August Rodney Mancuso (December 5, 1905 – October 26, 1984), nicknamed "Blackie", was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and radio sports commentator. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals (1928, 1930–32, 1941–42), New York Giants (1933–38, 1942–44), Chicago Cubs (1939), Brooklyn Dodgers (1940) and Philadelphia Phillies (1945). Mancuso was known for his capable handling of pitching staffs and for his on-field leadership abilities. He was a member of five National League pennant-winning teams, and played as the catcher for five pitchers who were eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mancuso was regarded as one of the top defensive catchers of the 1930s. Baseball career Mancuso was born in Galveston, Texas to the son of a Sicilian immigrant and the daughter of German immigrants. His father died in his forties and his mother continued to support the family by working as a midwife. Mancuso first began to play baseball as a nine-year-old. After graduating from high school, he went to work as a teller at a bank although, he was hired more for his talent as a baseball player than as a teller, playing as a member of the bank's baseball team. He eventually caught the attention of the President of the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League, and began his professional baseball career with them in 1925. In 1927, he hit for a .372 batting average for the Syracuse Stars in the International League. He made his Major League debut with the St. Louis Cardinals at the age of 22 on April 30, 1928, and stayed with them until July, when he was sent to the Minneapolis Millers in the American Association. He spent 1929 with St. Louis's American Association farm club, the Rochester Red Wings and with Houston. The Cardinals returned Mancuso to the major leagues in 1930, primarily because of a contract dispute with Branch Rickey that made Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis void Mancuso's minor league contract. He served as a reserve catcher to Jimmie Wilson who Mancuso considered one of the best catchers of the era. Although they competed for the same job, the veteran Wilson provided Mancuso with valuable help in learning the intricacies of catching in the major leagues. Mancuso became a student of the game, learning to study the daily box scores to learn the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams. On