Former Tiger Frank Catalanotto hired as Hofstra’s baseball coach

Associated Press

Hempstead, N.Y. — Former Detroit Tiger Frank Catalanotto was hired Wednesday as the baseball coach of Hofstra.

Catalanotto replaces John Russo, who said last month that he was retiring after 10 seasons.

Former Tiger Frank Catalanotto was hired Wednesday as the head baseball coach at Hofstra.

The 47-year-old Catalanotto went to Smithtown East High School on Long Island, signed a letter of intent with Seton Hall and instead signed with Detroit after the Tigers selected him in the 10th round of the 1992 amateur draft.

He hit .291 with 84 homers and 457 RBIs in 14 major league seasons with Detroit (1997-99), Texas (2000-02 and 2007-08), Toronto (2003-06), Milwaukee (2009) and the New York Mets (2010).

He coached New York Tech from 2019-20, helping the Bears reach the Division II College World Series in 2019. His team went 37-16 in 2019 and 9-5 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.