Pete Zamora (minors02)

Peter Andrew Zamora

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of California, Los Angeles
• High School Capistrano Valley High School

• Born August 13, 1975 in Mission Viejo, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pete Zamora played in AAA in three years but never made the majors.

Zamora was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 25th round of the 1994 amateur draft, two picks ahead of Randy Wolf. He opted for college. He hit .295 with 15 doubles as a freshman at UCLA then was 6-1 with a 4.89 ERA as a sophomore. As a junior, he was 6-2 with two saves and a 5.06 ERA and hit .379 with 16 homers and 74 RBI as their regular first baseman; on the 1997 College World Series participant, he was second to Troy Glaus in average, ahead of Eric Valent, Eric Byrnes or Nick Theodorou. He was 6th in the Pac-10 Conference South in average and was All-Conference as a utility man. The Los Angeles Dodgers chose him in the 20th round of the 1997 amateur draft.

Pete was 2-5 with two saves and a 2.58 ERA for the 1997 Great Falls Dodgers, fanning 73 in 69 2/3 IP and also hit .200/.273/.200. He tied Phil Kendall for 5th in the Pioneer League in whiffs and was 5th in ERA (between C.D. Stover and Renney Rojas. In 1998, he pitched for the San Bernardino Stampede (4-1, 6 Sv, 2.09 in 25 G) and San Antonio Dodgers (3-6, 4.46 in 12 G). His 127 whiffs were 5th in the Dodger chain, between Paul Morse and Ted Lilly. With San Antonio for all of 1999, he struggled (2-1, 3 Sv, 6.08 ERA, 1.71 WHIP). The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons took him in the AAA portion of the 1999 Rule V Draft.

Zamora pitched his first 18 games of 2000 in relief, just as he had pitched in 1999. Given his first start in well over a year on June 7th due to a short-handed pitching staff in a doubleheader, he threw a seven-inning perfect game to beat the Harrisburg Senators. It was the first perfecto in the 33-year history of the Reading Phillies and only the second perfect game in Reading pro baseball, following one by Jake Northrop in 1911. He was helped by a great diving catch by college teammate Valent. He finished the season 2-3 with 6 saves and a 4.09 ERA.

Moving up to the Red Barons for 2001, he was 8-4 with 3 saves and a 2.93 ERA but did not get the call to the majors. He was also 4 for 9 with a double at the plate. In winter ball, he was 1-2 with a 5.18 ERA for the 2001-2002 Aguilas del Zulia. In 2002, he went 5-2 with 15 saves and a 3.48 ERA in 55 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He tied John Foster for 8th in the 2002 IL in pitching appearances and was 7th in saves (between Brian Bowles and Michael Neu; he was the only one in the top 10 who never made the majors). He led Phillies minor leaguers in games pitched (3 ahead of Frank Brooks) and was second in saves, two behind Josh Miller.

Waived by Philadelphia, he was claimed by the New York Mets. He was 5-3 with a save and a 3.49 ERA in 55 games for the 2003 Norfolk Tides. He was 6th in the 2003 IL in games pitched. He led Mets minor leaguers in that department, five ahead of P.J. Bevis. He bounced around in 2004 with stops for the Arizona Diamondbacks' Lancaster JetHawks (3-3, 6.15 in 13 G), the Milwaukee Brewers' Huntsville Stars (0-1, 6.14 in 10 G) and the New York Yankees' Trenton Thunder (4 R in 1 IP), all below the AAA level he had been at for three years.

He finished his career at 34-31 with four saves and a 3.93 ERA in 307 games (53 starts). In 707 1/3 IP, he allowed 690 hits and 297 walks, fanning 538. He had hit .205/.244/.219 in 83 plate appearances.

Zamora later coached for his old high school (2006), then served as pitching coach for the AZL Padres in 2016, the AZL Padres 1 in 2017, and Lake Elsinore Storm in 2018-2019. He also coached Peoria Javelinas pitchers during the 2016 and 2018 Arizona Fall League seasons. Zamora was scheduled to coach the El Paso Chihuahuas in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Zamora was pitching coach for the San Antonio Missions in 2021-2022. He became a manager with the Lake Elsinore Storm in 2023 and El Paso Chihuahuas in 2024.

Sources

• Assorted Baseball Almanacs
• 2000 Reading Eagle article
• Philadelphia Inquirer article
• Baseball Performance Academy bio
• Purapelota