that has taken him from Daytona Beach to Reading, from Montreal to Syracuse, from Bluefield to Baltimore.
As a skipper, he went from a Junior World Series title in Rochester, to the helm of the last club of the Baltimore Orioles to win a World Series title.
He has managed and mentored dozens of modestly successful players like Cal Ripken Jr., Don Mattingly and Mark Grace.
Altobelli left the limelight of big-league baseball in 1991, but the man known as “Alto” has never left the game.
“I enjoy being around baseball, period,” says the 72-year-old Altobelli
A soft-spoken man, Altobelli managed 12 seasons in the minors and finished first six times. He held court as skipper in Rochester from 1971-76, a glorious era in which the Red Wings went 502-350 (.589) and won two Governors’ Cup titles, four pennants and one Junior World Series in ’71.
Joe is synonymous with Red Wings baseball because of how much he has given back to the fans of this community,” says Red Wings general manager Dan Mason, who Altobelli hand-picked as his successor as GM a decade ago.
“It’s been like a mutual admiration society here,” says Joe.
“I think Rochester loves him so much because, no matter if he was managing the Wings or managing in the big leagues, he always considered Rochester home,” observes Mason.
A Classic Story
Altobelli, the son of Italian immigrants, was born on May 26, 1932. He grew up in Detroit. An all-around athlete, he was offered a football scholarship to Michigan and Purdue as a receiver.
Baseball was his true love, though. He was such a hot commodity that the New York Yankees offered him a contract on the night of his high school graduation.
He eventually accepted the Cleveland Indians’ offer of a $5,000 bonus and a $1,000 salary, in part because his boyhood idol, Hank Greenberg, was the Indians’ general manager.
At Daytona Beach in 1951, Alto was given uniform No. 383, just another face in the crowd at his first spring training.
“It was overwhelming,” he recalls.
The left-handed first baseman not only survived, he thrived. He finished fourth in the Florida State League in batting (.341) while hitting in a record 36 consecutive games in his rookie year.
From 1955 through 1957 he moved between Class A ball and the majors in the Cleveland organization. Competition was fierce, but he wound up playing part of the 1955 and 1957 seasons with the Indians. In 1958 Joe was promoted to the AA. 1961 saw his return to the majors with the Minnesota Twins. He went down in 1962, playing first base for the minor league Cincinnati Redlegs.In 1963, Joe was playing in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system. They loaned Altobelli to Baltimore’s Triple-A club in Rochester, and at the end of the year Red Wings general manager George Sisler Jr. purchased his contract for $500.
Alto would play four seasons with Rochester, mentoring younger players such as Mike Epstein and Curt Blefary. In all, he played in 166 major-league games and hit .210 with 5 homers and 28 RBI.
During his years in Rochester, he fell in love with the city.
“I never found a place where I felt more at home.”
In the summer of 1966, Joe and his wife, Patsy, decided to build a house in the Rochester suburb of Gates. Joe was entering the twilight years of a playing career, though, and the joy of a new place was tempered by something gnawing at him.
“I was 34 and I knew I wanted to manage.”
Midway through the 1966 season, Altobelli was asked to manage Baltimore’s rookie club. Before he could spend his first year in the new home, he was packing his bags for Bluefield, West Virginia
Altobelli worked his way up the managerial ladder. In 1971 he came home to manage the Red Wings one of the most significant clubs at any level and at any time inbaseball.
The 1971 team was led by Minor League Player of the Year Bobby Grich, and featured some of the most talented and colorful players in minor-league history. Five members, including Altobelli, Mike Ferraro, Johnny Oates, Don Baylor and Ray Miller, would go on to manage big-league clubs.
Utility infielder Ron Shelton would become a successful Hollywood screenwriter and director whose works included “Bull Durham”, “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Tin Cup.”
Shelton’s characters,Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh, in “Bull Durham” were based upon Altobelli and his team/roommate of 1963, the flame-throwing but hard-partying Steve Dalkowski.
“I roomed with his suitcase,” Altobelli quips.
Tired of waiting for Earl Weaver to retire in Baltimore, Altobelli left the Orioles organization after the 1976 season and was hired to manage the San Francisco Giants in 1977.
His 1978 club improved 14 games to a surprising 89-73. Altobelli was named National League Manager of the Year. When the Giants returned to earth in 1979, however, Joe found his pink slip.
He returned to the minors in 1980, leading the Yankees’ AAA farm club, the Columbus Clippers, to an International League title before being promoted as a Yankees coach.
He wouldn’t workfor the Bronx Bombers for long, however. The O’s ancient skipper Earl Weaver finally retired in 1982.
Orioles general manager Hank Peters sent out a question to his staff and scouts: “Who should manage the Orioles in ’83?” The overwhelming choice was Altobelli.
The Best Job I Never Applied For
“I never applied for the job,” Alto recalls. “Hank Peters called me. He took a plane from Baltimore and I took a plane from Rochester, and we met at the Pittsburgh airport for lunch.”
Altobelli was handed a one-year contract and the challenging task of replacing the legendary Weaver, who had led the Orioles to 14 winning seasons, three American League titles and one World Series championship.
Joe’s hiring was met with skepticism. Weaver and first baseman Eddie Murray declined to comment on the move.
Pitcher Mike Boddicker was happy for the change. He had languished at AAA Rochester since 1978.
“If I had been in Rochester one more year, I might have run for mayor,” jokes Boddicker.
Altobelli wisely called the right-hander up. He went 16-8 for the Orioles that season.
Amazingly the Orioles rallied around their gentle manager through the regular season, the playoffs, and made it into the World Series, which they won in five games over Philadelphia.
Surprise Peak
You might think that winning the big one was the pinnacle of his career. Ask Alto, though, and he might surprise you.
“The feeling is the same when I think of ’71 and ’83,” Altobelli says.”If I had to choose, it might be ’71 because of the people and living here in Rochester.”
The Orioles were an aging team. They finished 85-77 in 1984. When the club got off to a 29-26 start in 1985, Altobelli was fired by Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams and replaced by the second-coming of Earl Weaver, who had rethought his retirement.
Altobelli landed a coaching job with Lou Piniella’s Yankees in 1986. He would manage only one more game, taking over for fired Cubs skipper Don Zimmer in New York on May 21, 1991. The Cubbies closed out Alto’s skipperdom with an 8-6 loss to the Mets.
Out of a coaching job, Alto returned to Rochester and took over as general manager of the Red Wings, a position that he would hold for three seasons before turning the club over to the then 27-year-old Dan Mason.
“I thought it was time to put a fresh face on the club,” Altobelli says, although there are those fans who thought that the operational side of the game just wasn’t Alto’s cup of tea. His pick for GM though was solid gold:
Mason has won International League Executive of the Year honors twice and credits Altobelli for his success.
“Joe has always considered himself to be a teacher of this game,” Mason says, “I've never had a better professor.”
Altobelli brought his school of baseball to the Rochester fans when he moved to the broadcast booth in 1996. He says his radio gig keeps him involved, keeps him young.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” says Alto, who lost his beloved wife, Patsy, to cancer last fall. “It’s therapeutic.”
The Wings retired Altobelli’s No. 26 years ago. Retiring the man will be another matter.
“I take it day by day,” he says. “Right now, I’m enjoying myself. There’s something about coming to a ballpark. It takes away my aches and pains. It rejuvenates me.”
