Opining on dysfunctional Bills, Yanks rotation, Tampa's apathy

Baffling decisions, like the one yesterday to give mediocre outside linebacker Chris Kelsay a four-year, $24-million contract extension, just add to the perception that the Bills front office hasn’t a clue. Yes, Kelsay’s been a loyal soldier and was an OK defensive end before becoming moving to linebacker in Buffalo’s new 3-4 defense this season. But the 30-year-old’s play didn’t merit any sort of extension. Throwing that kind of money at a so-so player while you’re trying to rebuild makes no sense whatsoever.
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A 20.5-percent drop in season-ticket sales indicates that many Bills fans have gone from being angry to apathetic, and that’s not a good thing. I’d rather have fans in the seats at the Ralph showing their displeasure by booing their team than deciding not to show up at all.
Sales for this season were 43,383, a sharp drop from 55,308 last year and 56,011 the year before. Sunday’s game against the Jets should sell out and the Nov. 28 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Ralph also is sold out, but the Bills are going to have a difficult time avoiding blackouts for upcoming home games vs. Jacksonville (Oct. 10), Detroit (Nov. 14), Cleveland (Dec. 12) and New England (Dec. 26).
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Despite the decline in attendance, Bills fans remain remarkably loyal, considering their team’s 0-3 start and 10-year playoff drought. That’s in stark contrast to Tampa, which is proving it is not a very good sports town. The Rays, who have a chance to make it back to the World Series after a one-year hiatus, were forced to give away 20,000 free tickets in order to pack its ballpark last night. And the NFL’s Bucs are off to a 2-1 start and tied for first in the NFC South, but have been blacked out twice already.
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The Yankees rotation is a mess heading into the post-season and unless they get some solid performances out of Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte to go along with the always dependable CC Sabathia, I can see them being bounced in the first round. A.J. Burnett and Javier Vasquez are two talented pitchers who can’t seem to handle the pressure of pitching in New York. Pettitte is one of the great post-season pitchers of all-time, but he’s still very rusty after his injury and long layoff and may not be sharp enough in time.
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Congratulations to Greece’s Brian Gionta for being named captain of the Montreal Canadiens. He is only the second American-born player to wear the “C’’ in the 101-year history of hockey’s most famous franchise. And they couldn’t have chosen a better guy for the honor.
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Three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador tested positive for a banned substance. Is this supposed to be news? The real shocker would be if a Tour de France champion DIDN’T test positive or wasn’t even suspected of using a banned substance or blood doping.
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Philly fans have never been known for being classy. But I would hope that when former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb returns as a member of the Washington Redskins Sunday that he receives a rousing ovation. The guy was the best quarterback in Eagles history – a fact often forgotten by Philly fans because he didn’t bring the Lombardi Trophy to the City of Brother Love.
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On a personal note, a Happy Birthday to my daughter, Amy, who turns 24 on Saturday. She’ll always be my little girl no matter how old she becomes.

Syracuse football is taking baby steps forward on rebuilding road

I’ll be getting my first in-person look at the Syracuse University football team Saturday when I travel to the Carrier Dome to watch the Orange men renew their long upstate rivalry with Colgate. I’m looking forward to seeing sophomore quarterback Ryan Nassib, who last week set a school record with five TD tosses against overmatched Maine. The young man from Philly has looked pretty good so far and it appears that Coach Doug Marrone might have something around which can pin his rebuilding. SU remains a work in progress – they’re still several bricks shy of a load – but I like the strides that have been made under Marrone. I also like how he gives his team history lessons about the program every week. This week he’s taught them about the historical significance of the series with Colgate, whom the Orange men haven’t played since their 11-0-1 season in 1987.
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I also like it that the school will be honoring the 1984 team’s 17-9 upset of No. 1 Nebraska in the Dome. I had the privilege of covering that shocker and it remains one of the top 25 events I chronicled during my 37 years in the business. The week before, SU had fumbled eight times in a 19-0 loss to Rutgers and the odds-makers had established the Cornhuskers as 24-point favorites – a spot that some thought was too modest. Todd Norley threw a touchdown pass to a leaping Mike Siano and the defense, led by All-American tackle Tim Green, wound up stifling Nebraska. I’ll never forget the sight of Ben Schwartzwalder, the legendary former SU coach, in the press box after the final gun sounded. There were tears in the old man’s eyes as he watched the jubilation on the field.

