Both having worn the Team Italy jersey as players, Chris Denorfia and Jack Santora are returning to the Azzurri squad as accomplished MLB-affiliated coaches for the World Baseball Classic (WBC), scheduled from March 8 to 21, 2023. Denorfia represented Team Italy in the 2009 and 2013 WBC editions. A 10-season MLB veteran from 2005-2015 playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, the outfielder played a total of 808 games and made 2385 plate appearances with a lifetime average of .272 / .330 / .392. He began his minor league career in 2002 and played in a total of 746 MiLB games.
Denorfia started his coaching career within the Chicago Cubs organization in 2019 and made his managerial debut for the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League) in 2021. He led his team to a second-place finish with 77 wins and 60 losses in 2022.
Having played for Team Italy in 71 international games (including the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic) and won two European Baseball Championships in 2010 and 2012, Jack Santora is currently coaching within the Los Angeles Angels organization. He appeared in nearly five hundred minor league games playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres organizations. Jack Santora reached as Triple-A in 2002, when he played sixteen games with the Tucson Sidewinders.
From 2007 to 2016, he enjoyed a successful playing career in Italy. Santora was a fan favorite in Rimini from 2007-2014, during which time when won two Italian Cups. He signed on with San Marino in 2015 and 2016, when the team made it to the Italian Baseball Series each year.
Santora became a coach with the Burlington Bees in 2017. He then became a manager with the AZL Angels in 2018 and Orem Owlz in 2019. He was scheduled to be manager of the Inland Empire 66ers in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Santora was defensive coach of the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2021-2022 and in mid-December 2022 was called to coach at AAA level for the 2023 Spring Training
Forza #Italia! #MissionClassic
by Roberto Angotti
(Photo of Jack Santora in action at second base during the Italy-Netherlands final of the 2010 European Championship by Ezio Ratti-FIBS)
