Italian / American Catcher With the Longest Name in MLB History: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2007-)
Jarrod Scott Saltalamacchia was born May 2, 1985, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The six foot four switch hitting catcher, has earned the nickname “Salty” & goes down in baseball history as having the longest last name (14 letters) of any player in MLB history. In 2003 he was drafted right out of high school by the Atlanta Braves. In 2006 he was ranked the 18th top prospect in the country, batting .314 with 19 HRs & 81 RBIs at A ball Myrtle Beach. The next season he was ranked at #36 playing at AA Mississippi, batting .373 after just 22 games when he got called up to fill in for an injured Brian McCann in Atlanta. He debuted in May of 2007 hitting .284 until July 31st when the highly touted rookie was traded to the Texas Rangers as one of the main players in the deal that sent Mark Teixeira to the Braves. On August 22nd, he hit a pair of HRs in the historic 30-3 Texas rout over the Baltimore Orioles. On the season he hit .266 with 11 HRs 13 doubles & 33 RBIs in 93 ga