Stephan Rapaglia

Stephan Rapaglia

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.
• School Amherst College
• High School Rye (NY) High School

• Born February 28, 1970 in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg Germany

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Stephan Rapaglia has been a player, manager and coach in baseball in a career that has taken him to four different countries.

Rapaglia grew up in Rye, NY after having been born in Germany. He spent 4 years at Amherst College, posting a record around 21-8. He began his post-college career in 1992 with the Houston Astros chain after being signed as an undrafted free agent. He was 0-1 with 3 saves and a 1.00 ERA for the GCL Astros, allowing 3 hits in 9 innings while fanning 11. He was promoted to the Auburn Astros, where he was 5-3 with a save and a 3.62 ERA in 20 games.

Stephan then moved to Hoofdklasse, where he had a 2.72 ERA for Neptunus and helped them take a title; he was among the league leaders in ERA. Returning to the US with the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, he was 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in 1995. He went 4-3 with a save and a 3.17 ERA in 1996, finishing 9th in the league in ERA. In 1997, he had a 1-2, 4.91 record for the Diamond Dogs. In 1998, Rapaglia managed the Johnstown Johnnies to a 34-43 record in the Frontier League.

Rapaglia was an assistant coach with Iona College from 1998-2000; the last year, the team had three pitchers who went pro, two of whom went to Organized Baseball. In 2001, he was a player-head coach for the Tübingen Hawks in his birthplace of Tübingen in Germany. He hit .300, led the league in saves and almost led in ERA. He was 1-0 with 2 saves and a 2.84 ERA in 2002 and 0-1 with a save and a 2.57 ERA in 2003.

In 2004, Stephan was appointed manager of the British national team. He would lead them to a Silver Medal in the 2007 European Championship and the second round of the 2009 Baseball World Cup. His last stint was them was as a coach in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

Rapaglia is a real estate lawyer in Greenwich, CT. He was inducted into the British Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2022 class.

Sources

• British Baseball Federation 2007 Media Guide
• New York Times article on Rapaglia from 1997
• German Baseball and Softball Federation
• 1993 and 1997 Baseball Almanacs
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• Personal correspondence with Mr. Rapaglia
• BaseballSoftballUK