Michael Dennis Ferraro (born August 18, 1944) is an
American former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
. He played for the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
(; ) and the
Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (; ). Ferraro threw and batted
right-handed
In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...
, stood tall and weighed .
Early life and amateur career
Ferraro attended
Kingston High School in Kingston, New York where he played baseball,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
and
football. As a senior in high school, he led all of
Dutchess,
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
,
Sullivan and
Orange Counties with a .585
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
on the baseball field and with 21.5 points per game on the basketball court.
Professional playing career
Ferraro was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees, where he would have two stints in the Majors with New York. He was left unprotected in the
1968 expansion draft, and he was selected by the
Seattle Pilots, but after only five games and four at-bats, he was traded to the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
, where he spent two years in the minors. However, in 1971, he was traded back to the
Brewers (the Pilots moved to Milwaukee after only one season in Seattle), where he would play his only season as a regular player. In 1973, he was traded to the
Minnesota Twins, but was promptly released. He tried one last comeback with the Yankees in 1974, but he never made it back to the Majors.
Managerial career
He turned to
managing
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
in the Yankee
farm system in 1974, and he was highly successful in his five-year career (through 1978), winning
pennants at Class A,
Double-A and
Triple-A levels. In 1979, he became the Yankees'
third-base coach. Ferraro was involved in a controversial play during Game 2 of the
1980 American League Championship Series
The 1980 American League Championship Series was a best-of-five playoff that featured the American League West champion Kansas City Royals against the American League East champion New York Yankees. This was the fourth matchup between the two t ...
.
Willie Randolph
William Larry Randolph (born July 6, 1954) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played from 1975 to 1992 for six different teams, most notabl ...
was on second base in the top of the eighth with two outs and the Yankees down by a run.
Bob Watson
Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984, most prominently as a member of ...
hit a ball to the left field corner of
Royals Stadium
Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhead S ...
. The ball bounced right to
Willie Wilson, but Wilson was not known for having a great arm, and Ferraro waved Randolph home. Wilson overthrew
U L Washington, the
cut-off man, but
George Brett
George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals.
Brett's 3,154 career hits are second-mo ...
was in position behind him to catch the ball, then throw to
Darrell Porter
Darrell Ray Porter (January 17, 1952 – August 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1971 to 1987 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Range ...
, who tagged out Randolph in a slide. TV cameras captured a furious
George Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...
fuming immediately after the play. The Yankees lost the game 3–2, then lost the series in three games.
After the game, Steinbrenner publicly criticized Ferraro for the call. Steinbrenner wanted Ferraro fired immediately, but manager
Dick Howser
Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first ...
stuck up for him and refused to do so.
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...
said that, "By refusing to fire Ferraro, Howser sealed his fate as Yankee manager."
Though Howser did not return to the Yankees in 1981, Ferraro remained with the team as a coach through the 1982 season. He coached for the Yankees again in 1987–88 and 1990–91.
Ferraro got his first managerial job with the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
to replace
Dave Garcia after the 1982 season, but after a 40–60 start in , he was fired. Ferraro coached with the
Kansas City Royals from 1984 to 1986, working again with Howser, and when Howser stepped down to undergo treatment for a
brain tumor
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...
in July 1986, Ferraro, a survivor of
kidney cancer
Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include sp ...
,
Sports of the times; Mike Ferraro's trauma
/ref> finished the season. His Major League managerial record was 76–98 over parts of two seasons. He also worked as the third base coach of the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
in 1993.
Managerial record
References
External links
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferraro, Mike
1944 births
Living people
Baltimore Orioles coaches
Baseball coaches from New York (state)
Baseball players from New York (state)
Cleveland Indians managers
Columbus Confederate Yankees players
Fort Lauderdale Yankees managers
Fort Lauderdale Yankees players
Kansas City Royals coaches
Kansas City Royals managers
Major League Baseball bench coaches
Major League Baseball first base coaches
Major League Baseball third base coaches
Major League Baseball third basemen
Milwaukee Brewers players
New York Yankees coaches
New York Yankees players
Sportspeople from Kingston, New York
Rochester Red Wings players
Seattle Pilots players
Shelby Colonels players
Spokane Indians players
Syracuse Chiefs players
Tacoma Twins players
Toledo Mud Hens players