NYIT has hired 14-year MLB veteran Frank Catalanotto to be their new Head Coach.
The Smithtown native was drafted by the Detroit Tigers out Smithtown HS in the 10th round of the 1992 MLB Draft. He chose to forego his scholarship to Seton Hall to begin his professional career. The decision proved to work out well, as he compiled a career AVG of .291 over 3,824 at bats with several teams including Detroit, Texas, Toronto, Milwaukee before ending his career with the New York Mets in 2010.
He has been the lead hitting instructor at Baseball Heaven for several years and last year he contributed hitting articles to Axcess Baseball as well.
NYIT began their coaching search right after the conclusion of their season on May 6, with rumors beginning to circle that they were aiming high with their coaching search and Catalanotto’s name surfaced as a potential candidate as well as a couple local names that had previously held coaching positions. Additionally, there was another former Major Leaguer with Long Island ties that was rumored to be in the running but after several weeks the decision finally was made.
Personally, I believe this is a terrific hire for the Bears. They are coming off a 13-25-1 season at the Division-II level and before that they had been struggling as an independent Div-I team. With a technical institution that has some very nichè majors, it was always going to be difficult to land some of the premier talent but the struggles only added to that. In my opinion, this was the next logical step in order to regain the credibility that had made them a perennial powerhouse under Bob Hirschfield in the mid 1980s when they sent 46 players to pro ball over a 10-year stretch, including one local high school coach that is rumored to be landing the assistant coaching position with him.
There is no doubt that his name recognition and connection to the Long Island baseball community will be a significant factor in landing local talent; who may have been inclined to take their talents to any of the other local programs.
He will be inheriting a team that will return talented SS Ben McNeill, OF Joe Pesce, INF Dominic Paolo, C Ryan Kuskowski (all batted .298 and above) and returning All-Long Island CF E.J. Cumbo who missed much of the season with injury.
The only challenge will be whether his background in pro ball; without ever having coached or played at the college level will have an impact on his ability to manage the various personalities of a 30-man college baseball team. Off the top of my head, I’m not sure if that’s been done, all the other local coaches with experience in professional baseball attended college.
That’s where the presence of his coaching staff will come into play. If the name that I’m hearing is definitely going to be his assistant coach then I think it will not be an issue, which will allow Catalanotto to be in more of a CEO position as opposed to simply a college baseball coach.
Make no mistake, this is a significant moment for NYIT, who now has their face-of-the-program to go along with their beautiful venue and a conference.
Now the work begins.
