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Michael Dennis Ferraro (born August 18, 1944) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played for the New York Yankees (1966; 1968) and the Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (1969; 1972). Ferraro threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

Mike Ferraro
Third baseman
Born: (1944-08-18) August 18, 1944 (age 78) Kingston, New York
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 1966, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1972, for the Milwaukee Brewers
MLB statistics
Batting average	.232
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	30
Teams
As Player New York Yankees (1966, 1968) Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers (1969, 1972) As Coach New York Yankees (1979–1982) Kansas City Royals (1984–1986) New York Yankees (1987–1991) Baltimore Orioles (1993) As Manager Cleveland Indians (1983) Kansas City Royals (1986)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1985)

Early life and amateur career

Ferraro attended Kingston High School in Kingston, New York where he played baseball, basketball and football. As a senior in high school, he led all of Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan and Orange Counties with a .585 batting average on the baseball field and with 21.5 points per game on the basketball court.[1]

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, 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 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. Willie Randolph was on second base in the top of the eighth with two outs and the Yankees down by a run. Bob Watson hit a ball to the left field corner of Royals Stadium. 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 was in position behind him to catch the ball, then throw to Darrell Porter, who tagged out Randolph in a slide. TV cameras captured a furious George Steinbrenner fuming immediately after the play. The Yankees lost the game 3–2, then lost the series in three games.[2] After the game, Steinbrenner publicly criticized Ferraro for the call.^{[citation needed]} Steinbrenner wanted Ferraro fired immediately, but manager Dick Howser stuck up for him and refused to do so. Tommy John said that, "By refusing to fire Ferraro, Howser sealed his fate as Yankee manager."[2]

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 to replace Dave Garcia after the 1982 season, but after a 40–60 start in 1983, he was fired.[3] 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 in July 1986, Ferraro, a survivor of kidney cancer,[4] 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 in 1993.

Managerial record

Team	Year	Regular season					Postseason
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
CLE	1983	100	40	60	.400	fired	–	–	–	–
CLE total		100	40	60	.400		0	0	–
KC	1986	74	36	38	.486	3rd in AL West	–	–	–	–
KC total		74	36	38	.486		0	0	–
Total		174	76	98	.437		0	0	–

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet

Preceded by Dick Howser Don Zimmer	New York Yankees third-base coach 1979–1980 1987	Succeeded by Joe Altobelli Clete Boyer
Preceded by Jeff Torborg Stump Merrill Pat Corrales	New York Yankees first-base coach 1981–1982 1988 1990–1991	Succeeded by Yogi Berra Pat Corrales Ed Napoleon
Preceded by Joe Nossek	Kansas City Royals third-base coach 1984–1986	Succeeded by Billy Gardner
Preceded by Cal Ripken Sr.	Baltimore Orioles third-base coach 1993	Succeeded by Jerry Narron

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