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Pitt’s thrashing as the hands of Miami is another indication that the Big East Conference is way down this season. And that’s good news for SU as it attempts to go 7-5 and become bowl eligible.
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Can’t wait to watch Ken Burns’ 10th Inning next Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 on WXXI. Burns did a magnificent job documenting baseball’s history in the first nine segments back in 1994, and so much has happened to the game – much of it bad – since then. The two worst things were the strike that canceled the ’94 World Series and the steroids scandal that has ripped the game from its historical moorings. But there also have been several positives – namely the Yankees return to prominence, the Red Sox putting an end to the Curse of the Bambino, the construction of numerous retro ballparks, the influx of Latino and Asian players and inter-league play.
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I don’t believe the Bills will upset the Patriots this Sunday in Foxboro. New England has to be angry about the way it played in last week’s loss to the Jets and I believe Tom Brady and Wes Welker could have a field day against Buffalo, which has a difficult time pressuring quarterbacks. However, I do believe new starter Ryan Fitzpatrick will give the Bills offense a little spark because he makes quicker decisions than predecessor Trent Edwards, is willing to take some risks downfield and is facing a Patriots defense that isn’t as good as Green Bay’s or Miami’s, Buffalo’s first two opponents. My prediction: Patriots 37, Bills 17.
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It’s not too early to look ahead to the 2011 season, so if you aren’t doing anything Saturday afternoon, you can catch two top candidates for the Bills quarterback job – Stanford’s Andrew Luck vs. Notre Dame or Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett vs. top-ranked Alabama. Washington’s Jake Locker, the other potential Bills draft pick, has seen his stock plummet after a poor showing last week vs. Nebraska.

Opining on the Bills QB move, The Boss' ceremony and Torre's return to the Bronx

I give Chan Gailey credit for pulling the plug on Trent Edwards after two pathetic performances. We’ve certainly seen enough of Trent over the past four seasons to tell us that he is not the guy to revive the moribund Bills. At the very least, Ryan Fitzpatrick will attempt to get the ball down the field to Lee Evans more and make quicker decisions. The bottom line, though, is that the Bills will continue their losing ways because there just aren’t enough talented players on their roster – and that includes quarterback. I said it back in May and I’ll say it again – the QB with the best chance of leading Buffalo out of the abyss isn’t on the current roster; he’s playing college football this fall. Either Andrew Luck of Stanford, Ryan Mallett of Arkansas or Jake Locker of Washington will be wearing a Bills uniform next season. (If there is a season and not a strike, of course.)

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Late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner clearly was deserving of a monument at the new House That The Boss Built, but did it need to be so huge that it overshadowed the ones dedicated to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle?
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I thought the unveiling ceremony at the new Yankee Stadium last night was nicely done and I was especially happy to see Joe Torre and Don Mattingly there. It was classy of the Yankees to extend the olive branch to Torre, who ranks up there with Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy as the best managers in team history. And it was classy of Joe and Donnie Baseball to make the cross-country trek on a Los Angeles Dodgers off-day.
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I’m hearing all sorts of rumors about Torre becoming manager of the Mets or the Cardinals or Cubs. But how about this for a crazy scenario? Torre back to the Yankees if Joe Girardi decides to go to Chicago to skipper the team he grew up following. Sounds implausible, but stranger things have happened. And if The Boss was still running the team, I definitely could see something crazy like that occurring.
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Torre might wind up retiring from managing for good. And if he does, I think the Yankees should retire his No. 6. That would leave only No. 2 (Derek Jeter) among the single digits not packed permanently in mothballs. Of course, at the pace the Yankees retire numbers, the next generation of players will be wearing triple-digits.
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On a personal note, a belated Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary to Dave and Diane Smith, two of the kindest people I know.

