Dick Berardino

Richard John Berardino (born July 2, 1937, at Cambridge, Massachusetts) is a player development consultant for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. A former outfielder and longtime manager in minor league baseball, he also spent three years (1989–91) as a coach with the Red Sox. As a player, Berardino batted and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).

A three-sport star at Watertown, Massachusetts, High School, Berardino graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1959 after leading the Crusaders to the 1958 NCAA District One baseball championship. He signed with the New York Yankees upon graduation and batted .378 in his first professional season, with the Modesto Reds of the Class C California League. He reached Triple-A for three seasons (1962–64), playing for the Richmond Virginians, Indianapolis Indians and Spokane Indians, but never broke through to the Major League level. All told, Berardino appeared in 812 minor league games, and batted .272 with 702 hits and 70 home runs.^[1]

Berardino compiled a record of 753 wins and 858 losses (.467) with two championships in 21 seasons (1966–67; 1971–85; 1987–88; 1997–98) as a minor league manager. Nineteen of those 21 seasons were spent in short-season leagues. Berardino managed two full-season Class A clubs, the Greensboro Hornets of the South Atlantic League in 1987, and the Lynchburg Red Sox of the Carolina League the following season. His managing career began in the Yankee organization, where he handled Rookie-level clubs in the Gulf Coast and Appalachian leagues. In 1968, Berardino joined the Red Sox organization as a minor league coach, and 2015 marks his 48th consecutive year with Boston. From 1971 through 1985, he spent 15 consecutive seasons as the manager of the Red Sox' Short Season Class A New York-Penn League farm clubs, the Williamsport Red Sox and the Elmira Pioneers (also known as the Red Sox and Suns during his 13-year tenure there). Berardino returned to the NY-PL a dozen years later, in 1997–98, as manager of the Lowell Spinners.

In addition to his minor league managerial and coaching assignments, and his three years as bullpen and third-base coach on the Major League staff of Joe Morgan in Boston, he also has served the Red Sox as spring training coordinator, assistant field coordinator of minor league instruction, and roving outfield and baserunning coach.

References

• Red Sox Organization Book. Boston: Howe News Bureau, 1983.
• Red Sox 2008 Media Guide.