"Last year was the second time in his career that Rick Cerone was asked to step up and take over as starting catcher of the Yankees. In 1980 he had the unenviable task of replacing legend Thurman Munson, and responded well enough to finish seventh in the AL MVP voting that year.
The circumstances were different for Cerone in 1987. He made the club in spring training as a backup catcher, and by June he got the call as a starter. The veteran proved to be an adequate replacement, appearing in 113 games with 85 starts behind the plate, his highest total since 1980. He also led all American League catchers in fielding percentage.
Cerone showed some versatility by making his first and only career appearance at first base, as a defensive replacement, and also made his first two career appearances as a relief pitcher. Working the other end of the battery for one inning in each of two Yankee blowouts, he retired six of seven batters he faced, allowing no runs or hits, with a walk and a strikeout!"
-The New York Yankees Official 1988 Yearbook
"Cerone was signed by the Yankees as a free agent on February 13, 1987. He played in 113 games in 1987 (including 85 starts at catcher), the third highest total of his career.
He had two game-winning RBIs, on May 22 at California and on June 15 against Baltimore. At the All-Star break, Cerone was hitting .213 (30-for-141) in 56 games but hit .266 (38-for-143) in 57 games the rest of the way. His home run off Kansas City's Bob Stoddard on July 30 at Yankee Stadium was his first homer at the Stadium since July 18, 1982. He had an eight-game hitting streak from August 5-12 (10-for-32, .313) and reached a high point with a .252 batting average on August 23.
On September 7 at Boston, Rick went 3-for-4 with a home run, his only three-hit game of the season, and on October 3 against Baltimore hit his first triple since September 25, 1981, also against the Orioles. He finished the season with a total of 15 multi-hit games while hitting .243 (69-for-284) with four home runs and 23 RBIs
Rick caught 23 of 74 runners attempting to steal (31%) and committed only one error all season (July 4th against Texas) in 577 chances to lead American League catchers in fielding. He finished the season by starting 23 of New York's last 29 games behind the plate. He made his first and only career appearance at first base on July 3 against Texas (first game) as a defensive replacement for Don Mattingly.
Rick made his first career pitching appearance on July 19 at Texas in a game the Yankees lost 20-3. He pitched one inning in that game, giving up no runs and no hits and retiring all three batters he faced, including a strikeout of pinch hitter Bobby Witt, a Texas pitcher. He made the second appearance on the mound in New York's 15-4 loss at Detroit on August 9, pitching the final inning, allowing one walk and retiring the other batters he faced. In his total of 2.0 innings pitched he allowed no runs, no hits, a walk and a strikeout and retired six of the seven batters he faced. Cerone was the first Yankee [position player] to pitch in a game since Gene Michael on August 26, 1968 (second game) against California in a 10-2 Yankee defeat, with Stick allowing five earned runs in three innings pitched, giving up five hits and recording three strikeouts. In the first game on the previous day (August 25, 1968) Rocky Colavito, normally an outfielder, had picked up a win against Detroit while pitching in relief.
In 1974 Cerone was Cleveland's number one selection in the June free agent draft. In 1975, in his first year of professional ball, he was called up to the majors on August 15 after just 46 games with Oklahoma City. Rick appeared in seven games for the Indians, getting his first big league hit off Kansas City's Paul Splittorff on August 22. He started the 1976 season at Toledo, was called up to the Indians after an injury to Alan Ashby and appeared in seven games. He was the International League's All-Star catcher while with Toledo.
Traded to the Blue Jays in December 1976, Rick was the starting catcher in Toronto's first game but broke his thumb five days into the season. He was optioned to Charleston to get back into shape, and upon his return to Toronto homered off Nellie Briles. He threw out Mitchell Page to end his consecutive stolen base streak at 26. 1978 was Rick's first full season in the majors: he hit .302 in August and threw out Ron LeFlore to end his consecutive stolen base streak at 27.
In 1979 he was hitting just .219 at the All-Star break, but hit .261 after the break to finish at .239. He had a 10-game hitting streak from August 14-27. Cerone tied for second on the club with six game-winning RBIs, was third with 27 doubles and four triples, and his 61 RBIs were fourth on the club.