Some advice for the Bills, Heisman trustees, Bud Selig & SU gridders

Some things I'd like to see this Sunday from the Buffalo Bills, who have been installed as double-digit underdogs against the Packers at Lambeau Field:
* A commitment to the run game. A total of just 17 carries against Miami last week isn't going to cut it. I'm still trying to figure out why Chan Gailey decided to open with three straight pass plays when he knows the strength of this team is its trio of running backs.
* Along those same lines, many more touches for Fred Jackson, especially now that he has his cast off. He carried just four times for 19 yards and caught two passes for zero yards.
* Some more downfield throws by Trent Edwards. Yes, I know he was under duress much of the afternoon because of the Dolphins penetrating pass rush and the Bills poor pass protection, but you have to take more long shots if you want to stop defenses from ganging up against the run and hit an occasional home run.
* Some takeaways by Buffalo's defense. The Bills did a good job of bottling up the Dolphins, but they didn't induce any turnovers, which was their forte last year.
* A better job of play-calling by Gailey.
* A more relaxed C.J. Spiller.
* Replacement of Edwards with either Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Brohm if Trent continues playing like last week.

The thing is that even if each of the aforementioned desires are answered, the Bills still probably aren't going to win against Aaron Rodgers and Co. Call it the Packers, 31-16.

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Hate to say it, but as a nearly five-decade follower of the Yankees, I think age is finally catching up to the Bronx Bombers. Derek Jeter is struggling through the worst year of his career, as are A-Rod and Jorge Posada. The only one of the core four who's managed to out-fox Father Time is Mariano Rivera. The Yankees need Andy Pettitte back in top form in the worst way in order to stabilize their shaky rotation. At this juncture, I think the Phillies are the favorties to win the World Series. I wouldn't want to face their top three pitchers in a seven-game series.

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I like Mike Scioscia's idea of shortening the major league baseball schedule. Either reduce it to 154 games or re-institute scheduled doubleheaders so the season doesn't begin in March and end in November. I know some purists would grumble if the sked was reduced to 154 or 144 games because of the sanctity of baseball's numbers. Well, the integrity of the numbers has been ruined by a generation of steroid usage, so who cares any more?

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I'm glad that Reggie Bush was shamed into giving back his Heisman Trophy, but why not award the trophy to the player who finished second to him that year - Vince Young.

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If I'm a Jets fan I'm very, very concerned about my quarterback, Mark Sanchez. I know he was going against a hellacious Ravens defense the other night, but he looked about as uncertain as Trent Edwards out there.

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Syracuse can't afford to take its next two opponents - Maine and Colgate - lightly just because they play in a division a level below the BCS. Just ask Virginia Tech and Mississippi, who were upset by teams in the division formerly known as I-AA.

Bills will upset Miami, but after that . . .

Consider me not a purveyor of gloom-and-doom, but rather a realist. Like the meteorologist who forecasts the lake effect snow storm, I’m not the reason it’s snowing. I’m just trying to prepare you for what lies ahead for the 2010 Buffalo Bills so that you won’t feel compelled to jump into the Niagara River once the losses mount and optimism fades. (In other words, please don’t shoot the messenger for what he is about to write.)

I, too, have been encouraged by the progress the Bills have shown in the offseason and during practice games. Chan Gailey appears to be the no-nonsense coach the team needed after Dick Jauron’s kid gloves’ approach. Electric running back C.J. Spiller is a star-in-the-making. Quarterback Trent Edwards appears to have some of his confidence back. And the Bills have a top echelon secondary and a talented corps of running backs to go with two guards in Eric Wood and Andy LeVitre, who could be dependable performers for years to come.

All that said, the Bills won’t be ending their decade-long playoff drought this season. Nor will they be sniffing a .500 record. There still isn’t enough talent on this roster to turn the corner. Plus, their AFC East opponents have improved and Buffalo faces a brutal, front-loaded schedule featuring four of its first six games against playoff teams from last season. I believe the Bills are looking at a 5-11 record and another last-place finish.

But I also believe that new general manager Buddy Nix and Gailey – two football lifers with successful track records – are building a legitimate foundation for the future. With another successful draft and the continued development of the existing young talent, the Bills might be ready to blossom into contenders in 2011 (if the season isn’t wiped out by a strike).

If you’re a Bills fan, you need to hope that Spiller is indeed a thriller; Edwards develops into a legitimate and durable NFL quarterback; athletic, young left offensive tackle Demetrius Bell realizes his football potential; undrafted rookie wide receiver David Nelson becomes the tall receiving threat that the departed James Hardy never became; linebacker Aaron Maybin blossoms into a feared pass rusher; the Bills make a successful conversion to the 3-4 and stop being a sieve against the run, and punter Brian Moorman and kicker Rian Lindell continue to display the consistent excellence they’ve shown for nearly a decade.

