R. I. P. Joe Altobelli

March 3, 2021

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

He was one of the last links to the Montreal Royals' final triple-A season in 1960.

The first baseman and outfielder was one of those rare individuals who played for both the Royals and Toronto Maple Leafs.

He was the manager of the Baltimore Orioles last World Series championship team in 1983.

Joe Altobelli, 88, died March 3 after a long period of poor health following a stroke in November 2017.

The 1960 Royals family has been hit hard in the last few months. Pitcher Ron Perranoski passed away Oct. 2, 2020 and pitcher Tommy Lasorda died Jan. 7.

Altobelli had a lengthy career in the minor leagues from 1951 to 1970 and played in 166 major-league games. He suited up for Cleveland in 1955 and 1957 and was a member of the Minnesota Twins in 1961 in their first season of operation after the franchise was relocated from Washington, D.C.

Altobelli enjoyed his best minor-league season in 1960 with Montreal, leading the International league in home runs with 31 and RBI with 105. In 1959 with Toronto, he had 17 homers and drove in 61 runs.

He was known as Mr. Baseball in Rochester, N.Y., where he was a player, coach, manager, GM and broadcaster for the triple-A Red Wings for many years.

The Detroit native also enjoyed a lengthy career in the majors as a coach and manager. He managed the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs along with the Orioles.

Altobelli sure lucked out in 1983 after Orioles iconic manager Earl Weaver decided to retire following the 1982 season. Altobelli's Orioles captured the American League title and the World Series. The Orioles haven't won a World Series since.

The Expos interviewed Weaver following the 1984 season for their managerial opening but GM Murray Cook and president John McHale decided to hire Buck Rodgers. When asked about being second choice Rodgers replied “Hey it’s my job now …. I don’t care if I was second choice or 52nd choice.”

One of Altobelli's biggest and most difficult decisions heading into the 1983 post-season was to drop veteran Dennis Martinez from the roster for the playoffs and World Series because of the pitcher's drinking problems and his unimpressive 7-16 regular-season record. Martinez was traded a few years later to the Expos and rejuvenated his career.

I attempted to get a hold of Altobelli a year ago to see if he could chat about Martinez's time with the Orioles but his caretaker said he was unable to talk because of his stroke.

The only time I chatted with Altobelli was in the late 1980s in Montreal. He was a coach with the Cubs and out of the blue in the visitors clubhouse at Olympic Stadium, he walked up to me and said, "Do you know you look like Albert Finney, the actor?''

Adios, Joe.