“My father Charles was into baseball,” Fiore said in a June 2018 interview. “He told me he actually had a shot to go with the Giants — he was a pitcher — but they wanted him to go to A ball. He said, ‘No, I want to go to the big leagues or forget about it.’ They said, ‘Forget about it,’ so he went to work for the transit authority in the city. The I.R.T., I believe it was. The subway."

Michael Gary Joseph Fiore (born October 11, 1944) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. Mike was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Lafayette High School. He was signed by the New York Mets before the 1963 season, drafted by the Baltimore Orioles from the Mets in the 1963 first-year draft (December 2), and later drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the Orioles as the 17th pick in the 1968 expansion draft. He played for the Orioles (1968), Royals (1969–1970), Boston Red Sox (1970–1971), St. Louis Cardinals (1972), and San Diego Padres(1972).

Fiore hit the first home run in Kansas City Royals history. It took place at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in their fifth game April 13, 1969. Fiore led off the top of the 2nd with a solo shot against Oakland Athletics All-Star John "Blue Moon" Odom.

His personal high for playing time was during the 1969 season, when he hit .274 with 12 HR and 35 RBI in 107 games. After retiring, Mike was a transportation dispatcher for 20 years for the school district in Mineola, LI, NY.

(excerpted from SABR, Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)