Mike Aldrete

Michael Peter Aldrete

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.
• School Stanford University
• High School Monterey (CA) High School
• Debut May 28, 1986
• Final Game September 29, 1996
• Born January 29, 1961 in Carmel, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mike Aldrete was a moderate-average, good on-base percentage, low-power outfielder-first baseman for a number of teams in the 1980s and 1990s. He brought two main qualities to the plate: the ability to hit for a decent average and the ability to take a walk. This made him a valuable pinch-hitter, but his lack of power and speed and mediocre play in the field meant that he could never hold on to a job as a regular.

A star at Stanford (and teammate of future NFL Hall of Famer John Elway) in the early 1980s, Aldrete was a 7th rounder in the 1983 amateur draft by the San Francisco Giants and scout Harvey Koepf. He first came up in 1986 and had the best season of his career the following year when he hit .325 with 9 home runs as the Giants finished first in the NL West. His output declined in 1988, and he was traded to the Montreal Expos after the season. He was strictly a bench player in two seasons for the Expos, hitting .221 and .242 before being released during spring training 1991. He began moving from team to team, with stints with the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians in 1991 before spending all of 1992 in the minors.

Aldrete caught a break in 1993 when the regular first baseman of the Oakland Athletics, Mark McGwire, was sidelined by an injury for most of the season. Aldrete stepped into the lineup and played creditably, hitting .267 with 10 home runs in 95 games. This allowed him to stay in the American League as a bench player over the next few seasons, first with the Athletics, then with the California Angels in 1995 and 1996, and with the New York Yankees to finish the 1996 season. He made one pitching appearance with the Yankees that season and was improbably the only Yankee hurler to not allow a run in a 16-4 laugher with the Milwaukee Brewers. He ended his career on a bright note as he was part of the Yankees' 1996 World Championship team, getting into two games against the Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series. His final professional season was in 1997, where he played briefly for the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse. He primarily wore number 23 during his playing career.

After retirement, he became a hitting coach and manager in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and was named first base coach of the Seattle Mariners on October 6, 2003 under manager Bob Melvin, his former Giant teammate. He followed Melvin to the Diamondbacks for the 2005 season, taking over as the team's hitting coach, and served in that role for two seasons. From Arizona Aldrete moved to the St. Louis Cardinals organization for several years. He served as the Cardinals' assistant hitting coach from 2008-2011 and as their bench coach during the 2012-2014 seasons.

In 2015, he joined the Athletics as bench coach under manager Bob Melvin. He moved to the first base coaching job in 2016 and to assistant hitting coach in 2018. In 2020, he returned to first base and stayed there in 2021. In 2022, he was named quality control coach with the same team, then moved back to first base coach in 2023. Aldrete changed roles once again in 2024 when he worked as the team's hitting coach.

He is the brother of Rich Aldrete, who became head coach at California State University, Monterey Bay, and the father of Michael Aldrete, who was selected in the 2012 amateur draft. Additionally, Rich's son Carter Aldrete, was drafted by the Giants in the 15th round of the 2019 amateur draft. During the replacement player spring training of 1995, Rich led the Milwaukee Brewers in RBI while Mike was involved in the MLBPA's fight.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2002	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	25-53	8th	Arizona Diamondbacks
2003	Lancaster JetHawks	California League	73-67	7th	Arizona Diamondbacks