The native of Memphis, Tennessee, batted and threw right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 165 pounds (75 kg).

[1] Antonelli remained a playing skipper in the KITTY League through 1937, where in his final season he managed the Union City Greyhounds, a farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals, to a first-place finish.

He briefly scouted for the Chicago White Sox in the years following, but largely spent the period of 1951–67 out of professional baseball.

In 1969, Antonelli succeeded Pete Pavlick as Memphis manager' and held the post until Roy McMillan arrived from Class-A Visalia to take over the helm.

Antonelli then served as a roving minor league infield instructor in the Mets' system, through 1985.