April 22, 1998 – Signed by the New York Giants as a “bonus baby” in 1954, 20-year-old John Joseph “Joey” Amalfitano spent most of his first two seasons warming the bench, with 25 at-bats in 45 games. In his rookie year, he roomed with Johnny Antonelli, the Braves’ “bonus baby” of 1948 who had just been traded to the Giants.

Following his two-year initiation, the San Pedro, CA native spent five seasons in the minors before returning to the big leagues in 1960, when the Giants were in San Francisco. That proved to be his best offensive year with a.277 average in 106 games. Over his ten-year career (1954–55, 1960–67) with the Giants, Astros, and Cubs, the utility infielder compiled a .244 average in 643 games.

As it turned out, Amalfitano’s major-league career was just getting started. Between 1967 and 1977 he coached for the Cubs, Giants, and Padres. In 1978 he returned to the Cubs coaching staff, served as interim manager for the final seven games in 1979, then took over as manager 91 games into the 1980 season. He managed again in 1981 but was let go at the end of the season. After coaching for the Reds in 1982, he began a 16-year stretch as the Dodgers third base coach, the first 14 with Tommy Lasorda as manager. Ending his long tenure as a big-league coach in 1998, he then moved into various front-office positions with the Dodgers and Giants.