In 1980, Cerone responded to a pressure-filled first year as a Yankee by having the best season of his career and being named to the UPI and Sporting News AL All-Star teams. He finished seventh in the voting for AL MVP and led the Yankees in games played with 147, all as a catcher and all but one starting. Defensively, Cerone started the first 54 games before resting and easily led the league by throwing out 52% of potential base stealers.
He finished second on the club to Reggie Jackson with 85 RBI and hit .315 with runners in scoring position. Cerone had six RBIs on May 26 of that year, including his first career grand slam; all six RBIs came after the batter in front of him was intentionally walked. For the season he was 6-for-11 with 14 RBIs after the batter in front of him was intentionally walked.
Rick's 1981 production was off slightly from his 1980 season, mainly because of injury. He broke his right thumb on a foul tip in Texas on April 18, missing 32 games. Rick was activated from the DL on May 24, and the next day began a 12-game hitting streak, the second longest of the season by a Yankee. On September 12 at the Stadium he broke up Boston pitcher Bob Ojeda's bid for a no-hitter with a pinch-hit leadoff double in the ninth inning. In the Division Series against Milwaukee he topped the Yankees with five RBIs.
In 1982, for a second consecutive season, Rick suffered a major injury, breaking his left thumb on a tag play at home plate in California on May 11. He spent two months on the disabled list, missing 53 games, and his production at the plate was off due to his injury, but he hit .319 (19-for-47) with two homers and eight RBIs in his last 13 games. Cerone appeared in almost half the Yankees' games in 1983. His three-run homer was the difference in the Yankees' 8-7 win at Minnesota on May 7. Platooned most of the year with Butch Wynegar, he had an eight-game hitting streak from July 29 to August 14.
Between injuries and platooning in 1984, Rick played in his fewest games since 1977. His first hit of the year was a three-run home run against Kansas City on April 5. He spent time on the DL from May 7 through July 5 with a strained right elbow and was assigned to Columbus on June 29 under the MLB Rehabilitation Program. After rejoining the Yankees he suffered an abrasion on his right hand during a fight in California on September 2, and a stiff neck later the same month.
Rick hit .341 in his last 11 spring training games for Atlanta in 1985, clinching the job as the starting catcher. He was hitting .438 on April 22, but had dropped to .297 on May 7. He hit two homers in his first 30 at-bats with the Braves; he had only two homers in his last 236 at-bats for the Yankees in '83 and '84. Rick had the second four-hit game of his career against the Reds on April 15.
He started 76 games at catcher compared to Bruce Benedict's 78. He strained the posterior deltoid muscle in his right shoulder while batting on June 5. Despite his shoulder injury, Rick threw out 18 of 48 runners attempting to steal.
He reported to Atlanta's spring facility in West Palm Beach in 1986 but was traded to the Brewers along with two minor leaguers for veteran catcher Ted Simmons on March 5. Cerone played in just 68 games for Milwaukee, used mainly as a backup to catchers Charlie Moore and Bill Schroeder. Although appearing in his second fewest games since reaching the major leagues to stay, his .259 batting average was second only to his career best of .277 in 1980. One of five catchers who threw out Rickey Henderson attempting to steal, 1986 was the first season since 1983 that he did not spend any time on the disabled list. Cerone homered in back-to-back games on May 16 and 18 against Minnesota, had three RBIs against Kansas City on August 23 and had his longest hitting streak of the year in the five games he played from September 1 to September 23.
Cerone is a 1976 graduate of Seton Hall University where he made Academic All-American in baseball in 1974 and 1975 and was also on the fencing team. He twice helped the Pirates to a berth in the College World Series, hit .410 in his senior year and set school records in homers, RBIs and total bases. Rick played on the Pan-American team in 1974 and the USA World Team in 1973.
He graduated from Essex Catholic High School (NJ) in 1972 where he was an All-State athlete in baseball, football and fencing. Rick enjoys golf, racquetball and photography."
-1988 New York Yankees Information Guide
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