Jack Santora

Jack Anthony Santora

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.
• School UCLA

• Born October 6, 1976 in Monterey, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jack Santora played 7 years in the minors. He has appeared for the Italian national team.

Santora began his college career in 1995 alongside fellow UCLA freshmen Eric Byrnes and Troy Glaus. In 1996, he hit .270 as a SS/2B, rotating with Glaus at short; the club finished 21st in NCAA Division I and Santora set a school record with 15 sacrifice hits. As a junior, Jack backed up Glaus at short for the #5 team in NCAA Division I, a squad that made the 1997 College World Series. Santora's .389 average in 90 AB was second among the team's players with over 35 AB behind Glaus; he outhit Eric Valent and Byrnes. After Glaus went third in the 1997 amateur draft, Santora became an everyday player and hit .245/.368/.340 in 1998. Jack returned for a fifth season to UCLA, joining Chase Utley and Garrett Atkins on the infield. The Arizona Diamondbacks picked Santora in the 19th round of the 1999 amateur draft, one round after they snared Lyle Overbay.

Jack made his pro debut with the Missoula Osprey in 1999, hitting .262/~.371/.333 with 46 runs in 51 games and 36 steals in 43 tries. He was one of the top baserunners in the Pioneer League. He made 20 errors, tying for the lead among Pioneer League second basemen.

Moving up to the South Bend Silver Hawks in 2000, Santora batted .247/.370/.326 with 20 steals and 13 times caught stealing. In 2001, he was promoted to the AA El Paso Diablos; in 86 games, he hit .234/.327/.287 and only stole 4 bases. Santora spent 2002 with El Paso (.213/.304/.284 in 69 games as a utility infielder) and the Tucson Sidewinders (2 for 21, 3 BB, 7 K, 3 R in his lone AAA appearance).

At age 26, Santora split time between the Lake Elsinore Storm (.322/.424/.420, 38 R in 47 G, 10 SB in 10 attempts), Lakewood Blue Claws (.245/.385/.340 in 17 games) and the Newark Bears (.321 in 106 AB), playing for three different organizations. In 2004, he was with Newark (.348, 3 RBI) and the Clearwater Threshers (.236/.317/.332, 7 SB in 16 tries in 105 games). Santora batted .276/.360/.357 for Newark in 2005, stole 38 bases and scored 75 runs.

Jack joined Italy for the 2006 World Baseball Classic but did not play a game in the tournament. In 2006, he struggled for Newark, only managing a batting line of .174/.290/.191 in 95 games. Moving to Italy's Serie A1 in 2007, he was 1 for 13 with 3 walks for Rimini.

Despite his poor play in 2006-2007, Santora was given a regular role for the Italian national team in 2007. In the 2007 European Championship, the Californian hit .222/.400/.389 with 6 walks, the most on the Italian squad, while being used as their starting shortstop. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, he batted .292/.346/.333 while playing flawless defense at short. He made a nice snare of a shot by Delwyn Young with two aboard in Italy's victory over Team USA, the US's only loss of the tourney; Santora also singled in one run.

He was a late addition to the Italian team's roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, taking the place of major leaguer Jeff Bianchi as a back-up infielder.

Off the field, Santora is an agent for Precision Sports Group.

Santora became a coach with the Burlington Bees in 2017. He then became a manager with the AZL Angels in 2018 and Orem Owlz in 2019. He was scheduled to be manager of the Inland Empire 66ers in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Santora was defensive coach of the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2021-2022. He moved up to the Salt Lake Bees in 2023-2024. In 2023 Santora also worked as the first base & infield coach for the Italy national baseball team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Sources

• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• 1996-2008 Baseball Almanacs
• Precision Sports Group
• UCLA sports
• SABR database
• IBAF