Although I don’t see the Bills being upwardly mobile in the standings this season, I do see them opening with an upset of the Dolphins Sunday. I think they will be riding the wave of emotion and confidence built over the summer and I believe Miami’s defense is vulnerable without nose tackle Jason Ferguson (suspended for violation of the NFL drug policy) and defensive end Philip Merling (out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury).

Let’s call it, Buffalo 20, Miami 16.

After that, it will be downhill, with road losses to Green Bay and New England and at home to the New York Jets. That will be followed by a win at home against Jacksonville, losses on the road to Baltimore and Kansas City, a win in Toronto vs. the Chicago Bears, a win against Detroit at the Ralph, a loss on the road to Cincinnati, a loss at home to Pittsburgh (who will have Ben Roethlisberger back at QB), a loss at Minnesota, a victory at home vs. Cleveland (let’s hope these teams put on a better show than last year’s 6-3 yawner), a loss on the road to the Dolphins, a loss at home to the Patriots and loss to the Jets.

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Speaking of teams in the rebuilding mode, I was impressed with Syracuse University’s workmanlike 29-3 win vs. Akron last week. I know a victory against a week team like the Zips isn’t cause to run out and make bowl reservations, but when you haven’t won a season-opener in six years, you take whatever progress you can get. Quarterback Ryan Nassib looked good, passing for 229 yards and running for 58 more, but will have to do a better job of protecting the football (interception and two fumbles) this week at Washington. The defense was impressive, limiting the Zips to 166 yards and just a field goal – the lowest point total yielded by the Orange in five seasons.

The Huskies game Saturday night will give us a better measure how far SU has come. Washington features Jake Locker, a strong-armed, mobile quarterback who’s projected to be taken No. 1 in next year’s draft. Second-year SU coach Doug Marrone is a student of football history and big on tradition, but here is one tradition he hopes to discontinue Saturday: Since 1964, the Orange men are just 1-10-1 in West Coast games.

I don’t see them beating a Huskies team that’s sure to be angry after dropping a close game at BYU last week. But if they can be competitive, I think it will be another baby step in the right direction.

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Thanks to WROC TV-8 for adding me to their Bills coverage this season. I’m writing a weekly column for their web site - www.rochesterhomepage.net - and will be doing some on-air stuff after home games with my friend John Kucko.
Also, I’m continuing to do the Bills Brothers radio show with John DiTullio, Mike Catalana and Sal Maiorana on WHTK 1280-AM and 107.3-FM from 3-4 on Thursday afternoons.
Finally, I’ll be doing a talk and booksigning at the Barnes & Noble in Webster, Saturday from 1-3 p.m. My new book, Buffalo Bills Football Vault: The First 50 Seasons, continues to do well, ranking 11th on Amazon.com’s list of best-selling NFL books yesterday after rising as high as fourth on two previous occasions.

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Congratulations to my good friend and 19th century base ball teammate, Max Robertson, who will be inducted into the Rochester Senior Slowpitch Softball Association Hall of Fame Saturday. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. Tickets remain and can be purchased at the Diplomat Party House. Festivities begin at 6.

Altobelli clearly is no ordinary Joe

I'm really looking forward to seeing the statue of Joe Altobelli unveiled at Frontier Field before tonight's Rochester Red Wings game because no one in our city's rich 100-plus years of professional baseball has worn more hats for the organization than Alto.

He's been a player, coach, manager, general manager and broadcaster in his many years with the Wings. But the greatest role he's played is the unofficial one as baseball ambassador.

I've been covering sports for 37 years and I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a nicer or classier man than Joe Altobelli. And I believe if you asked any of my local sports media peers they'd second that emotion. In addition to spinning wonderful yarns about his extraordinary baseball life, Alto has been great, too, about teaching me things about the game that I never knew.

And as my friend and fellow author, Jim Mandelaro, will tell you, Alto has always been extremely generous in helping us promote our book, Silver Seasons - both when it was originally published back during the closing of old Silver Stadium in 1996 and this year, when we released a revised edition.

In celebration of Alto's special night, I'm re-running the feature I wrote about him in the Democrat and Chronicle about a decade ago when he celebrated his 50th season in pro ball. I hope it gives you a feel for his remarkable journey. Enjoy. And congrats to Joe on an honor well-deserved.


A LIFE-LONG PASSION FOR THE GAME

Baseball is a game of numbers, and there are many digits that come to mind with Joe Altobelli.

