Thomas G. Raffo is an American

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 ...

coach and former

first baseman 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 ...

. Raffo is the head coach of the

Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball : ''For information on all Arkansas State University sports, see Arkansas State Red Wolves'' The Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball team (formerly the Arkansas State Indians) is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Arkansas State University ...

team.

Amateur career

Raffo attended

Bishop Kenny High School Bishop Kenny High School (commonly referred to as Bishop Kenny or BKHS) is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational Catholic high school in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located in and administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. August ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. He was named a First Team All-Florida Class AAA. He was drafted in the 34th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

, but he decided not to sign. Raffo then accepted a scholarship to play at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, to play

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing Mississippi State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member of the West Division of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

team. As a sophomore in 1988, Raffo was named Second Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). As a junior in 1989, Raffo batted .383 with a 22 home runs and 80 RBIs. He was named First Team All-SEC. As a senior in 1990, he batted .358 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs. He was again named First Team All-SEC.

Professional career

Raffo was drafted in the 8th round (209th overall) by the

Miami Miracle The Miracle in Miami, also known as the Miami Miracle, was an American football play that took place at the end of a National Football League regular season game on December 9, 2018, between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. It ...

in the

1990 Major League Baseball draft The 1990 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft was held in June 1990. The draft placed amateur baseball players onto major league teams. 1,487 players were distributed to 26 teams. The draft consisted of first round selections, supplemental first ...

. Raffo began his professional career with the Miracle of the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

, where he batted .258 with three home runs. Raffo played 1991 season with the

Charleston Wheelers Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfound ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

as a member of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization. He batted .277 with 13 home runs and 68 RBIs in 133 games. In 1992, he played with the

Cedar Rapids Reds Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He batted .302 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs during the season. He signed with the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

to play the 1993 season. He hit just .321 with 20 RBIs in 48 games.

Coaching career

In 1994, Raffo was named a volunteer assistant at Mississippi State. In the fall of 1997, he was promoted to a full-time assistant. In 2008, Raffo was being considered for the head coaching position at Mississippi State, but when the team decided to go with John Cohen, he was named the head coach for the

program. Raffo lead the Red Wolves to their best finish in

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

history going 19–9 finishing 2nd. As a result, he was named the 2012 Sun Belt Coach of the Year.

Head coaching record

References

External links