Phillip Arden Lombardi is a former professional baseball player. He played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

, between and , for the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 and New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

. He was primarily a catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

, but also played the outfield

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

.

Lombardi was drafted by the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 in the third round of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft

1981 Major League Baseball Draft

-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.- Other notable players :*John Elway was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft...

, and made his debut with the Yankees on April 26, , replacing Ron Hassey

Ron Hassey

Ronald William Hassey is a retired Major League Baseball catcher. Hassey began his career with the Cleveland Indians after the Indians drafted him in the 18th round of the 1976 MLB amateur draft...

 behind the plate in the fifth inning. On his first fielding chance, he committed a throwing error

Error (baseball)

In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...

 on a stolen base

Stolen base

In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...

 attempt by Brett Butler. For the season, Lombardi batted

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 .278 with two home run

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s and six runs batted in, and did not commit any more errors behind the plate (though he did have two in left field

Left fielder

In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...

).

He was acquired by the cross-town rival New York Mets

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

 with Steve Frey

Steve Frey

Steven Francis Frey is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He attended William Tennent High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, and played three seasons of college ball at Bucks County Community College before being drafted by the New York Yankees in the fifteenth round of the 1983 Major...

 and Darren Reed for Rafael Santana

Rafael Santana

Rafael Francisco Santana de la Cruz is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who won a World Series ring with the 1986 New York Mets. He currently serves as the Dominican Republic scouting and player development supervisor for the Chicago White Sox.-St...

 and Victor Garcia following the season. He spent two seasons with their triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides, making only eighteen appearances with the big league squad in . He was claimed on waivers by the Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 on April 4, . Five days later, Lombardi retired.

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