Sal Agostinelli

Salvatore Peter Agostinelli

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.
• School Slippery Rock State College
• High School Half Hollow Hills East High School
• Born September 4, 1961 in Bronx, NY USA

BR minors page

Biographical information

Sal Agostinelli is a former minor league baseball catcher who played from 1983 to 1991 in the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies farm systems. He was notoriously powerless, hitting only three home runs over nine minor league seasons. On top of that, he hit only 63 extra base hits - less than 10 a year. Throughout his career, he had a terrific eye at the plate, only once striking out more than walking in a season.

Drafted by the Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 1983 amateur draft, Agostinelli started his professional career that same year. He split time between the Johnson City Cardinals and Erie Cardinals, hitting .247 with one home run in 162 at-bats. He walked 27 times and struck out only five times - a ratio of over 5:1.

He spent all of 1984 with the Savannah Cardinals. In 67 games, he hit .234 with 30 runs scored and 17 RBI in 175 at-bats. He collected 40 walks against only 13 strikeouts.

In 1985, with the St. Petersburg Cardinals, Agostinelli hit .270 with 34 runs scored and 43 RBI in 98 games. He walked 28 times and struck out 23 times.

He split time between the St. Petersburg Cardinals and Arkansas Travelers in 1986, hitting .296 combined. With the Cardinals alone he hit .374 in 99 at-bats. Overall, he walked 22 times and struck out 16 times.

In 1987, he played every single one of his games save for one with the Travelers. He played in one game with the Louisville Redbirds, and 84 with the Travelers. Overall that year, he hit .241 with 25 runs scored, 20 RBI and 24 walks and 18 strikeouts. He also hit the second home run of his professional career that year.

While playing for Arkansas and Louisville in 1988, Agostinelli hit .206 in 102 at-bats, scoring 15 times in driving in 9 runs. He walked 11 times and struck out 11 times.

In an unknown transaction, he found his way into the Phillies farm system.

He spent all of 1989 with the Reading Phillies, hitting .244 with 27 runs, 23 RBI, 32 walks and 24 strikeouts. He also hit the third and final home run of his professional career.

Between the Reading Phillies and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in 1990, Agostinelli played in 76 games, hitting a combined .194. He scored 12 times, drove in 15 runs, walked 22 times and struck out 20 times.

He played his final season in pro ball in 1991. He split time with the Clearwater Phillies, Reading, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and combined he hit .226 with 13 runs, 11 RBI, 20 walks and 21 strikeouts.

Overall, he played in 656 games over nine seasons in the minors. In 1764 at-bats, he collected 433 hits, which included 51 doubles, nine triples and three home runs. He scored 217 times, drove 191 runs in, stole 53 bases and was caught 22 times. He had a batting average of .245 - and a slugging percentage of .290.

In 1991, he began his coaching career. In 1992, he coached for Reading. In 1993, he was promoted to Northeast Scouting Supervisor of the Phillies. Agostinelli became the international scouting director for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997 and he has started up Sal Agostinelli’s Long Island Baseball Academy. [1]

Related Sites

Greatest 21 Days Interview
Greatest 21 Days

References

• The Baseball Cube