No team can be successful without a quality backup. Cerone filled that role admirably for the Boston Red Sox the past two seasons, catching 84 and 102 games, respectively.
The seasoned veteran has participated in three American League Championship Series and one World Series, and his experience in the trenches will no doubt aid the Yankees and their younger players down the stretch."
-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook
"Rick is making his third tour of duty with the Yankees. He spent the 1989 season with the Red Sox, appearing in 102 games and hitting .243 with four home runs and 48 RBIs.
He made eight starts in April and hit .348 (8-for-23) with seven RBIs. He had his only three-hit game of the season on April 15 against Baltimore. From May 3-9, Rick hit in four straight games (5-for-11), bringing his average up to .333. Included in that streak was his first homer of '89 on May 3 at Chicago. He made nine starts for the month of May, batting .233 (7-for-30) with a homer and five RBI, bringing his season average down to .283.
Cerone made 14 starts in June, hitting .271 (13-for-48) for the month with four multi-hit games. A 2-for-4 game on June 22 and a 0-for-3 game on June 23 left his average at .302, the last time it would be over .300 for the season. From June 30-July 8, he hit in six straight (.353, 6-for-17), tying his season best, and was hitting .287 with a home run and 19 RBIs at the break. Rick's longest hitless stead came just after the break; a 0-for-15 slump from July 16-19 dropped his average from .288 to .263. He immediately followed with his second six-game hit streak from July 19-27 (.333, 8-for-24). Overall he made 17 starts in July, hitting .254 with 10 RBIs for the month.
August was Rick's busiest month as he made 22 starts, hitting .238 with two home runs and 12 RBIs, with six two-hit games. He hit safely in his first three games of September but hit .140 (6-for-43) the rest of the month. Overall he made 15 starts in September and drove in nine runs.
For the season Cerone made 85 starts, hitting .248 in that capacity, with the club going 42-43 in his starts. He hit .303 at home and .177 on the road. He hit .338 (25-for-74) with 37 RBIs with runners in scoring position and hit .429 (3-for-7) as a pinch hitter.
Rick made 10 errors in 629 total chances, a .984 fielding percentage, and threw out 28 of 100 runners attempting to steal. Over the past three seasons he has thrown out 31% of runners attempting to steal.
He signed a two-year contract with the Yankees in December 1989. The contract extends through the 1991 season.
In 1988, Cerone was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox on April 14 after being released by the Yankees in spring training. He had a fast start but his average declined throughout the season.
He went 4-for-5 in his first start on April 17 against Texas and hit safely in his first four starts (.563, 9-for-16). In nine April starts, Cerone hit .424 (14-for-33) including 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored on April 30. He had a season high six-game hitting streak from May 17-23 (.478, 11-for-23). He hit .307 in 21 May games and .286 in 13 June games.
Rick's production fell off to .235 in 15 July games; his average dropped below .300 for the first time on July 27 (his 57th game) and then for good on August 10. He started only 12 games after August 10, hitting .160 in eight games in August and .129 in 17 games in September-October. In 84 games overall, Rick finished with a. 269 average with 69 games started at catcher and one as the designated hitter.
For the second straight season, he led American League catchers in fielding percentage (1.000, 0 errors in 499 chances over 83 games). His last error had been on July 4, 1987 and he had gone 147 games as a catcher without an error. Cerone had seven passed balls and threw out 12 of 58 (21%) base stealers. He threw out 35 of 132 (27%) over the 1987 and 1988 seasons.
Cerone hit three home runs, all at Fenway, the last one on July 15. He hit .313 in 49 games before the All-Star break and .204 in 35 games after the break. He had five three-hit games and a four-hit game and hit .230 (17-for-74) with 20 RBIs with men in scoring position. At Fenway, Rick hit .308 in 47 games and on the road hit .220 in 37 games.
He made five starts during Boston's 12-game July winning streak and nine starts during the 24-game Fenway winning streak.
In 1974 Cerone was Cleveland's number one selection in the June free agent draft. In 1975, his first year of professional ball, he was called up to the Indians 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 American League 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 47% (47 of 99) 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, 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 was traded to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Brian Fisher in December of 1984.
Rick hit .341 in his last 11 spring training games for Atlanta in 1985, clinching the job as starting catcher for Atlanta. 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 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.
In 1987 Cerone returned to New York where he played from 1980-84 when he signed as a free agent on February 13. He played in 113 games in 1987 (including 85 starts at catcher) and hit .243 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.
He made one error in 577 total chances and led American League catchers in fielding percentage (.998). 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 started 23 of New York's last 29 games.
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 He made the second appearance on the mound in New York's 15-4 loss at Detroit on August 9, facing four batters(1 IP, 1 BB) pitching the final inning.
He hit .213 in 56 games before the All-Star break and .266 in 57 games after the break. He had an eight-game hitting streak from August 5-12 (313, 10-for-32) and had 13 multi-hit games, including a three-hit game at Fenway on September 7.
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."
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
Named catcher on the Sporting News American League All-Star team, 1980.
-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide
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