Rick Cerone

Born: 5/19/1954 in Newark, NJ, USA

MLB Debut: 1975-08-17 | Final Game: 1992-07-10

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 192 lbs

Full name: Richard Aldo Cerone

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Biography

Rick Cerone was a professional baseball player born in 1954, whose career spanned from 1975 to July 10, 1992. Renowned for his skills as a position player, Cerone appeared in 1,329 games throughout his time in Major League Baseball. He made a notable impact as a catcher, contributing both offensively and defensively to the teams he played for, including the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and others. Over the course of his career, Cerone recorded 998 hits, including 59 home runs, and drove in 436 runs, finishing with a batting average of .245. While he was not known for his speed on the bases, as evidenced by his total of 6 stolen bases, he remained a reliable backstop and a steady presence in the lineup. His career unfolded during an era of evolving baseball strategies, where the role of catchers was increasingly recognized for their importance in both game management and offensive production. Cerone's contributions to the game were significant, as he was part of a generation of players who helped shape the modern approach to the catching position.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1329	4069	393	998	190	15	59	436	6	320	450	0.245	0.301	0.343	0.644	-7157.6

Career AVG .245 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 5.3% below league average.

Career OBP .301 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 7.1% below league average.

Career SLG .343 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 11.1% below league average.

Career OPS 0.644 vs. league average 0.710 across their career seasons — 9.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1975	CLE	AL	7	12	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1976	CLE	AL	7	16	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0.125	—	—	—	—	0.0
1977	TOR	AL	31	100	7	20	4	0	1	10	0	6	12	0.200	.264 (-24%)	.329 (-25%)	.401 (-33%)	.730 (-29%)	-500.9
1978	TOR	AL	88	282	25	63	8	2	3	20	0	23	32	0.223	.257 (-13%)	.323 (-12%)	.378 (-21%)	.702 (-17%)	-847.4
1979	TOR	AL	136	469	47	112	27	4	7	61	1	37	40	0.239	.265 (-10%)	.329 (-11%)	.397 (-10%)	.727 (-10%)	-1065.2
1980	NYY	AL	147	519	70	144	30	4	14	85	1	32	56	0.277	.264 (+5%)	.326 (-2%)	.387 (+11%)	.714 (+5%)	379.9
1981	NYY	AL	71	234	23	57	13	2	2	21	0	12	24	0.244	.255 (-5%)	.320 (-14%)	.368 (-7%)	.688 (-10%)	-506.4
1982	NYY	AL	89	300	29	68	10	0	5	28	0	19	27	0.227	.261 (-13%)	.324 (-16%)	.388 (-20%)	.712 (-19%)	-1063.7
1983	NYY	AL	80	246	18	54	7	0	2	22	0	15	29	0.220	.260 (-16%)	.324 (-18%)	.389 (-30%)	.714 (-24%)	-1062.5
1984	NYY	AL	38	120	8	25	3	0	2	13	1	9	15	0.208	.259 (-20%)	.322 (-17%)	.384 (-26%)	.707 (-22%)	-424.9
1985	ATL	NL	96	282	15	61	9	0	3	25	0	29	25	0.216	.257 (-16%)	.323 (-11%)	.390 (-28%)	.714 (-20%)	-1041.8
1986	ATL	AL	68	216	22	56	14	0	4	18	1	15	28	0.259	.257 (+1%)	.325 (-7%)	.395 (-4%)	.720 (-5%)	-265.7
1987	NYY	AL	113	284	28	69	12	1	4	23	0	30	46	0.243	.262 (-8%)	.331 (-3%)	.415 (-19%)	.746 (-12%)	-655.5
1988	BOS	AL	84	264	31	71	13	1	3	27	0	20	32	0.269	.254 (+6%)	.317 (+3%)	.377 (-5%)	.695 (-1%)	-35.1
1989	BOS	AL	102	296	28	72	16	1	4	48	0	34	40	0.243	.254 (-4%)	.319 (avg)	.375 (-8%)	.694 (-4%)	-208.0
1990	NYY	AL	49	139	12	42	6	0	2	11	0	5	13	0.302	.257 (+17%)	.324 (avg)	.385 (+1%)	.710 (avg)	-13.1
1991	NYN	NL	90	227	18	62	13	0	2	16	1	30	24	0.273	.255 (+7%)	.323 (+11%)	.384 (-7%)	.708 (+1%)	164.9
1992	WSN	NL	33	63	10	17	4	0	1	7	1	3	5	0.270	.255 (+6%)	.322 (-3%)	.377 (+1%)	.699 (-1%)	-12.2

Career Pitching Statistics

W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	0.00	0

Career ERA 0.00 vs. league average 4.29 across their career seasons — 100.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1987	NYY	AL	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2.0	0	0	1	1	0.00	—	-

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
17	61	5	15	3	0	3	10	4	5	0.246

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1981	AEDIV	NYA	5	18	1	6	2	1	5	0	2	0.333
1981	ALCS	NYA	3	10	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.100
1981	WS	NYA	6	21	2	4	1	1	3	4	2	0.190
1980	ALCS	NYA	3	12	1	4	0	1	2	0	1	0.333

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	2	0	4	0	0	0
2B	1	0	2	0	0	0
3B	1	0	0	0	0	0
C	1279	1135	6548	536	70	59
OF	1	0	1	0	0	0
P	2	0	0	0	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1975	CLE	C	7	3	18	1	0	0
1976	CLE	C	6	2	25	1	1	1
1977	TOR	C	31	29	146	15	1	1
1978	TOR	C	84	78	426	44	4	7
1979	TOR	C	136	133	560	68	13	10
1980	NYA	C	147	146	800	73	9	9
1981	NYA	C	69	64	353	26	3	1
1982	NYA	C	89	86	509	25	6	5
1983	NYA	3B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1983	NYA	C	78	72	412	18	4	2
1984	NYA	C	38	36	230	9	1	1
1985	ATL	C	91	76	384	48	6	4
1986	ML4	C	68	66	391	44	4	2
1987	NYA	1B	2	0	4	0	0	0
1987	NYA	C	111	86	538	38	1	6
1987	NYA	P	2	0	0	0	0	0
1988	BOS	C	83	69	471	28	0	4
1989	BOS	C	97	85	578	41	10	5
1989	BOS	OF	1	0	1	0	0	0
1990	NYA	2B	1	0	2	0	0	0
1990	NYA	C	35	29	177	14	1	1
1991	NYN	C	81	63	424	36	6	0
1992	MON	C	28	12	106	7	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position	Games
Pitcher	2
Catcher	1278
First Base	2
Second Base	1
Third Base	1
Right Field	1
Designated Hitter	10

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1980	TSN All-Star	C

Salary History

Year	Team	League	Salary
1992	MON	NL	$230,000
1991	NYN	NL	$100,000
1990	NYA	AL	$600,000
1989	BOS	AL	$490,000
1988	NYA	AL	$300,000
1987	NYA	AL	$250,000
1986	ML4	AL	$675,000
1985	ATL	NL	$625,000
Total Career Earnings			$3,270,000