By Chris Biancaniello
Frank Catalanotto at “Heart And Hustle” book signing at Book RevueFrank Catalanotto played baseball the way we all wished we could. He didn’t have the power of a Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez, yet he maintained a 14-year Major League Baseball career playing for the Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, Brewers, and finally the Mets. In his career he batted .291 with well over a thousand hits. Often times he eclipsed the .300 mark, and in 2001 batted a remarkable .330, which was the fifth best batting average in the American League.
He is one of only two players born in *Smithtown to reach the highest competitive level in baseball. The other is Craig Biggio (Kings Park). Shortly after Catalanotto’s retirement in 2011 he began to write his recently released book “Heart and Hustle,” which not only tells the story of his journey and career in the majors, but also provides insight into baseball and how to play the game.
If there is one thing to be said about the book, it’s that it shows that Mr. Catalanotto appreciated every moment of his career and he appreciated his fans. He has never forgotten the people that helped him.
Recently I sat down with Mr. Catalanotto to discuss his book, his life in Smithtown, and his baseball career.
SM: What made you decide to write a book that was both autobiographical and instructional?
FC: When I retired, a cousin of mine said, “listen you were a student of the game, you have a lot of things written down, (FC kept journals throughout his career) why don’t you write a book?” I wasn’t interested in it so I told him no. He kept pushing me every time I would see him. Finally, I started to write a couple things down and found I couldn’t put the pen down. I had a lot of things to share, the more I wrote, the more I got into it and realized that I had some things to say that could help kids. Things I didn’t learn about when I was a kid and learned going through the minors and majors.
SM: Did a lot of that come from the notebooks you kept from your career?
FC: Yes. A lot of if did. I wrote down everything as I learned it in the minor leagues. I kept a notebook on pitchers. So yes, I was able to use a lot of that stuff. You know I found the books and started putting some stuff in this book.
SM: In your book, Heart and Hustle, I saw you had a little information on Carlos Silva and how he tipped his glove when he pitched in pictures from your original book. It’s crazy, as a fan you don’t realize how much of the game is a mental game.
FC: Absolutely pitchers seem to have tendencies or patterns that they fall into and many of them tip their pitches so writing something like that down gave me the idea, like ok if I see his glove a certain way, it’s a certain pitch.
SM: So how much of the game would you describe as a mental game? In your book you use the Yogi Berra quote “90 percent of the game is half mental.”
FC: You know for me I think it’s just as important as the physical, so I would say it’s 50/50. If you have a great swing that’s fine, but you also need to use your head. And you know if you just use your head that’s not good enough, you need the physical part so for me I think it’s 50/50.
SM: You talk about how you were nervous your first few at bats. After that were you at least a little nervous when you got up there or did it eventually all fade away and become routine?
FC: Every single game I would have butterflies before the game and even in my first at bat I would still be a little bit nervous, but once my first at bat was over I wouldn’t be nervous for the rest of the game. But, from my first game to fourteen years later in my last game I would still get those butterflies.
SM: Was it worse when you were facing a Curt Shilling or Roger Clemens?
FC: There were some guys like Roger Clemens that intimated a little more than the others. There were some guys that you knew that weren’t afraid to pitch inside and they’d throw one at your head if they had to. So yeah, I think there was a little more of an intimidation factor with some guys, but not so much that it would totally take you out of your game.
SM: Smithtown isn’t really known for being a baseball town did you feel it was harder coming out of a town like Smithtown?
FC: Well I didn’t know any better at the time but in hindsight it is harder because all these guys in Florida, California, and Texas are playing baseball year round. So they’re playing baseball all the time so it really is harder. However, I think we had a really good Little League program when I was coming up and the high school team was great. We had good coaching and good travel teams. I wouldn’t change a thing because it worked out for me. I do think that the kids in the northeast are in a little bit of a disadvantage though.
SM: After playing for Milwaukee, you decided to come back here and play for the Mets.
FC: I had always wanted to play in New York. It was a dream of mine to live at home, sleep in my own bed, and commute to work. I could be with my wife and kids so when Mets GM Omar Minaya called me and asked, “Would you be interested in playing with the Mets?” I jumped at the opportunity. He didn’t guarantee me a spot on the team, I signed a minor league contract and was invited to spring training. I knew I was going to have to make the team and I had enough confidence in myself that I knew I could make the team. I was thrilled to play with the Mets although it was only for a month in a half.
