"A potentially great season was spoiled by a late season swoon. Pagliarulo collected 16 home runs and 40 RBIs in the first half, but did not hit a home run after August 24. His drought covered 99 at-bats and 31 games, and he ended with six hits in his last 56 at-bats.
An extremely hard worker who appeared to drive himself to exhaustion, Pagliarulo twice took batting practice after games. Too aggressive at the plate sometimes, he was platooned at third base to start the season after a poor spring training. He still must prove he can handle left-handers.
Born in Medrord, Mass., Pagliarulo was selected by the Yankees in the sixth round of the June 1981 draft. His father, Charles, was an infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization. Mike is an exceptional fielder, prompting comparisons to former Yankee third baseman Graig Nettles.
Mike suffered a broken nose when he was hit by a fastball from Oakland's Curt Young on June 1. He sat out one game, then homered in each of the next three."
-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1987 Edition
"By clouting 28 homers with 71 RBI in 1986, Mike Pagliarulo has indeed established himself as a fixture in the Yankees lineup. With a lefty power swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium and a gritty, hard-nosed determination, Pagliarulo is the prototype for the Yankees hot corner. After being hit in the nose with a pitch last year he earned the nickname 'Rambo' by returning [the next day] and stroking homers in three consecutive days.
'He's a threat every time he's up at the plate, and he's still gaining experience,' praised manager Lou Piniella. In the field and at the plate, this tough young man is, according to Piniella, 'becoming one of the best third basemen in baseball.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1987 Yearbook
"Mike blossomed into one of the top power hitters on the Yankees as he hit 28 home runs last year, which tied him for 15th place in the American League in that category, and finished tied with Rickey Henderson for second place on the Yankees. His homer total was the third highest ever by a Yankee third baseman, surpassed only Graig Nettles' 37 home runs in 1977 and Nettles' 32 in 1976.
He began the season slowly, hitting just .215 (13-for-61) at the end of April with three home runs and seven RBIs. His single off Juan Agosto on May 12 at Minnesota broke an 0-for-17 streak against left-handed pitchers since the start of the season. Mike hit two home runs for the second time in his career on May 23 against California, solo homers off Don Sutton and Ken Forsch, and matched his single-game career high of four RBIs on May 25 against California.
Mike hit a home run off Milt Wilcox on May 29 at Seattle. The following night, May 30 at Oakland, he was hit in the face by a Curt Young pitch in the seventh inning. It was feared at first that he might have suffered some broken bones and facial damage that might cause him to miss an extensive amount of games, but the injury proved to be a hairline fracture of his nose, coupled with lacerations on the bridge of his nose and a bruised right forearm. He returned to the lineup on June 1 at Oakland and proceeded to hit home runs in three successive games, becoming the only Yankee to hit homers in three straight contests in 1986.
He hit home runs in back-to-back games against the Orioles on June 7 (a three-run homer off Mike Boddicker) and June 8 (a two-run homer off Ken Dixon), and in the seven games from June 1 through June 8 hit .333 (8-for-24), with five of those eight hits home runs, and added nine RBIs. In 14 games from May 23 through June 8 he batted .367 (18-for-49) with nine home runs and 19 RBIs to raise his average from .185 to .241. Mike went the next 22 games, from June 9 through July 3, covering 89 at-bats, with just two home runs yet had a season-high six-game hitting streak from June 6-11. He matched his single-game career high with four hits, all singles, on June 27 against Toronto.
Mike hit solo home runs on consecutive days in Chicago on July 4th (off Richard Dotson) and July 5 (off Joe Cowley), and matched his previous season high in homers by hitting his 19th of the season on July 9 at Texas. Two games later, on July 11 at Minnesota, he homered in the first of two consecutive games, a three-run blast, following that the next game with a solo homer. On July 18 against Chicago, he matched his single-game career high with four RBIs, including a three-run homer off Floyd Bannister, his second homer off a left-hander in 1986. In the 14 games from July 4 through July 21 he hit safely in 11, batting .396 (19-for-48) with seven home runs and 19 RBIs while raising his average from .253 to .275. Mike was hitting .262 with 21 homers and 49 RBIs at the All-Star break.
