Rick Cerone

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1975-1992)

Rick Cerone was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1992 for 8 teams, including the Cleveland Guardians, a span of 18 seasons. In 1,329 career games, he hit .245 with 998 hits, 59 home runs, and 436 RBI.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .245
HR 59
RBI 436
H 998
OPS .644
PIV -6,083
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 192 lb
Born
5/19/1954 in Newark, NJ, USA
MLB Debut
1975-08-17
Last Game
1992-07-10

Full name: Richard Aldo Cerone

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Rick Cerone — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,329 4,069 393 998 190 15 59 436 6 320 450 .245 .301 .343 .644 -6,083

Career AVG .245 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 5.3% below league average.

Career OBP .301 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 7.1% below league average.

Career SLG .343 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 11.1% below league average.

Career OPS .644 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — 9.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Cerone Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1975 CLE AL 7 12 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1976 CLE AL 7 16 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .125 — — — — 0.0
1977 TOR AL 31 100 7 20 4 0 1 10 0 6 12 .200 .264 (-24%) .329 (-25%) .401 (-33%) .730 (-29%) -473.7
1978 TOR AL 88 282 25 63 8 2 3 20 0 23 32 .223 .257 (-13%) .323 (-12%) .378 (-21%) .702 (-17%) -728.6
1979 TOR AL 136 469 47 112 27 4 7 61 1 37 40 .239 .265 (-10%) .329 (-11%) .397 (-10%) .727 (-10%) -850.9
1980 NYA AL 147 519 70 144 30 4 14 85 1 32 56 .277 .264 (+5%) .326 (-2%) .387 (+11%) .714 (+5%) 379.9
1981 NYA AL 71 234 23 57 13 2 2 21 0 12 24 .244 .255 (-5%) .320 (-14%) .368 (-7%) .688 (-10%) -447.6
1982 NYA AL 89 300 29 68 10 0 5 28 0 19 27 .227 .261 (-13%) .324 (-16%) .388 (-20%) .712 (-19%) -913.2
1983 NYA AL 80 246 18 54 7 0 2 22 0 15 29 .220 .260 (-16%) .324 (-18%) .389 (-30%) .714 (-24%) -925.4
1984 NYA AL 38 120 8 25 3 0 2 13 1 9 15 .208 .259 (-20%) .322 (-17%) .384 (-26%) .707 (-22%) -397.0
1985 ATL NL 96 282 15 61 9 0 3 25 0 29 25 .216 .257 (-16%) .323 (-11%) .390 (-28%) .714 (-20%) -884.5
1986 ML4 AL 68 216 22 56 14 0 4 18 1 15 28 .259 .257 (+1%) .325 (-7%) .395 (-4%) .720 (-5%) -236.0
1987 NYA AL 113 284 28 69 12 1 4 23 0 30 46 .243 .262 (-8%) .331 (-3%) .415 (-19%) .746 (-12%) -542.0
1988 BOS AL 84 264 31 71 13 1 3 27 0 20 32 .269 .254 (+6%) .317 (+3%) .377 (-5%) .695 (-1%) -30.4
1989 BOS AL 102 296 28 72 16 1 4 48 0 34 40 .243 .254 (-4%) .319 (avg) .375 (-8%) .694 (-4%) -174.9
1990 NYA AL 49 139 12 42 6 0 2 11 0 5 13 .302 .257 (+17%) .324 (avg) .385 (+1%) .710 (avg) -12.0
1991 NYN NL 90 227 18 62 13 0 2 16 1 30 24 .273 .255 (+7%) .323 (+11%) .384 (-7%) .708 (+1%) 164.9
1992 MON NL 33 63 10 17 4 0 1 7 1 3 5 .270 .255 (+6%) .322 (-3%) .377 (+1%) .699 (-1%) -11.5
Career · 18 seasons 1,329 4,069 393 998 190 15 59 436 6 320 450 .245 — — — — -6,083

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Rick Cerone — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 0.0

Career ERA 0.00 vs. league average 4.29 across their career seasons — 100.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Rick Cerone — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1987 NYA AL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 1 1 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 1 season 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 1 1 0.00 — 0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Rick Cerone — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
17 61 5 15 3 0 3 10 4 5 .246

Playoff Batting by Year

Rick Cerone — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1981 AEDIV NYA 5 18 1 6 2 0 1 5 0 2 .333
1981 ALCS NYA 3 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100
1981 WS NYA 6 21 2 4 1 0 1 3 4 2 .190
1980 ALCS NYA 3 12 1 4 0 0 1 2 0 1 .333

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1331 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Rick Cerone — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home672205120952330250.255
Away657201818447529186.235

Pitching — Home / Away

Rick Cerone — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Away22.000110.00

