Mike Andrews

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with the same name, see Michael Andrews (disambiguation).
Mike Andrews
Second baseman
Born: (1943-07-09) July 9, 1943 (age 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 18, 1966, for the Boston Red Sox
NPB: April 5, 1975, for the Kintetsu Buffaloes
Last appearance
MLB: September 29, 1973, for the Oakland Athletics
NPB: October 4, 1975, for the Kintetsu Buffaloes
MLB statistics
Batting average.258
Home runs66
Runs batted in316
NPB statistics
Batting average.231
Home runs12
Runs batted in40
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Michael Jay Andrews (born July 9, 1943) is an

chairman of The Jimmy Fund, an event fundraising organization affiliated with the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] He is the older brother of Rob Andrews, who played five seasons in MLB from 1975 through 1979.[2]

Early life

Andrews grew up in

South High School, starring in baseball, football and basketball. After he accepted a full football scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that required a one-year enrollment at a junior college to complete foreign language courses, he matriculated at El Camino College, earning Junior College All-American honors as a wide receiver.[3]

Baseball career

His baseball skills drew the attention of the Red Sox, who signed him as an amateur free agent with a $12,000

Governors' Cup Champions managed by Dick Williams. After his batting average fell to .246 in 1965, Andrews was shifted to second base and responded by hitting .267, with 14 homers and an International League-leading 97 runs scored in 1966.[3]

He was promoted in September 1966 to a Boston team that avoided the

California Angels at Fenway Park, going hitless in four at bats with a run scored. He got his first hit in the majors six days later at Yankee Stadium, a single off New York's Fritz Peterson. Andrews picked up two more hits in the season finale versus the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park.[3]

Even though he was reunited with the newly promoted Williams in 1967, Andrews started his rookie season on the bench in favor of Reggie Smith, who had been shifted from center field. By late April, Andrews became the regular second baseman for the majority of the campaign, with Smith, struggling defensively, returning to his original position.

Andrews was traded along with Luis Alvarado to the White Sox for Luis Aparicio on December 1, 1970.[6] Andrews hit just .237 for the White Sox, and was released on July 16, 1973, with a batting average that season of just .201.

1973 World Series

In a transaction requested by his old manager Dick Williams despite the objections of team owner Charlie Finley, Andrews signed with the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 1973. A part of the ballclub's postseason roster, he appeared in two games of the American League Championship Series, entering both as a pinch hitter.

In Game 2 of the

commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Finley to reinstate Andrews. He entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. Andrews promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series. He was given his unconditional release on November 1, eleven days after the A's won its second straight World Series title.[8] Andrews never played another major league game, playing baseball in Japan in 1975
before retiring.

The Jimmy Fund

Andrews's first contact with The Jimmy Fund was in his rookie season with the Red Sox in 1967 when Bill Koster, then the charity's chairman, asked him if he could meet with a twelve-year-old cancer patient. Andrews agreed and spent half an hour with the youth. After the meeting, he talked about the boy's optimism with Koster, who then informed him that the youngster was being released because his condition was terminal and the doctors had no cure for the disease.[1]

In 1979, Andrews received an offer from

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, which he had joined after his professional baseball career ended. He eventually left the insurance business and served full-time with the fund, becoming its chairman in 1984.[1] He retired from the position at the end of 2009.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Bollinger, Rhett. "Andrews devotes life to Jimmy Fund", MLB.com, Saturday, June 27, 2009.
  2. ^ Mike Andrews (statistics & history) Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ a b c d "Wisnia, Saul. "Mike Andrews", Society for American Baseball Research (The Baseball Biography Project)". Archived from the original on 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  4. ^ Mike Andrews (minor league statistics & history) Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ^ The 1966 Major League Baseball Season Retrosheet
  6. ^ "Bob Aspromonte Joins New York". The New York Times. December 2, 1970. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Wisnia, Saul (July 1, 2015). "Mike Andrews". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  8. ^ Rogers, Thomas. "People in Sports: Trade Stuns Reuss," The New York Times, Friday, November 2, 1973. Retrieved December 24, 2021
  9. ^ "Former Red Sox player Mike Andrews to retire as Jimmy Fund Chairman," The Jimmy Fund press release, Monday, November 30, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Andrews&oldid=1210535900"