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

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