Dave Giusti
David John Giusti Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1962 to 1977 for the Houston Colt.45's / Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs. Giusti played for Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between and and won the World Series in.
Career
Giusti attended Syracuse University, where he played college baseball and college basketball for the Syracuse Orangemen. Giusti pitched in the 1961 College World Series as a starting pitcher. He signed out of college as a free agent with the Houston Colt.45s, and played for them from 1962 through 1968.Shortly before the 1968 expansion draft, the Astros traded Giusti and Dave Adlesh to the St. Louis Cardinals for Johnny Edwards and Tommy Smith. The Cardinals left him unprotected in the expansion draft, and the San Diego Padres selected him in the third round. Two months later, the Padres traded Giusti back to the Cardinals for Danny Breeden, Ron Davis, Ed Spiezio, and Philip Knuckles. He competed for the fifth starter's role in spring training but lost out to Mike Torrez.
After the 1969 baseball season, the Cardinals traded Giusti to the Pittsburgh Pirates with Dave Ricketts for Carl Taylor and Frank Vanzin. With the Pirates, he was converted into a relief pitcher by manager Danny Murtaugh, and Giusti soon became their closer. Giusti recorded 26 saves his first season in Pittsburgh, finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young voting and sixth in the NL MVP balloting.
In 1971, Giusti led the National League with 30 saves and appeared in three games for Pittsburgh in the 1971 World Series, earning a save in Game Four. Giusti won The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award that year. Giusti was selected for the National League's All-Star Team in 1973. He pitched a one-two-three seventh inning as the National League won the game 7–1. From 1970 to 1975, Giusti led all Major League baseball pitchers in saves with 127.
Shortly before the start of the 1977 season, Giusti was traded to the Oakland Athletics as part of a ten-player trade, which also sent Tony Armas, Rick Langford, Doug Bair, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page to Oakland and Phil Garner, Chris Batton, and Tommy Helms to Pittsburgh. In August, the Athletics sold Giusti's contract to the Chicago Cubs with whom Giusti finished the season, and after being released by the Cubs in November, Giusti retired from baseball.
Giusti's most valuable baseball pitch was his palmball. His 133 career saves with Pittsburgh, rank fourth overall in Pirates history and his 410 games with the franchise rank eighth overall.
Personal life and death
Giusti married Virginia Lee Frykman, who he met at Syracuse, in 1963. After his baseball career, Giusti lived in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He worked for Millcraft Industries before he became a corporate sales manager for American Express.Giusti died on January 11, 2026, at the age of 86.