| Rick Cerone | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||
| Catcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1954-05-19)May 19, 1954 (age 71) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| August 17, 1975, for the Cleveland Indians | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| July 10, 1992, for the Montreal Expos | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .245 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 436 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Richard Aldo Cerone (born May 19, 1954) is anAmerican former professionalbaseball player, television sportscolor commentator andminor league baseball team owner. He played inMajor League Baseball as acatcher from1975 to1992 with theCleveland Indians,Toronto Blue Jays,New York Yankees,Atlanta Braves,Milwaukee Brewers,Boston Red Sox,New York Mets, andMontreal Expos.
Cerone played high school baseball and football atEssex Catholic High School inNewark, New Jersey.[1][2]
Cerone then attendedSeton Hall University, where he playedcollege baseball for theSeton Hall Pirates under head coachMike Sheppard.
Cerone was drafted by theCleveland Indians with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the1975 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut on August 17, 1975, pinch hitting for first basemanBoog Powell in the top of the ninth inning in a 14–5 win over theMinnesota Twins, as he lined out. Cerone then replaced catcherAlan Ashby in the bottom of the ninth. On August 22, Cerone collected his first career hit, a single offPaul Splittorff of theKansas City Royals. Overall, he finished the season playing in seven games with the Indians, batting .250.
Cerone saw little action again with the Indians in 1976, hitting .125 with an RBI in seven games with the club. On December 6, the Indians traded Cerone andJohn Lowenstein to theToronto Blue Jays forRico Carty.
Cerone joined theToronto Blue Jays for their expansion season in 1977, and was the starting catcher for their first game on April 7, in which he had two hits in their 9-5 victory over theChicago White Sox. On August 17, Cerone hit his first career home run offNelson Briles of theTexas Rangers. Overall, Cerone played in 31 games with Toronto, hitting .200 with a home run and ten RBI.
He saw more playing time with the Blue Jays in 1978, playing in 88 games, hitting .223 with three home runs and 23 RBI, as he split his playing time withAlan Ashby. The Blue Jays traded Ashby after the season, and named Cerone as their primary catcher for the 1979 season.
Cerone appeared in 136 games with Toronto in the 1979 season, hitting .239 with seven home runs. His 61 RBI represented the fourth highest total on the club. After the season, the Blue Jays and theNew York Yankees completed a trade which sent Cerone,Tom Underwood andTed Wilborn to the Yankees forDamaso Garcia,Chris Chambliss andPaul Mirabella.[3]
Cerone joined theNew York Yankees for the 1980 season, following the death of catcherThurman Munson the year before. In his first season with the Yankees, Cerone batted .277 with 14 home runs and 85 RBI in 147 games, and finished seventh inAmerican League MVP voting, as he helped New York win theAmerican League East division and qualify for the playoffs. Defensively, Cerone led theAmerican League as he threw out 57 attempted stolen base attempts, which was a league best 51.8%. In his first playoffs, Cerone hit .333 with a home run and two RBI, however, the Yankees were swept by theKansas City Royals in three games.
Cerone's production dipped in the 1981 season, as he hit .244 with two home runs and 21 RBI in 71 games. He told the Associated Press in October he had been getting threatening telegrams and phone calls for over a month, forcing him to change his phone number.[4] However, the Yankees reached the post-season once again. After a tough loss in Game 3 of theAmerican League Divisional Series (ALDS) against theMilwaukee Brewers, Yankee ownerGeorge Steinbrenner accused the team of showing him up and not playing well. Cerone swore at Steinbrenner, who responded, "You're gone next year. Nobody talks to me that way."[5] Cerone left the room, returned, and shouted, "What do you know about it? You never played this game!"[5] Steinbrenner's only response was a glare.[5] In the playoffs, Cerone hit .333 with a home run and five RBI in the Yankees victory over the Brewers in the ALDS. In theAmerican League Championship Series against theOakland Athletics, Cerone struggled with a .100 batting average, however, the Yankees won the series and reached the1981 World Series. In the World Series against theLos Angeles Dodgers, Cerone hit .190 with a home run and three RBI, as the Yankees lost to Los Angeles in six games.
