Tony Tarasco


Anthony Giacinto Tarasco is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees between 1993 and 1999 and for the New York Mets in 2002. He also played with the Hanshin Tigers in the Japanese Central League in 2000. He is currently the manager of the Class A-Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm.

Early life

Tarasco was born at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Greenwich Village and, until he was 6 or 7 years old, lived in Washington Heights and the Bronx. His father, Jack, worked a summer job as a vendor at Yankee Stadium. At 13 years old, after moving to Santa Monica, California, Tarasco joined the Santa Monica Graveyard Crips, a set of the Crips street gang. At 16 years old, with the encouragement of fellow Crips members, he left the gang to focus on playing high school baseball.
Tarasco was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 15th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft out of Santa Monica High School.

Professional career

Tarasco was involved in a controversial play in the 1996 American League Championship Series while playing right field for the Baltimore Orioles. While fielding a fly ball hit by New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and caught the ball. The umpires called a home run, although the correct call was fan interference. The play was the turning point in the series, which the Yankees won.
Tarasco spent the remainder of his career as a part time player, often shuttling between the major and minor leagues. Tarasco and Jeter were teammates for a short time during the 1999 season.
In June 2002, Tarasco's New York Mets teammate Mark Corey suffered a seizure after the two players smoked marijuana outside of Shea Stadium. Under Major League Baseball drug policy at the time, because both players were first-time offenders, they were not subject to discipline from the league.
Tarasco began working for the Washington Nationals in or around 2005. For a time, Tarasco was the minor league coordinator for the Nationals. On November 14, 2012, the Nationals announced that Tarasco would join their coaching staff in the 2013 season to coach first base and outfield. Tarasco served as first base coach for the Nationals through the 2015 season. On October 5, 2015, the entire Nationals coaching staff, including Tarasco, were fired after a disappointing 2015 season.