Joe Altobelli
Encyclopedia
Joseph Salvatore Altobelli (born May 26, 1932) is an American
former player, manager
and coach
in Major League Baseball
. In , he succeeded Hall of Famer Earl Weaver
as manager of the Baltimore Orioles
and led the team to their sixth American League
pennant and their third (and most recent) World Series
championship.
. Joe married Patsy Ruth Wooten on May 3, 1952; they had six children: Mike, Mark, Jody, Jackie, Jerry and Joe.
and outfielder
who enjoyed his greatest success at the AAA level. He batted
only .210 in 166 games for the Cleveland Indians
and Minnesota Twins
, with five home run
s and 28 runs batted in
. However, he was frequently in the double-digits in homers as an AAA player. As a member of the Montreal Royals
, he led the International League
(IL) in homers (31) and RBI (105). He batted and threw left-handed.
of the IL. During his tenure, the Red Wings
finished first four times. In , Altobelli got his first big league managing job, leading the San Francisco Giants
. Although his club finished 16 games above .500 and in third place in the National League West Division, Altobelli was dismissed in , his third season, with a mark of only 225–239 (.485) as Giants' manager.
He then joined the New York Yankees
as manager of their AAA farm club, the Columbus Clippers
.
and Clyde King
.
in the American League Championship Series
. The Orioles then dominated the Philadelphia Phillies
in the 1983 World Series
, winning in five games.
The Orioles fell to fifth in the AL East in , despite playing eight games over .500. In May , when they continued to tread water at 29–26, Altobelli was let go. Weaver came out of retirement, but of 105 games under his command, Baltimore won only 53.
with the Chicago Cubs
from –, and filled in as interim manager for one game when Zimmer was fired in before being replaced by Jim Essian
.
and took over as general manager of the Red Wings
in , a position he held for three years. After that he served as special assistant to the club president until , and in he began serving as color commentator
for Red Wings home-game broadcasts. In early he announced his retirement from that position, making 2009 the first year he was out of organized baseball since 1950. He has long considered Rochester his home, having lived there since 1966, and he plans to continue attending games at Frontier Field
.
His career Major League managing record is 437–407 (.518).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former player, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
and coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. In , he succeeded Hall of Famer Earl Weaver
Earl Weaver
Earl Sidney Weaver is a former Major League Baseball manager. He spent his entire 17-year managerial career with the Baltimore Orioles . Weaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.-Playing career:After playing for Beaumont High School in St...
as manager of the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
and led the team to their sixth American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
pennant and their third (and most recent) World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
championship.
Personal life
Born and raised in Detroit, the versatile Altobelli earned All-City recognition in football, basketball and baseball while attending Eastern High SchoolMartin Luther King High School (Michigan)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. High School is located at 3200 East Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan; the building is operated by the Detroit Board of Education. King's district encompasses Downtown and Midtown Detroit; it also includes the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, the Martin Luther...
. Joe married Patsy Ruth Wooten on May 3, 1952; they had six children: Mike, Mark, Jody, Jackie, Jerry and Joe.
Playing
As a player, Altobelli was a slugging first basemanFirst baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
who enjoyed his greatest success at the AAA level. He batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
only .210 in 166 games for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
and Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, with five home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 28 runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
. However, he was frequently in the double-digits in homers as an AAA player. As a member of the Montreal Royals
Montreal Royals
The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League...
, he led the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
(IL) in homers (31) and RBI (105). He batted and threw left-handed.
Minor Leagues
In , Altobelli began an 11-year apprenticeship as a manager in the Baltimore farm system, culminating in six seasons (–) managing the Rochester Red WingsRochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...
of the IL. During his tenure, the Red Wings
Rochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...
finished first four times. In , Altobelli got his first big league managing job, leading the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. Although his club finished 16 games above .500 and in third place in the National League West Division, Altobelli was dismissed in , his third season, with a mark of only 225–239 (.485) as Giants' manager.
He then joined the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
as manager of their AAA farm club, the Columbus Clippers
Columbus Clippers
The Columbus Clippers are a minor league baseball team based in Columbus, Ohio. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The team is owned by the government of Franklin County, Ohio....
.
New York Yankees (coach)
After another first-place IL finish in , Altobelli became a Yankees coach in –, working under Gene Michael, Bob LemonBob Lemon
Robert Granville Lemon was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976....
and Clyde King
Clyde King
Clyde Edward King was an American pitcher, coach, manager, general manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. King, whose career in baseball spanned over 60 years, was perhaps best known for his longtime role as a special baseball advisor to George Steinbrenner, late owner of the...
.
Baltimore Orioles
Before the season, he was named the surprise successor to Weaver, finishing a legendary, 14½-season career as Baltimore's manager. Altobelli rose to the occasion, leading the O's to 98 wins, the AL East championship, then a three-games-to-one triumph over the Chicago White Sox1983 Chicago White Sox season
The Chicago White Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the White Sox winning the American League West championship. It marked their first postseason appearance since the 1959 World Series.-Offseason:...
in the American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...
. The Orioles then dominated the Philadelphia Phillies
1983 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies season involved the Phillies winning the National League East Division title with a record of 90-72, six games over the Pittsburgh Pirates...
in the 1983 World Series
1983 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandJohn Denver, whose Thank God I'm a Country Boy was played at the seventh-inning stretch of each Orioles home game, sang the National Anthem prior to this game....
, winning in five games.
The Orioles fell to fifth in the AL East in , despite playing eight games over .500. In May , when they continued to tread water at 29–26, Altobelli was let go. Weaver came out of retirement, but of 105 games under his command, Baltimore won only 53.
After Baltimore
Altobelli then returned to coaching. He worked with the Yankees again (–), then served under Don ZimmerDon Zimmer
Donald William "Popeye" Zimmer is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization...
with the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
from –, and filled in as interim manager for one game when Zimmer was fired in before being replaced by Jim Essian
Jim Essian
James Sarkis Essian, Jr. is an American former catcher and occasional infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Cleveland Indians. He was signed by the Phillies at age 18, but he only amassed 24 at-bats over three seasons...
.
Later years
He then returned to RochesterRochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
and took over as general manager of the Red Wings
Rochester Red Wings
The Rochester Red Wings are a minor league baseball team based in Rochester, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins major-league club. The Red Wings play in Frontier Field, located in downtown Rochester.The Red Wings were an...
in , a position he held for three years. After that he served as special assistant to the club president until , and in he began serving as color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for Red Wings home-game broadcasts. In early he announced his retirement from that position, making 2009 the first year he was out of organized baseball since 1950. He has long considered Rochester his home, having lived there since 1966, and he plans to continue attending games at Frontier Field
Frontier Field
Frontier Field is a baseball stadium located at One Morrie Silver Way in downtown Rochester, New York. The park opened in 1996, replacing Silver Stadium in northern Rochester, which had been home to professional baseball in Rochester since 1929...
.
His career Major League managing record is 437–407 (.518).
External links
| Managerial jobs |
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