SM: After playing for all those teams across the country, you never left Smithtown right?
FC: No I did not. I bought houses in the places I played, but I would only stay there during the season. Smithtown is home for me, my mom and dad my brother and sister live here and I loved growing up in Smithtown I’ll never leave here.
SM: One of the things I noticed about your book is that you gush about your parents and your family and that’s a wonderful thing. How did they react to the book?
FC: They were very proud and very happy that I made this book more of a family book. It really honors them because it’s the truth, without them and without the rest of my family’s support and encouragement I most likely wouldn’t have gotten to the major leagues. They were very happy and my mom and dad cried while reading some parts of the book.
SM: Was playing for a Canadian team any different?
FC: It was different in the regard that there were a lot more taxes taken out of the paycheck and you always have to go through customs so it was a little more of a hassle. The fans there are hockey fans, so the fans there didn’t come out like they did in the United States. That was a little disappointing, but I loved it, I thought it was a great place to play it definitely had a little different feel then it did in the United States though.
SM: Which was harder writing a book or playing baseball?
FC: That’s a good one. For me it was writing a book. I had never done that and I’m not much of a book reader. It was time consuming. I didn’t realize how long it was going to take and how much it takes to make a book complete. I’d much rather be at home plate hitting a fastball.
SM: What was your favorite moment of your career?
FC: My first major league hit. In ‘97 I got a hit off of Rick Helling, he was playing with the Rangers at the time it was a RBI single to right field. I always dreamed of being a Major League Baseball player, so to get that one out of the way I’ll always remember that.
SM: So what team do you root for now?
FC: I root for both NY teams. I root for the Yankees and the Mets. If it were a subway series I’d probably root for the Yankees. I’ll always be a Yankee fan because that’s the team I grew up rooting for. But now that I’m retired I don’t really have an allegiance to one team. I follow my friends that are still playing I want to make sure they’re doing well so I try and root for those guys.
SM: Do you still talk to them a lot and which guys?
FC: I talk to guys like Michael Young, Ian Kinsler; I speak to Carlos Delgado, John McDonald, Gabe Kapler those guys. Sometimes I see them when I go to an alumni dinner in the city or last year in Cooperstown they had a game at the Doubleday field with a bunch of the retired players. I’ll see them, but not very often they live in different states.
SM: What was your proudest moment in baseball?
FC: My proudest moment was when I was in AAA my manager called me into the office he said, “Frank, you got the call you’re going up to the major leagues.” That was my proudest moment because that was what I had worked the hardest for, for so many years and for that to come true, that was my proudest moment.
SM: Were you a little nervous after realizing that?
FC: It was a moment of awesomeness but after I got out of that room I thought, “oh shoot, now its go time.” Because I didn’t know if I was going to fizzle out and not really make it, or play for 14 years.
SM: Tell me a little bit about your foundation.
FC: My oldest daughter, when she was born had a vascular birthmark on her nose. We took her to some local doctors, they said don’t worry about it, that it would go away. They started giving her steroids, prednisone, and it wasn’t working. When I was in Texas we met this lady named Lynda Shannon and she was the head of the Vascular Birthmark Foundation and she told us that there are doctors that treat these birthmarks. So we got in contact with the correct doctor they did two laser surgeries and one surgery, and now you can’t even tell that she had a birthmark. So we started the Frank Catalanotto Foundation to support the Vascular Birthmark Foundation- so most of the funds that we raise go right to them. It’s nice my wife and I, we help promote awareness and we also raise money. This year will be our second golf outing for the foundation. Last year it was great we raised a lot of money for the foundation. Fcatalanotto.org
Frank resides in St. James with his wife Barbara and their four daughters.
***Please note that both Jim Mecir and John Curtis, both professional Major League Baseball players, are from Smithtown. Mr Curtis was born in Newton Ma. and attended Smithtown Central HS. Mr. Mecir was born in Bayside and graduated from Smithtown HS East********