Last 10 Games — Batting

Rick Cerone — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1992-07-10 WSNSFGW 310000010
1992-07-08 WSNLADW 100000000
1992-07-07 WSNLADW 310000001
1992-07-05 WSNSDPW 100000000
1992-06-28 WSNPITW 300000000
1992-06-27 WSNPITL 100000000
1992-06-22 WSNPHIL 100000000
1992-06-21 WSNPITL 100000001
1992-06-20 WSNPITW 412000101
1992-06-14 WSNCHCL 300000000

Last 2 Games — Pitching

Rick Cerone — Last 2 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1987-08-09 NYYDET — 1.0000100
1987-07-19 NYYTEX — 1.0000010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Rick Cerone — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 2 0 4 0 0 0
2B 1 0 2 0 0 0
3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
C 1279 1135 6548 536 70 59
OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
P 2 0 0 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Rick Cerone — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1975 CLE C 7 3 18 1 0 0
1976 CLE C 6 2 25 1 1 1
1977 TOR C 31 29 146 15 1 1
1978 TOR C 84 78 426 44 4 7
1979 TOR C 136 133 560 68 13 10
1980 NYA C 147 146 800 73 9 9
1981 NYA C 69 64 353 26 3 1
1982 NYA C 89 86 509 25 6 5
1983 NYA 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1983 NYA C 78 72 412 18 4 2
1984 NYA C 38 36 230 9 1 1
1985 ATL C 91 76 384 48 6 4
1986 ML4 C 68 66 391 44 4 2
1987 NYA 1B 2 0 4 0 0 0
1987 NYA C 111 86 538 38 1 6
1987 NYA P 2 0 0 0 0 0
1988 BOS C 83 69 471 28 0 4
1989 BOS C 97 85 578 41 10 5
1989 BOS OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1990 NYA 2B 1 0 2 0 0 0
1990 NYA C 35 29 177 14 1 1
1991 NYN C 81 63 424 36 6 0
1992 MON C 28 12 106 7 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Rick Cerone Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 2
Catcher 1278
First Base 2
Second Base 1
Third Base 1
Right Field 1
Designated Hitter 10

Awards & Honors

Rick Cerone — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1980 TSN All-Star C

Salary History

Rick Cerone — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1992 MON NL $230,000
1991 NYN NL $100,000
1990 NYA AL $600,000
1989 BOS AL $490,000
1988 NYA AL $300,000
1987 NYA AL $250,000
1986 ML4 AL $675,000
1985 ATL NL $625,000
Total Career Earnings $3,270,000

College History

Rick Cerone — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Seton Hall University South Orange NJ 1973, 1974, 1975

Award Voting History

Rick Cerone — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1980 Most Valuable Player AL 7th 77.0 392 1

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Rick Cerone (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Del Rice
    .237 avg, 79 HR
  2. 95
    Mike Matheny
    .239 avg, 67 HR
  3. 92
    Jerry Grote
    .252 avg, 39 HR
  4. 85
    Randy Hundley
    .236 avg, 82 HR
  5. 83
    Johnny Edwards
    .242 avg, 81 HR
  6. 81
    Alan Ashby
    .245 avg, 90 HR

Rick Cerone: the record in brief

The profile opens with Rick Cerone's first major league game on August 17, 1975; the last one listed came on July 10, 1992. Club by club, the record runs the Cleveland Indians (1975 to 1976), the Toronto Blue Jays (1977 through 1979), the New York Yankees (1980 to 1990), the Atlanta Braves (1985), the Milwaukee Brewers (1986), the Boston Red Sox (1988 through 1989), the New York Mets (1991), and the Montreal Expos (1992). Born on May 19, 1954, in Newark, NJ, USA, Cerone is listed as a catcher and both batted and threw right-handed. Size on record: 5 feet, 11 inches and 192 pounds. The bio lists the given name Richard Aldo.

The batting record for Cerone: 1,329 games, 998 hits in 4,069 at bats, and a .245 average, adding 59 home runs and 436 RBI. On-base and slugging figures of .301 and .343 give Cerone a career OPS of .644. Cerone's .245 average ran 5.3% below the .259 that the league posted over the same seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rick Cerone

What years did Rick Cerone play?
Rick Cerone played in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1992.
Was Rick Cerone a pitcher?
No. Rick Cerone was a position player (Catcher), though he did pitch in 2 career games.
How many home runs did Rick Cerone hit?
Rick Cerone hit 59 career home runs with 998 hits.
What was Rick Cerone's career batting average?
Rick Cerone batted .245 over his career, with 998 hits in 4,069 at bats.
How many RBI did Rick Cerone have?
Rick Cerone drove in 436 runs in his career.
What was Rick Cerone's career ERA?
Rick Cerone finished with a 0.00 career ERA, going 0-0 with 1 strikeouts.