Ivan Naccarata

Ivan Naccarata

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Louisiana State University, Chipola College
• High School École secondaire Georges-Vanier (Montréal), Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit

• Born February 26, 1982 in Montreal, QC Canada

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ivan Naccarata played seven seasons in pro baseball.

Naccarata played for Canada in the 2000 World Junior Championship. He was a teammate of Russell Martin in high school and junior college, beginning with the time the two joined the special sports/studies program at Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit in Montreal, QC. His hometown Montreal Expos took him in the 40th round of the 2000 amateur draft but he opted for college. He hit .400 in two seasons in junior college, going deep 16 times as a sophomore. The Houston Astros selected him in the 21st round of the 2002 amateur draft but he again did not sign. Transferring to LSU, he hit .320/.382/.484 with 59 runs in 67 games in 2003, serving as their primary third baseman. He was 0 for 9 in the 2003 College World Series. He tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference in runs and was second with five triples. He was Team Canada's second-youngest player in the 2003 Baseball World Cup; Chris Robinson was younger. He was 1 for 9 with a run and 3 RBI, with 4 assists and one error as the backup to Pat Scalabrini at the hot corner. In 2004, he slumped a bit, to .281/.378/.384.

Undrafted after finishing at LSU, he signed with the New York Mets and hit .234/.368/.386 for the 2005 Brooklyn Cyclones, fielding .947 at 2B. He hada productive 2006 despite having to bounce around, posting a .289/.353/.462 line in 60 games between the Kingsport Mets (9 for 16, 3B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 7 R, 6 RBI in 5 G), Brooklyn (.263/.331/.409 in 42 G) and the St. Lucie Mets (.273/.298/.409 in 13 G). He fielded .894 at third base between the three stops. He briefly played for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Ogden Raptors in 2007 (2 for 12, BB, 3 R) but spent most of the summer with Les Capitales de Québec, hitting .321/.402/.465 with 19 doubles and 52 runs in 55 games. He was 8th in the Canadian-American Association in average, between Boomer Berry and Eddie Lantigua. He retired at that point and sat out the 2008 season.

Coming out of retirement for Les Capitales in 2009, he hit .297/.374/.442 with 53 runs, 22 doubles and 21 steals in 24 tries while fielding .944 as the shortstop of the league champs. He tied for 9th in the CAA in doubles and was 6th in steals. Back at short for the club in 2010, he helped them to another championship, producing at a .316/.369/.406 clip with 17 steals in 21 tries and 68 runs in 90 games. He tied Matt Nandin for 4th in the CAA in runs scored and was 6th in average (between Mark Minicozzi and Carl Loadenthal). He fielded .932. Nandin was named the All-Star SS. He saw limited action in 2011 and 2012 for Québec, but hit well both years - .393/.413/.525 in 16 games the former year, .325/.349/.525 in 11 games the latter. He ended his pro career with a .302/.373/.435 batting line, 242 runs and 200 RBI in 378 games. He stole 53 bases in 66 tries. He fielded .938 in 209 games at SS, .901 in 93 at 3B, .942 in 42 at 2B and briefly played catcher and the outfield.

He coached for the French national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers whose manager was Éric Gagné and whose coaching staff included a number of other Quebeckers. He also acts as a personal assistant to his long-time friend Russell Martin, helping to sort out personal and business matters so that Martin can concentrate on playing baseball. He also serves as a performance coach through a company called "Baseball Empire".

Further Reading

• Benoît Rioux: "Ivan Naccarata: dans l’ombre de Russell Martin", Le Journal de Montréal, February 23, 2016. [1]

Sources

• LSU bio
• The Baseball Cube
• 2016 article on Naccarata
• Old IBAF website
• Ligue de Baseball Elite de Quebec