Yankees Birthday of the Day: Rich Monteleone

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 25: Coach Rich Monteleone of the New York Yankees poses for a portrait during Yankees Photo Day at Legends Field on February 25, 2005 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images The early 1990s were a bit of a wasteland for the Yankees as a franchise. By winning percentage, the 1990 and ‘91 teams are two of the worst in franchise history, and they mostly continued the story of the 1980s, where the Yankees made the playoffs just once.

By 1993, they began to show signs of returning to form, and then of course by the end of the decade, they were a dynasty again. That’s not to say there were no good players around in the dark periods though. For instance, they got two solid years in there from reliever Rich Monteleone.

Richard “Rich” Monteleone Born: March 22, 1963 (Tampa, FL) Yankees Tenure: 1990-93 Monteleone was born and raised in Tampa, Florida attending Tampa Catholic High School. It was out of high school that the Tigers selected him with their first round draft pick in 1982 , which was the 20th overall pick. Relatedly, another Tampa high school pitcher was selected fifth that year, with a certain Dwight Gooden going to the Mets.

While Monteleone did sign with the Tigers, he would never actually appear for them in the majors. Initially a starter in the minor leagues, he was a bit of a slow developer, as he never posted an ERA under four in any of his first six MiLB seasons. After his first couple, he ended up as part of a trade in December 1985, sending him to the Mariners organization.