Frank John Catalanotto (born April 27, 1974) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach and former

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, 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. In the numbering system ...

, who is the current head baseball coach of the

Hofstra Pride The Hofstra Pride (formerly the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen) are composed of 17 teams representing Hofstra University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women’s basketball, cross-country running, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and tra ...

. Catalanotto played

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1997–1999), the Texas Rangers (2000–2002, 2007–2008), the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Sin ...

(2003–2006), the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

(2009) and the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(2010). In his career, Catalanotto played all infield and outfield positions except

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and center field. He then went on to be the head baseball coach of the NYIT Bears (2019–2020).

Professional career

Detroit Tigers (1997–1999)

Catalanotto began his professional baseball career in 1992 when the

—who first noticed him while scouting higher-profile players at a Smithtown East baseball game in 1991—drafted him in the tenth round of the 1992

Major League Baseball draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

. Primarily a second baseman in the minors, he made his major league debut at second base on September 3, 1997. While in Detroit, Catalanotto battled injuries and a lack of playing time, and never recorded a season of 300

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s for the Tigers. Detroit general manager Randy Smith chose not to protect Catalanotto in the 1996 Rule 5 draft, and he was selected by the Oakland Athletics, spending

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives establ ...

with them. Catalanotto did not make the Athletics squad and was returned to the Tigers for the 1997 season. As a reserve, Catalanotto logged significant time not only at second base, but at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

as well. Over his three-year span in Detroit, he was the most often used

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Americ ...

for the Tigers, leading the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) in pinch-hit at bats in the 1998 season.

Texas Rangers (2000–2002)

On November 2, 1999, Catalanotto was part of an eight player trade between the Tigers and the Texas Rangers. In the deal, he was dealt to Texas along with

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Francisco Cordero Francisco Javier Cordero (born May 11, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, and Ho ...

and Justin Thompson,

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

Bill Hasselman, and a minor leaguer for slugging outfield star Juan González, catcher

Gregg Zaun Gregory Owen Zaun (; born April 14, 1971) is an American baseball analyst, public speaker and a former professional baseball catcher. He played for nine teams over 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1995 until 2010, winning a World Series ...

, and pitcher

Danny Patterson Danny Shane Patterson (born February 17, 1971) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Texas Rangers (1996–1999) and the Detroit Tigers (2000–2004). In his career, he is 24–22 with a 4.14 ERA, 250 strikeouts, ...

. Catalanotto made a splash to start to his Rangers career, collecting ten

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

and three walks in thirteen consecutive plate appearances from April 21 to May 18, 2000. This streak stands as the Rangers franchise record for consecutive appearances reaching base. He also tied the club's record for hits in a single game (five) on May 17. After another season plagued by injuries in 2000, Catalanotto finally burst onto the scene in 2001 when he finished fifth in the AL in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.330), and recorded a .431 batting average in August. He also logged a number of innings in the outfield, a position he had fielded for only one inning before 2001. Catalanotto battled injuries again in 2002, and the Rangers declined to offer him a contract in the 2003 offseason.

Toronto Blue Jays (2003–2006)

On May 1, 2004, against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, he set the Blue Jays record for hits in a game, going 6 for 6 in the second game of a double-header. Catalanotto was named AL player of the week after hitting .500 in the last week of the 2005 season helping him finish with an average of .301. He also won the AL player of the week on July 25, 2005. On June 5, 2005, at

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

, he collected the 700th hit of his major league career and on September 22 he scored the 400th

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

of his career against

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Texas Rangers (2007–2008)

On November 19, 2006, the Texas Rangers announced that they had reacquired Catalanotto, signing him to a three-year contract worth $13.5 million. Catalanotto was released by the Rangers on April 1, 2009.

Milwaukee Brewers (2009)

On May 12, the

signed Catalanotto to a minor league contract. On May 25, his contract was purchased from the Double-A

Huntsville Stars The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Mil ...

. Catalanotto wore the number 20 for the first few games in 2009, until switching to the released Brad Nelson's number 27 on June 1.

New York Mets (2010)

On January 30, 2010, Catalanotto signed a minor league contract with the

with an invitation to spring training. On May 10, 2010, the Mets announced that Catalanotto had been

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

, a move that he felt might signal "the end of is MLBcareer". Chris Carter was brought up from the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen F ...

to fill Catalanotto's roster spot. Catalanotto retired on March 6, 2011.

Coaching career

Catalanotto was hired on June 7, 2018, as the head coach of the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a private research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long Island, and one in Manhattan. Additionally, it has a cyberse ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

team. In his first season in 2019, he led his team to a 32–14 record and a berth in the

East Coast Conference The East Coast Conference (ECC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the northeastern United States in the states of C ...

tournament. During the summer of 2020, NYIT suspended all of its athletics for two years. On July 7, 2021, Catalanotto was named the head baseball coach of the

. In his first season as head coach, he led the Pride to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the CAA Baseball championship, the first in program history.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Catalanotto is an honorary chairman for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundatio

and participates in

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationvascular birthmark that spread across her face when she was just two weeks old. The Catalanottos have since become honorary chairs for the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation and started the Frank Catalanotto Foundation. Despite not having Italian citizenship, Catalanotto's Italian heritage made him eligible to play for the Italian national team at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

and

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

. Catalanotto was inducted into the

Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is an American sports hall of fame based in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. The non-profit was established during 1990 to honor outstanding people, living or deceased, who have gained prominence and made s ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, New York, in the Baseball Category with the Class of 2010. Catalanotto's brother, Michael Catalanotto, is a sports agent and attorney on Long Island.

References

External links

Frank Catalanotto: Behind the Dugout
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catalanotto, Frank 1974 births Living people Baseball coaches from New York (state) American sportspeople of Italian descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from New York (state) Bristol Tigers players Detroit Tigers players Frisco RoughRiders players Huntsville Stars players Jacksonville Suns players LIU Post Pioneers baseball players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball second basemen Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players Oklahoma RedHawks players Sportspeople from Smithtown, New York Texas Rangers players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players Tulsa Drillers players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players NYIT Bears baseball coaches