Sports and Torts: Joey Amalfitano

Sports and Torts: Randy Cross

Joe Amalfitano

A major league baseball scout, coach and manager for over 35 years. Amalfitano got his start at the age of 20 as an infielder for the Giants.



Joe Amalfitano has been a major league scout, coach and manager for over 35 years. He made his major league debut in 1954 as an infielder for the New York Giants. That year, as a twenty-year-old, he found himself playing under Leo Durocher, alongside a heroic old Dusty Rhodes and a young Willie Mays. The Giants were involved in a scrap for the National League pennant, from which they would emerge as the victors.



Amalfitano returned to the minor leagues in 1956 for additional training, then returned to play as a utility infielder with the Giants in 1960. However, he did not score enough hits to earn a regular position. Amalfitano’s major league career also includes stints with Houston and the Cubs, but he is probably best known for his work as a coach and manager.



Amalfitano served as coach for the Chicago Cubs from 1967-71 and again from 1978-80, and managed them for portions of three seasons (1979, 1980 and 1981). He also coached the San Francisco Giants (1972-75), the San Diego Padres (1976-77), the Cincinnati Reds (1982), and, in 1983, joined the Dodgers as their third-base coach. He is currently a special assistant for player development for the San Francisco Giants, primarily working in its farm system.

Randy Cross

A 13-year NFL veteran and three-time All-Pro (1981, 1983, 1984) and Pro Bowler (1981, 1982, 1984), Cross was a center and guard for the San Francisco 49ers and helped lead the team to three Super Bowl championships (1982, 1985, 1989). He was the 49ers\' Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1986, 1987 and 1988 and was voted the 49ers\' Man of the Year in 1985 for his work in the community.

A two-time All-America at UCLA, he played on the 1976 Rose Bowl Champion Bruins team. He was the 49ers\' second-round pick in the 1976 NFL Draft and started at center beginning that season but played mainly guard throughout his career. He missed only eight games over the next 13 years. Cross was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on July 16, 2011.

From 1989-1993, Cross was a member of the CBS Sports team that covered the NFC playoffs and Super Bowl XXVI. In addition, he served as an analyst for CBS Radio Sports\' coverage of Super Bowl XXIV.



Cross left CBS (following their loss of the NFC package to Fox) to join NBC Sports as a football analyst for NFL telecasts and a part-time analyst for Notre Dame football games. In 1998, he returned to CBS Sports as a game analyst before serving as a studio analyst on The NFL Today from 1999-2001. He eventually returned to his game analyst duties in 2002. He co-hosts shows also on the Sirius NFL Radio. In 2009, he also became the color analyst for US Naval Academy home games on CBS College Sports TV. He is also formerly the lead color commentator for New England Patriots pre-season games, from 1995 to 2012 alongside Don Criqui.



Randy is a co-host on \"The Morning Show\" on WZGC 92-9 The Game a CBS radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.