Like the number six, which was how many cents it cost to take the trolley from his house in East Detroit to Tiger Stadium to watch his childhood hero, Hank Greenberg, in the late 1930s, early '40s.

Or 6,000, which is how many dollars Altobelli received back in 1951 to sign with the Cleveland Indians.

Or 383, the first jersey he was issued when he reported to the Indians minor-league camp in Daytona Beach, Fla., a half-century ago.

Or 1983, the year Altobelli managed the Baltimore Orioles to their last World Series championship.

But the number that will be foremost in his thoughts when he arrives at Frontier Field today to provide color commentary for the Red Wings home opener against Scranton is 50. That's how many years Altobelli has spent in professional baseball.
"You wonder where the time goes," said the man known to Rochesterians as “Mr. Baseball. “All I know is that baseball has been very, very good to me."

It has been his life.

The 67-year-old has been a player, coach and manager in both the minors and majors. He also has served as the Red Wings general manager and consultant, and, for the past three years, the sidekick of Wings play-by-play man Joe Castellano on radio broadcasts.

"About the only thing I haven't done that I still want to do," Altobelli said, chuckling, "is work on the grounds crew at Frontier Field."

He says he wants to drive the riding mower but hasn't persuaded grounds crew chief Gene Buonomo to hand over the keys.

"Hey, there are worse jobs in the world than being on a riding mower in the outfield of a ballpark on a warm, sunny day," Altobelli said.

Should he cruise the outfield at Frontier, he'll be reminded of yet another significant number - 26: his uniform number now displayed in his honor on the outfield wall.

What can't be quantified by numbers is Altobelli's passion for the game, whose roots stretch all the way back to the Great Depression, when he played sandlot ball from sunrise to sunset in the Motor City. This son of Italian immigrants excelled at all sports - he was such a talented receiver that Michigan and Purdue offered him football scholarships. But baseball was his first love and best sport.

The New York Yankees offered him a contract the night of his high school commencement, and he had tryouts with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebetts Field and with the Tigers. He eventually accepted the Indians' offer of a $5,000 bonus and a $1,000 minor-league salary, in part, because Greenberg was the team's general manager.

Altobelli used part of his bonus to purchase a new Chevy, into which he loaded his belongings in March '51 for the two-day trip to Daytona Beach, Fla. When he arrived at the Indians' minor-league complex, he was given the triple-digit jersey, an indication of the vast number of players in camp.

"It was a little overwhelming at first," he said. "I was homesick. A lot of guys were. We all slept in barracks, and a coach would come in at 6:30 in the morning and fire off a blank gun to wake you up. You felt like you were in the military."

Altobelli survived that baseball boot camp and wound up having a sensational season for Daytona Beach, the Indians Class D team in the Florida State League. The first baseman hit safely in 37 consecutive games - a league record that still stands - and batted .341 with more than 100 runs batted in and 100 runs scored. An outstanding pitcher in high school, Altobelli persuaded his manager to let him take the mound in the regular-season finale. He pitched five innings to notch the win. Rocky Colavito, who would become an All-Star outfielder with the Indians and Tigers, picked up the save.

Altobelli progressed quickly through the minors, and, in 1955, he was promoted to the big leagues. The Indians used him primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement, but he received a rare start at first base that season and went 3-for-5 with a home run against the Tigers, in Detroit.

With only 16 major-league teams - 14 fewer than today - competition for roster spots was fierce. Altobelli was sent back down to Indianapolis after appearing in 42 games. He spent part of the 1957 season with the Indians and part of the '61 season with the Minnesota Twins. His big-league totals were mediocre: 166 games, 5 homers, 28 RBI, .210 batting average.

In 1963, the Los Angeles Dodgers loaned him to the Red Wings. Altobelli fell in love with the city and the fans fell in love with him. At the end of year, Red Wings general manager George Sisler Jr. purchased Altobelli's contract from the Dodgers for $500.

Altobelli was on the downside of his playing career, but he recalls his four seasons with the Wings as among his most enjoyable. He spent much of his time mentoring Oriole prospects such as Mike Epstein and Curt Blefary. Baltimore general manager Harry Dalton took notice, offering Altobelli a manager's job with the team's Class A affiliate in Bluefield, W.Va.

