Dan Scarpetta

Daniel E. Scarpetta

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 192 lb.
• High School Auburn High School (Rockford)

• Born ~1963

Minors BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Dan Scarpetta played eight seasons of minor league ball, peaking at AAA for two years. He was a two-time postseason All-Star.

Scarpetta was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the third round of the 1982 amateur draft, the 79th overall pick, between John Habyan and Phil Stephenson. He split the summer between the Pikeville Brewers (5-3, 2.83, 46 H, 69 K in 70 IP) and Beloit Brewers (0-2, 7.45). He was 5th in the Appalachian League in strikeouts, between Chuck Crim and Dwight Gooden. With Beloit in '83, he went 6-6 with a 3.89 ERA.

Following the 1983 season, he was traded along with Ned Yost to the Texas Rangers for Jim Sundberg, but he was just 6-9 with a 4.86 ERA for the 1984 Salem Redbirds. He allowed 156 hits, tied for 6th with Regan Bass. After just one season in the Rangers chain, he was back with the Brewers in 1985. He dazzled for the '85 Beloit club, with a 13-3, 2.27 record, 1.06 WHIP and 139 K in 150 2/3 IP. He was second in the Midwest League in ERA, .03 behind Keith Silver, and tied 6 others (including Greg Maddux) for 4th in wins behind Silver, John Boyles and Alan Sontag. He was also 8th in strikeouts. In the Brewers chain, he tied teammate Gary Kanwisher for 4th in wins after Mark Ciardi, Juan Nieves and Alex Madrid, led in ERA and was 7th in whiffs. He was named a MWL All-Star pitcher, joining Silver, Ed Correa and Sontag in being selected.

Dan went 15-6 with a 4.22 ERA for the 1986 El Paso Diablos. The team won the Texas League pennant and Scarpetta finished second in wins (one behind George Ferran) and 4th in hits allowed (191). Among Brewers farmhands, he tied Jeff Peterek for the most wins. Despite not making the top 10 in ERA, he was chosen as an All-Star again. The other pitchers picked were Ferran, Shawn Hillegas, Jeff Innis and Charlie Corbell. Things turned sour in 1987 with El Paso (4-4, 5.89) and the AAA Denver Zephyrs (4-5, 7.20 in the high altitude).

Scarpetta spent 1988 with Beloit (1-0, 1 H, 0 R, 10 K in 8 1/3 IP), El Paso (11-6, 4.45) and Denver (2-5, 5.58). He tied Peterek and Steve Monson for second in the Milwaukee system in wins, one shy of Jaime Navarro. He also tied Jim Hunter for 3rd in losses and among the leaders in hits (182), runs (105) and earned runs (87). He tied Terry Gilmore, Kyle Hartshorn and Dean Freeland for 5th in the TL in victories. He finished his career in 1989 with the Los Angeles Dodgers' San Antonio Missions (2-4, 4.66).

Overall, he had gone 69-53 with a 4.29 ERA in 181 minor league games (145 starts). In 945 1/3 IP, he had allowed 1,010 hits and 307 walks while striking out 680.

Scarpetta's son Cody Scarpetta, brother Dennis Scarpetta, and nephew Brett Scarpetta all also played minor league ball. His family runs the Rockford Baseball Academy in his hometown of Rockford, Illinois.