Jamie D'Antona
| Jamie D'Antona | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman / Third baseman | |
| Born: May 12, 1982 Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 22, 2008, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 25, 2008, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .176 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 1 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Batting average | .263 |
| Home runs | 36 |
| Runs batted in | 133 |
| Teams | |
James Joseph D'Antona (born May 12, 1982) is a former professional Major League Baseball infielder with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Early life
[edit]A native of Greenwich, Connecticut, D'Antona played baseball alongside future major league pitcher Craig Breslow at Trumbull High School, where their team won the LL State Baseball championship game.[1] A first and third baseman, D'Antona played college baseball for Wake Forest University, where he had a .354 career batting average and 58 home runs. In 2002, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2][3] His season in Chatham was chronicled by author Jim Collins in his work, The Last Best League.[4] In 2003, D'Antona was the ACC leader in slugging percentage, home runs, and RBI.
Minor leagues
[edit]Drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 2nd round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft, D'Antona finished the 2003 season with Low Single-A Yakima, where he hit 15 home runs in only 70 games. He was also a Short-Season Single-A All-Star and Northwest League All-Star. In 2004, he played with High Single-A Lancaster, where he batted .315 and earned a late-season promotion to Double-A El Paso. With Double-A Tennessee in 2005, D'Antona struggled to hit for average, only .249, which caused his home run total to drop to 9. In 2006, again with Double-A Tennessee, he bounced back with a .312 batting average and was promoted to Triple-A Tucson for 2007.
In 2008, D'Antona batted near .400 for the first 21/2 months, was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game, and won the Triple-A Home Run Derby in triple overtime against Detroit Tigers minor league infielder Mike Hessman.
Major leagues
[edit]D'Antona made his major league debut on July 22, collecting his first major league hit, a single, on the same day and in his first at-bat. D'Antona was called back up to the D'Backs as a September call up.
Following the 2008 season, D'Antona was released by the Diamondbacks so that he could sign with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.[5]
On January 12, 2011, the Florida Marlins signed D'Antona to a minor league contract.[6] D'Antona was released by the Marlins on February 17, 2011.[citation needed]
D'Antona returned to the Chatham Anglers as a hitting coach for the 2017 season.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Hour - Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ "2002 Chatham As". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ Collins, Jim (2004). The Last Best League. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo. ISBN 0-7382-0901-5.
- ^ "D-backs release D'Antona". Arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ Nicholson, Ben (January 12, 2011). "Marlins Sign Dewayne Wise, Three Others: MLB Rumors". MLBTradeRumors.com. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ "Chatham Anglers - Team Roster 2017".
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
- 1982 births
- Living people
- All-American college baseball players
- American expatriate baseball players in Japan
- Arizona Diamondbacks players
- Chatham Anglers players
- El Paso Diablos players
- Lancaster JetHawks players
- Major League Baseball first basemen
- Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen
- Sportspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut
- Baseball players from Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Tennessee Smokies players
- Tokyo Yakult Swallows players
- Tucson Sidewinders players
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players
- Yakima Bears players