Michael Anthony Harkey (born October 25, 1966) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and current coach. He played in

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), ...

as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

from 1988 to 1997 for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, California Angels, and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. After his playing career, Harkey became a coach for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

in 2006 and the New York Yankees from 2008 through 2013, before joining the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, who he coached in 2014 and 2015. He returned to the Yankees in 2016 and is currently serving as their bullpen coach.

Playing career

Harkey was born in San Diego, California and attended

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

(CSU) Fullerton, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the CSU Fullerton Titans. He was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in the

1987 Major League Baseball Draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional con ...

. In 1990, Harkey finished the season with a record of 12–6 with a 3.26

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He played in the majors in 1988, 1990 through 1995, and then 1997 before retiring. He was plagued by shoulder and arm injuries throughout his early career with the Cubs. On September 6, 1992, during pregame warmups, he attempted a cartwheel in the

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

outfield, severely damaging his knee.

Coaching career

Harkey served as pitching coach in Minor League Baseball for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2000, the

Fort Wayne Wizards A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in 2001 and 2003, the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

in 2002 and 2004, the

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

in 2005, and the Iowa Cubs in 2007. He served as the bullpen coach for the

in 2006. Harkey joined the Yankees for the 2008 season. Under Harkey, the Yankees bullpen played a major role in their success during the 2009 season, culminating in a victory in the

2009 World Series The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National Leag ...

. He served as the bullpen coach for six seasons. After the 2013 season, he was hired as the Diamondbacks' pitching coach. The Diamondbacks fired Harkey after the 2015 season. He returned to the Yankees as their bullpen coach for the 2016 season.

Personal life

Harkey's son, Tony, is a former infielder for the Cal State-Fullerton Titans and Concordia University Irvine baseball team. Tony won a NAIA World Series title in 2011 with the Concordia University Irvine Eagles. His son Cory Harkey was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the Los Angeles Rams and is now serving as a Special Teams Assistant Coach for the Buffalo Bills.

Notes

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Harkey, Mike 1966 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players Albuquerque Dukes players Arizona Diamondbacks coaches Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from San Diego California Angels players Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball players Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Florida Marlins coaches Iowa Cubs players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Minor league baseball coaches New York Yankees coaches Oakland Athletics players Orlando Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Pittsfield Cubs players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players