Joey Amalfitano

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John Joseph Amalfitano (born January 23, 1934 in San Pedro, California) is an instructor in the farm system of the San Francisco Giants of American Major League Baseball and a former utility infielder, manager and longtime coach at the major-league level.

Because he signed a "bonus contract" when he became a professional player in 1954, Amalfitano spent the first two years of his pro career sitting on the bench of the New York Giants under the terms of the baseball rule then in force. As a result of that inactivity, he never achieved the potential that warranted the signing bonus. But after four years in the minor leagues, he returned to the National League in 1960 and played through the middle of 1967 for the Giants, Houston Colt .45s and Chicago Cubs. Amalfitano, a righthanded hitter and thrower, batted .244 in 1,715 at bats with nine home runs.

After playing his final game on June 27, 1967, Amalfitano became a coach for the Cubs, serving under his first-ever manager, Leo Durocher. He moved back to the Giants as a coach in 1972, then the San Diego Padres in 1976-77 before rejoining the Cubs as a member of Herman Franks' staff in 1978 and 1979.

Amalfitano served as Chicago's interim manager after Franks' resignation in September 1979, compiling a record of 2-5 to finish the season. That autumn, the Cubs appointed Preston Gómez manager, with Amalfitano retained as a coach. But when Chicago started the 1980 campaign poorly under Gómez, winning only 38 of 90 games, he was fired in July and Amalfitano was named his permanent successor. The Cubs won only 26 games, losing 46, to remain in the basement of the National League East Division, but Amalfitano was allowed to return for 1981. During that strike-shortened, split-season campaign, his team won a total of 38 games, losing 65, finishing last and next-to-last with the worst overall record in the division. At season's end, he was fired during a general housecleaning of the Chicago front office. Amalfitano's career record as a manager, over all or parts of three seasons with the Cubs, was 66-116 (.363).

However, he remained active in baseball, returning to coaching with the Cincinnati Reds (1982) and then spending 14 seasons as the third base coach for Tommy Lasorda and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1983-96). He now works with minor league infielders in his original organization, the Giants.

[edit] See also

Players Never to Play Minor League Baseball

Preceded by Preston Gomez

Chicago Cubs Manager 1980-1981

Succeeded by Lee Elia