1954
Born May 19, 1954
Newark, NJ, USA
Rick Cerone Marquee
b. May 19, 1954 · Cleveland Indians 1975–1976, Toronto Blue Jays 1977–1979, New York Yankees 1980–1984, 1987, 1990, Atlanta Braves 1985, Milwaukee Brewers 1986, Boston Red Sox 1988–1989, New York Mets 1991, Montreal Expos 1992
New York traded for him in the winter after Thurman Munson's fatal plane crash in 1979, and he caught 147 games in 1980, hitting .277 with 14 home runs and 85 runs batted in — as good a season as any Yankee catcher had between Munson and the ones who followed decades later.
Eighteen seasons gave him 998 hits, 190 doubles, 393 runs batted in and a .245 average across 1,279 games behind the plate for eight clubs. He caught for five different organizations in his final six seasons, valued as a steady defensive presence even as his bat faded.
He finished with Montreal in 1992 at thirty-eight. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1980 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | CLE | 7 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| 1976 | CLE | 7 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .125 |
| 1977 | TOR | 31 | 100 | 7 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 0 | .200 |
| 1978 | TOR | 88 | 282 | 25 | 63 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 32 | 0 | .223 |
| 1979 | TOR | 136 | 469 | 47 | 112 | 27 | 4 | 7 | 61 | 37 | 40 | 1 | .239 |
| 1980 | NYY | 147 | 519 | 70 | 144 | 30 | 4 | 14 | 85 | 32 | 56 | 1 | .277 |
| 1981 | NYY | 71 | 234 | 23 | 57 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 24 | 0 | .244 |
| 1982 | NYY | 89 | 300 | 29 | 68 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 19 | 27 | 0 | .227 |
| 1983 | NYY | 80 | 246 | 18 | 54 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 15 | 29 | 0 | .220 |
| 1984 | NYY | 38 | 120 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 1 | .208 |
| 1985 | ATL | 96 | 282 | 15 | 61 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 29 | 25 | 0 | .216 |
| 1986 | MIL | 68 | 216 | 22 | 56 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 1 | .259 |
| 1987 | NYY | 113 | 284 | 28 | 69 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 30 | 46 | 0 | .243 |
| 1988 | BOS | 84 | 264 | 31 | 71 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 20 | 32 | 0 | .269 |
| 1989 | BOS | 102 | 296 | 28 | 72 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 34 | 40 | 0 | .243 |
| 1990 | NYY | 49 | 139 | 12 | 42 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .302 |
| 1991 | NYM | 90 | 227 | 18 | 62 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 30 | 24 | 1 | .273 |
| 1992 | MON | 33 | 63 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | .270 |
| Career | — | 1329 | 4069 | 393 | 998 | 190 | 15 | 59 | 436 | 320 | 450 | 6 | .245 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | NYY | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Career | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
On this day & linked events
1975
Major-league debut: Rick Cerone
Rick Cerone made a major-league debut on August 17, 1975.
1992
Final major-league game: Rick Cerone
Rick Cerone played a final major-league game on July 10, 1992.