Feb. 6, 2017 – Frank Catalanotto was a high school senior in Smithtown, New York, by the time he drew the attention of pro scouts who had come to watch some of his teammates. He impressed them enough to be selected by the Tigers in the tenth round of the 1992 draft. Following six years of development in the minors, he went on to play for five teams in a 14-year big-league career between 1997 and 2010.

The 6-foot, 170-pound left-handed hitter was versatile, playing first, second, third, and the outfield. His best year came in 2001 when he hit a career-high .330 for the Texas Rangers (fifth-best in the AL) and was engaged in a late-season contest for the batting title with rookie Ichiro Suzuki until a slump in the final week dropped him out of contention. He hit .300 or better in three other seasons and compiled an impressive lifetime average of .291.

Catalanotto has also been committed to Team Italy’s involvement in the World Baseball Classic. After playing in the first two events (2006 and 2009), he coached in 2013 and 2017 and has twice gone to Italy as a special instructor at Grosseto and Nettuno. He is also a co-founder of the Italian American Baseball Foundation, whose goal is to support baseball in Italy.

Describing himself as “one of the last of the old-school mentality,” Catalanotto talks about the ways the game changed during his career, which coincided with the so-called Steroid Era.