Alfred Ferrara Jr. was born on December 22, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York to Al Ferrara Sr. and his wife Adele. Al Sr. was a New York City fireman for 20 years who later was an air conditioning technician for Chase Bank before working the gate at Jackie Gleason’s Inverrary Country Club in Florida in his retirement.

Al was a high school classmate of Bob Aspromonte and played sandlot baseball with Joe Torre and Joe Pepitone.

Al’s grandmother came over from Italy with Guido Morvillo, an accomplished piano teacher, who taught Al to play. Al was a classical pianist who played at Carnegie Hall by 16, a World Champion baseball player with one of the major league’s glamour franchises by 23 (1963 Dodgers), and an actor sharing screen time with Tallulah Bankhead and Zsa Zsa Gabor on a top-rated television series before he turned 30 (Batman). In 1974 Al appeared as a contestant on Match Game '74, listing his profession as a "freelance piano buyer."

As per Baseball Amore site fan David Pecoraro, Al was both the first and the last of the record 10 consecutive strikeouts to end Tom Seaver’s 19K gem vs. San Diego on April 22, 1970. Al also provided the Padre's only run that game, with a home run in the 2nd inning.

Ferrara played parts of eight years for the Dodgers (5 years), Padres and Reds. At the end of his career, Ferrara was traded to the Reds in exchange for backup outfielder Angel Bravo. In his first game with Cincinnati, he misplayed a ball in the outfield and manager Sparky Anderson was waiting for him on the top step when Ferrara returned to the dugout. Ferrara told him, "What do you expect for Angel Bravo, Willie Mays?"

After his playing career, Al spent four years as a greeter at the Martoni Marquis on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles before going into sales for various home-improvement companies, eventually starting his own company, Major League Construction. That work lasted 30 years; Ferrara sold his business and retired in 2005 at age 65. Then, the recession of 2008 occurred and Ferrara lost about a quarter of his retirement savings. “Going back into sales or getting a job would have been rough at my age, so I decided to go back home . . . and called the Dodgers.” The Dodgers put Ferrara to work in their community relations department in July 2009. He visited elementary schools and read Dr. Seuss books to the kids; he cautioned teens about the evils of alcohol, tobacco and drugs; and he entertained guests at some Dodger home games.

His friendship with Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi is the subject of the book “Buzzie and the Bull” by Ken Lazebnik.

Al passed away on November 15, 2024 from pneumonia at the age of 84.

(excerpted from Wikipedia, BR Bullpen, Night Owl Blog and SABR)