Mike Pagliarulo


Michael Timothy Pagliarulo, a.k.a. "Pags", is an American former professional baseball third baseman and later the hitting coach of the Miami Marlins. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Texas Rangers, and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Seibu Lions.

Career

Pagliarulo played college baseball at the University of Miami for the Miami Hurricanes. In 1980, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in sixth round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.
Pagliarulo joined the parent club on July 1, 1984, and spent just over five years with the Yankees before going to the San Diego Padres in 1989. After a year and a half in San Diego, Pagliarulo moved back to the American League when he joined the Minnesota Twins just before the start of the 1991 season. It was with Minnesota that Pagliarulo won his only World Series championship as the starting third baseman in 1991. Pagliarulo remained with Minnesota for the following 1992 season and part of the 1993 season. He was acquired by the Orioles on August 15, 1993 in a transaction that was completed the following day when Erik Schullstrom was sent to the Twins. At the time, the Orioles needed depth at third base with Leo Gómez on the disabled list but had been unsuccessful in its pursuit of the Cincinnati Reds' Chris Sabo.
Pagliarulo was out of Major League Baseball during the strike-shortened 1994 season, playing the season for the Japanese league's Seibu Lions, where he was a teammate of current Lions manager Tsutomu Ito. He played college baseball at the University of Miami.
At the age of 35, Pagliarulo resumed his career when he signed with the Texas Rangers, where he finished his career before retiring after the 1995 season. In 2014, he served as the hitting coach of the Indianapolis Indians, the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
From 2013-13, Pagilarulo served as the hitting coach for Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.
In 2016, the Miami Marlins hired Pagliarulo as their hitting coach. Pagilarulo was fired from that position in April 2019.

Personal life

His son, Michael, was a member of the 2009 Ivy League champion Dartmouth Big Green baseball team.

Pronunciation

Pagliarulo's name is pronounced "pah-lee-ah-ROO-low". Fellow Italian-American Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto was notably insistent upon this pronunciation.