89 67 114 3.78 6 1958 Giants 28 16 13 .552 41 34 13 3 5 242 216 101 88 87 143 3.27 19 1959 Giants 29 19 10 .655 40 38 17 1 1 282 247 107 97 76 165 3.10 18 1960 Giants 30 6 7 .462 41 10 1 11 19 112 106 51 47 47 57 3.78 -6 1961 Indians 31 0 4 .000 11 7 0 0 0 48 68 39 35 18 23 6.56 -14 Braves 31 1 0 1.000 9 0 0 0 4 11 16 9 9 3 8 7.36 -5 TOTALS 1 4 .200 20 7 0 0 4 59 84 48 44 21 31 6.71 -19 TOTALS 126 110 .534 377 268 102 21 61 1993 1870 860 739 687 1162 3.34 112 LG AVERAGE 111 111 .500 82 13 1993 1984 994 880 745 1043 3.98 0 YEAR TEAM HR H/9 BR/9 SO/9 BB/9 SO/BB SHO WP IBB HBP BFP BK NW NL 1948 Braves 0 4.50 11.25 0.00 6.75 0.00 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 1949 Braves 6 9.28 13.41 4.50 3.94 1.14 1 3 0 2 416 0 5 5 1950 Braves 2 12.36 16.32 5.03 3.36 1.50 1 0 0 4 275 1 1 4 1953 Braves 15 8.59 12.29 6.74 3.65 1.85 2 3 0 1 763 0 14 10 1954 Giants 22 7.26 10.70 5.28 3.27 1.62 6 2 0 5 1071 0 21 7 1955 Giants 24 7.89 11.45 5.48 3.14 1.74 2 3 5 11 986 0 17 13 1956 Giants 20 7.85 10.57 5.06 2.62 1.93 5 6 10 3 1061 0 20 13 1957 Giants 19 9.68 12.65 4.84 2.84 1.70 3 3 7 3 915 0 16 14 1958 Giants 31 8.03 11.38 5.32 3.24 1.64 0 4 7 3 1014 0 17 12 1959 Giants 29 7.88 10.40 5.27 2.43 2.17 4 1 6 3 1150 0 17 12 1960 Giants 7 8.52 12.46 4.58 3.78 1.21 1 1 10 2 480 0 6 7 1961 Indians 8 12.75 16.31 4.31 3.38 1.28 0 1 0 1 225 0 1 3 Braves 2 13.09 15.55 6.55 2.45 2.67 0 0 0 0 51 0 0 1 TOTALS 10 12.81 16.17 4.73 3.20 1.48 0 1 0 1 276 0 1 4 TOTALS 185 8.44 11.72 5.25 3.10 1.69 25 27 45 38 8424 1 135 101 LG AVERAGE 210 8.96 12.51 4.71 3.37 1.40 13 45 55 41 8554 4 JOHNNY ANTONELLI LEAGUE LEADERSHIP RANKINGS

1950 NL WORST RSAA T9TH -15

1953 NL COMPLETE GAMES T8TH 11; STRIKEOUTS 7TH 131; ERA 5TH 3.19; HITS/9 IP 9TH 8.59; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 3RD 6.74; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 7TH 1.85; SHUTOUTS T10TH 2; NEUTRAL WINS T8TH 14

1954 NL WINS T2ND 21; WINNING PERCENTAGE 1ST .750; GAMES STARTED T2ND 37; COMPLETE GAMES 4TH 18; INNINGS PITCHED 5TH 259; WALKS 5TH 94; STRIKEOUTS 4TH 152; ERA 1ST 2.29; RSAA 1ST 53; HITS/9 IP 1ST 7.26; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 2ND 10.70; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 4TH 5.28; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 6TH 1.62; SHUTOUTS 1ST 6; HIT BY PITCHES T8TH 5; BATTERS FACED 6TH 1071; NEUTRAL WINS 2ND 21

1955 NL WINS T5TH 14; LOSSES T2ND 16; GAMES STARTED T2ND 34; COMPLETE GAMES T4TH 14; INNINGS PITCHED 5TH 235; HITS 10TH 206; RUNS 9TH 105; WALKS T3RD 82; STRIKEOUTS T4TH 143; ERA 6TH 3.33; RSAA 8TH 16; HITS/9 IP 4TH 7.89; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 9TH 11.45; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 6TH 5.48; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 9TH 1.74; SHUTOUTS T7TH 2; HIT BY PITCHES 2ND 11; BATTERS FACED 6TH 986; NEUTRAL WINS T2ND 17; NEUTRAL LOSSES 8TH 13

1956 NL WINS T2ND 20; LOSSES T10TH 13; WINNING PERCENTAGE 9TH .606; GAMES STARTED T4TH 36; COMPLETE GAMES 6TH 15; INNINGS PITCHED 6TH 258; HITS 6TH 225; STRIKEOUTS 6TH 145; ERA 3RD 2.86; RSAA 4TH 22; HITS/9 IP 6TH 7.85; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 6TH 10.57; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 7TH 5.06; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 10TH 1.93; SHUTOUTS T2ND 5; WILD PITCHES T9TH 6; BATTERS FACED 5TH 1061; NEUTRAL WINS T1ST 20; NEUTRAL LOSSES T8TH 13

1957 NL LOSSES T2ND 18; HITS 8TH 228; SHUTOUTS T5TH 3; NEUTRAL WINS T5TH 16; NEUTRAL LOSSES T3RD 14

1958 NL WINS 6TH 16; LOSSES T7TH 13; WINNING PERCENTAGE 8TH .552; GAMES STARTED T5TH 34; COMPLETE GAMES 7TH 13; INNINGS PITCHED 7TH 242; HITS 8TH 216; WALKS 7TH 87; STRIKEOUTS T3RD 143; ERA 6TH 3.27; RSAA 5TH 19; HOMERUNS T1ST 31; HITS/9 IP 6TH 8.03; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 6TH 11.38; BATTERS FACED 7TH 1014; NEUTRAL WINS T5TH 17; NEUTRAL LOSSES T8TH 12

1959 NL WINS 4TH 19; WINNING PERCENTAGE 2ND .655; GAMES STARTED 2ND 38; COMPLETE GAMES T5TH 17; INNINGS PITCHED 3RD 282; HITS 6TH 247; RUNS 8TH 107; EARNED RUNS 8TH 97; WALKS 10TH 76; STRIKEOUTS 4TH 165; ERA 7TH 3.10; HOMERUNS 3RD 29; HITS/9 IP 5TH 7.88; BASERUNNERS/9 IP 5TH 10.40; STRIKEOUTS/9 IP 10TH 5.27; STRIKEOUTS/WALKS 8TH 2.17; SHUTOUTS T1ST 4; BATTERS FACED 3RD 1150; NEUTRAL WINS T3RD 17

1960 NL SAVES T5TH 11; INTENTIONAL WALKS T6TH 10