He went ten games, July 22 to August 1 (36 at-bats), without a home run or an RBI, then hit two solo homers off Ken Schrom on August 2 at Cleveland. He hit his last homer of the season on August 24 against Oakland off Dave Stewart, going his final 99 at-bats after that without a home run.
Pags suffered a pulled hamstring running out a triple in that game. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .257 (105-for-408) with 28 home runs and 68 RBIs in 118 games. The injury limited him to four pinch-hit appearances (1-for-4) over the Yankees' next ten games (August 25-September 3). In the 31 games he played following that injury, he hit .156 (15-for-96) with no homers, three RBIs and 31 strikeouts.
He finished the season with a .238 batting average and set career highs in games (149), runs (71), hits (120), doubles (22), home runs (28), RBIs (71) and game winning RBIs (8). Mike averaged one home run per 18.0 times at bat, trailing only Dan Pasqua and Ron Kittle in that category. He hit .258 (88-for-341) against righties with 26 homers and 60 RBIs, and .196 (32-for-163) against lefties with two homers and 11 RBIs
Mike had 27 multiple-hit games, including a four-hit game and six three-hit games. He hit two home runs in the same game twice and homered in consecutive games five times, including the streak of three straight. He recorded his first career stolen base on June 1 at Oakland was 1-for-9 (.111) as a pinch hitter with an RBI.
He played 143 games at third base, the most by a Yankee since Graig Nettles played 144 in 1979. His fielding percentage of .953 ranked seventh among third basemen playing 100 or more games. He made two appearances at shortstop- July 2 against Detroit and August 17 at Kansas City.
Pags became New York's regular third baseman in 1985 and averaged one home run every 20 at-bats. He was hitting only .165 through June 9 (15-for-91) with two home runs and 16 RBIs, then went 76-for-289 (.263) with 17 homers and 46 RBIs through the remainder of the season.
He went 4-for-6 on September 9 at Milwaukee, his first career four-hit game. He had his first career two-homer game on July 27 at Texas, hitting a pair of two-run homers good for four RBIs, equalling his career high. Mike was sent to bat right-handed [by Billy Martin] against Mickey Mahler on September 18 at Detroit, striking out with runners at second and third, two out and the scored tied 2-2.
He played 134 games at third base in '85 and had the third fewest errors for a third baseman with at least 100 games. Pags hit .278 in 22 pinch-hit appearances. He hit .254 in 126 games against right-handers, .151 in 12 games against southpaws. Mike's 62 RBIs ranked sixth on the club.
Mike made his major league debut on July 7, 1984 when called up from Columbus to replace the injured Toby Harrah. He hit his first big league home run on July 13 (second game) off Kansas City's Bret Saberhagen. He hit his first grand slam on September 18 off Baltimore's Dennis Martinez.
He played a full season at AA Nashville in 1983 and led Southern League third basemen in fielding with a .954 percentage in 133 games with 433 total chances (98 putouts and 315 assists). In 1982, he was named utility infielder on the South Atlantic All-Star team. Mike was signed in 1981 by Yankee scout Fred Ferreira and batted .216 in 72 games at Oneonta with two homers in 245 at-bats.
Mike graduated in 1978 from Medford (Mass.) High School, where he played baseball, basketball and ran track. In baseball he was All-State two years, MVP and captain. Mike played South Medford Little League, Medford Babe Ruth League and Medford American Legion baseball. He attended the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) and was a finance major. His father, Charles Pagliarulo , was an infielder in the Chicago Cubs organization in 1958.
Mike enjoys golf and going to Boston Celtics and Bruins games."
-1987 New York Yankees Information Guide
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