Despite Steinbrenner's threat, Cerone remained with the Yankees in 1982.[6] He split his playing time withButch Wynegar, as he appeared in 89 games, hitting .227 with five home runs and 28 RBI, as the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. Cerone's production continued to drop in 1983, as he hit .220 with two homers and 22 RBI in 80 games. In 1984, Cerone became the backup catcher to Wynegar, appearing in only 38 games, batting .208 with two home runs and 13 RBI. On November 5, the Yankees traded Cerone to theAtlanta Braves forBrian Fisher.
Cerone spent the 1985 season with theAtlanta Braves, splitting time withBruce Benedict as the Braves catcher, as Cerone appeared in 96 games, hitting .216 with three homers and 25 RBI. On March 5, 1986, the Braves traded Cerone with two minor leaguers to theMilwaukee Brewers forTed Simmons.
Cerone played the 1986 season with theMilwaukee Brewers, as he andCharlie Moore shared the catching duties for the club. In 69 games, Cerone hit .259 with four home runs and 18 RBI. On November 12, Cerone was granted free agency.
On February 13, 1987, Cerone rejoined theNew York Yankees. Cerone played 113 games, his highest total since appearing in 147 games in the 1980 season, hitting .243 with four home runs and 23 RBI. In 1988, the Yankees designatedJoel Skinner as their starting catcher and released Cerone on April 4, before the season, in favor ofDon Slaught, who was expected to provide more offense as a backup.[7]
Not initially getting much interest from teams, Cerone was considering other jobs after his release by the Yankees, even interviewing withWABC for an advertising sales position.[7] However, he signed with theBoston Red Sox on April 15, 1988, and in 84 games with the Red Sox, Cerone had a .269 batting average with three homers and 27 RBI, as he andRich Gedman shared the catching duties. The Red Sox won theAmerican League East division. Cerone, however, did not appear in any playoff games.
He returned to the Red Sox for the 1989 season, as Cerone hit .243 with four home runs and 48 RBI in 102 games with Boston, however, the Red Sox fell short in making the post-season. On December 19, Boston released Cerone.
On December 20, 1989, one day after being released by theBoston Red Sox, Cerone rejoined the Yankees for a third time, as he signed a two-year contract with the club as a free agent.[8] Cerone backed up Yankees starting catcherBob Geren, as he appeared in only 49 games, hitting .302 with two homers and 11 RBI in limited action. On January 13, 1991, the Yankees released Cerone.
On January 21, 1991, Cerone signed a contract with theNew York Mets, where he split playing time withCharlie O'Brien. In 90 games with the Mets, Cerone hit .273 with two home runs and 16 RBI. On October 7, he was granted free agency.
On February 12, 1992, Cerone signed as a free agent with theMontreal Expos, hitting .270 with a home run and seven RBI in 33 games as backup toGary Carter. With the emergence ofDarrin Fletcher, however, the Expos released Cerone on July 16.
Cerone finished his career with a .245 batting average, 998 career hits, 59 HR and 436 RBI in 1329 games. In 17 career playoff games, Cerone hit .246 with three home runs and ten RBI.
Cerone served as acolor analyst onYankees telecasts onWPIX during the 1996 and 1997 seasons,[9][10] and forBaltimore Orioles telecasts onHTS in 1998.[11] He also worked as a baseball analyst forCBS Radio in 1996 and 1997.[citation needed]
In 1998, Cerone founded theNewark Bears, aminor league ball club in theindependentAtlantic League. He sold the team in 2003.[citation needed]
Cerone lived inCresskill, New Jersey, in the 1990s.[12] and later inTeaneck, New Jersey,[13]Montclair, New Jersey, andWoodland Park, New Jersey.[14] He has three daughters: Jessica, Carly and Nikki, and commutes between homes in Woodland Park,Long Branch, New Jersey, and West Palm Beach, Florida, to be with his daughters.[15]
In 1981, Cerone recorded "A Long Run Home," a song released as a7" single on the Reel Dreams label.[16][17] The song, written by Carl Henry and Bill Hudak and recorded inNewington, Connecticut, is sung from the point of view of a Newark baseball player visiting a New York Stadium during a snowstorm.[18] The record sleeve notes that "Rick Cerone's royalties will be donated to theItalian earthquake Victims Fund."[19] The single failed to chart in the US.
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