The summer of '66 was significant for another reason: Altobelli and his wife, Patsy, decided to buy a house in Gates.

"I'd been all around the country in my travels, and I never found a place where I felt more at home," he said. "A lot of baseball people settle in warm-climate places. They said you must be nuts living there with those kinds of winters. I said, "The weather may be cold, but the people are warm.' "

In 1971, he was promoted to manage the Wings, the Orioles' top farm team, and that club wound up winning the Governors' Cup and the Junior World Series.

"We had a great ballclub, but the thing people forget is that a couple of months into the season, we were a game below .500," Altobelli said. "The last two months, we sprinted to the finish line."

That team, led by future major-league all-stars Bobby Grich and Don Baylor, was recognized by Baseball America magazine as one of the best in minor-league history. One of the players on that team was Ron Shelton, a utility infielder who went on to become an Academy Award nominated screenwriter and producer. His critically acclaimed baseball comedy, Bull Durham, was inspired in part by Altobelli. Crash Davis, the journeyman catcher played by Kevin Costner, is based loosely on Altobelli.

The Wings experienced remarkable success with Alto as manager, winning two International League titles and 502 games in six seasons.

After the 1976 season, the San Francisco Giants hired him, and two years later he was named the National League Manager of the Year.

Managers are hired to be fired, and Altobelli was sent packing in 1979. He joined the Yankees organization, first as a manager at Columbus, then as a coach in New York. When Earl Weaver retired as Baltimore's manager in the autumn of '82, Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams hired Altobelli.

In his first season there, he led the Orioles to a World Series championship, helped out by the surprising pitching of Mike Boddicker, who had toiled several seasons with the Red Wings.

"Mike spent the first month of the season in Rochester and still managed to win 16 games for us in Baltimore," Altobelli said.

In his two-plus seasons at the Orioles helm, Altobelli wrote Cal Ripken's name onto the lineup card 162 times a year.

"I remember after the first season calling Cal into my office, and saying, 'Cal, I just noticed that you played every single inning of every single game this year. That's not going to happen again,' " Altobelli recalled. "At the end, of the 1984 season, I called him in and gave him the exact same speech. Little did we know this guy wasn't going to take a break for the next 10 years."

After the team's poor start in '85, Williams became impatient and released Altobelli. The firing still bothers Altobelli, but the respected baseball man landed on his feet. He spent the next several years coaching for the Yankees and the Cubs. In Chicago, Altobelli had the opportunity to work for Don Zimmer, now the right-hand man of Yankees manager Joe Torre.

"The thing you notice about Alto is that he's always calm and collected," Zimmer says. "He reminds me a lot of Joe Torre. Things might seem like they are crumbling around you, but there's Joe acting like the Rock of Gibraltar. What the Orioles did to him was ridiculous. Look what happened when they got rid of him. They went down the tubes. You aren't going to find a better baseball man or a better person than Joe Altobelli."

Altobelli always sensed that he would wind down his career in Rochester. He enjoyed his years as the team's general manager, when he played an important role in getting the new stadium built. He also groomed his successor, current GM Dan Mason.
"No way would I have been ready to take on that job at 27 years old without Alto's help and guidance," Mason said. "He taught me about baseball and he taught me about managing people. I went to school for 16 years, and Joe's been by far the best professor I've ever had. I can't thank him enough."

And Altobelli can't thank the Wings enough for the opportunity to keep coming to the ballpark.

A half century later, there's no place he would rather be.

ALTO’S TRAVELS
Player
1951 - Daytona Beach, Fla.
1952-53 - Reading, Pa.
1954 - Indianapolis
1955 - Cleveland, Indianapolis
1956 - Indianapolis
1957 - Cleveland, Indianapolis
1958 - Indianapolis
1959 - Toronto
1960 - Montreal
1961 - Syracuse, Minnesota
1962 - Omaha, Neb.
1963-66 - Rochester
Manager
1966-67 - Bluefield, W.Va.
1968 - Stockton, Calif.
1969-70 - Dallas-Fort Worth
1971-76 - Rochester
1977-79 - San Francisco
1980 - Columbus, Ohio
1983-85 - Baltimore
Coach
1981-82 - New York Yankees
1986-87 - New York Yankees
1988-91 - Chicago Cubs
General Manager/Consultant
1992-97 - Rochester
Broadcaster1998-2008 - Rochester