Gene Michael played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1966 to 1975, most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees where he anchored the infield for seven seasons in the late 1960s and early '70s.
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18 Facts About Gene Michael
2.
Gene Michael played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Detroit Tigers.
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3.
Gene Michael was a light hitter but a quick and smooth defensive player.
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4.
Gene Michael spent one season playing professional basketball for the Columbus Comets of the North American Basketball League.
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5.
Gene Michael spent one season in Los Angeles, and was then purchased by the New York Yankees.
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6.
Gene Michael then signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1976, though did not play in a single game with Boston, having been released in May without using him once.
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7.
Gene Michael was a master of the hidden ball trick, having pulled it off five times in his career.
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8.
Reggie Jackson credited Gene Michael's scouting reports for helping him hit three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series.
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10.
Gene Michael finished with a record of 92 wins and 76 losses over both stints as Yankees manager.
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11.
Gene Michael returned to the Yankees front office in 1983, and again served as a coach starting in 1984.
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12.
In 1990, Michael was again hired, this time as general manager of the Yankees.
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13.
At a time when Steinbrenner was suspended from baseball operations by Commissioner Fay Vincent, Gene Michael took advantage of his newfound managerial flexibility by rebuilding the Yankees farm system, in developing young talent rather than trading it away, as they had done in the 1980s with little success.
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14.
Gene Michael demonstrated patience with Bernie Williams, whom Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had wanted to trade when he struggled early in his career.
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15.
However Gene Michael was fired in 1995, before the Yankees dynasty began to win World Series, as a result of fallouts from the 1994 strike, which ended the Yankees chance of having the best record in the American League that year.
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16.
From 1996 until 2002, Gene Michael served as vice-president of major league scouting for the Yankees.
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17.
Gene Michael married twice, his first marriage to Rae Reuter, ending in divorce.
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18.
Gene Michael died due to a heart attack on September 7,2017, in Oldsmar, Florida, at age 79.
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