Michael Andrews

Michael Jay Andrews (born July 9, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics. After his playing career, he served for more than 25 years as chairman of The Jimmy Fund, an event fundraising organization affiliated with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the older brother of Rob Andrews, who played five seasons in MLB from 1975 through 1979.

1973 World Series

In a transaction requested by his old manager Dick Williams despite the objections of team owner Charlie Finley, Andrews signed with the Oakland Athletics on July 31, 1973. A part of the ballclub’s postseason roster, he appeared in two games of the American League Championship Series, entering both as a pinch hitter.

In the second game of the 1973 World Series between the Oakland A’s and the New York Mets, Andrews committed two errors in a four-run twelfth inning, leading to a Mets’ 10-7 victory. With two outs and the Mets leading 7-6, John Milner’s ground ball went through Andrews’ legs for the first error, allowing Tug McGraw and Willie Mays to score. One batter later, Jerry Grote hit a ground ball to Andrews, whose throw to first pulled Gene Tenace off the bag for the second error, which allowed Cleon Jones to score. Oakland owner Charlie Finley forced him to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured, thus making him ineligible to play for the rest of the series. Andrews’ teammates and manager Dick Williams rallied to Andrews’s defense, including placing his number “17” onto their uniforms with athletic tape as a display of solidarity. Finally, commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Finley to reinstate Andrews. He entered Game 4 in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter to a standing ovation from sympathetic Mets fans. Andrews promptly grounded out, and Finley ordered him benched for the remainder of the Series. Andrews never played another major league game, playing baseball in Japan in 1975 before retiring.