James Patrick Hallmark (born December 31, 1973) is an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach and former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He is the head baseball coach at the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,Alvin Community College Alvin Community College (ACC) is a public community college in Alvin, Texas. Alvin Community College provides educational opportunities in workforce training, academics, technical fields, adult basic education, and personal development. As defi ...

and

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

before pursuing a professional career. Hallmark was the head coach of the

Incarnate Word Cardinals baseball : ''For information on all University of the Incarnate Word sports, see Incarnate Word Cardinals'' The Incarnate Word Cardinals baseball team represents University of the Incarnate Word, The University of the Incarnate Word in NCAA Division I Co ...

from 2018 to 2019.

Amateur career

Hallmark attended Westbury High School in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As a member of the baseball team, Hallmark was a two-time All-district selection. Upon graduation from Westbury, Hallmark enrolled at

Alvin Community College Alvin Community College (ACC) is a public community college in Alvin, Texas. Alvin Community College provides educational opportunities in workforce training, academics, technical fields, adult basic education, and personal development. As defi ...

. After graduating from Alvin, Hallmark accepted a baseball scholarship offer from

. Hallmark helped the Owls to their first 40-win season in 11 years. Hallmark was named First Team All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

following the 1995 season.

Professional career

The

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

chose Hallmark with the nineteenth pick of the 18th round of the

1995 Major League Baseball draft The 1995 Major League Baseball draft began June 1995 to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 1994 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who did not s ...

. Hallmark began his professional career with the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...

of the

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

, where he batted .304 with four home runs. He was promoted to the

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 1996. He hit .280 with 1 home run for Lansing. Hallmark started 1997 with the Lugnuts. Near the end of the season, the Royals promoted Hallmark to the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

of the Class A-Advanced

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

after batting .284 with 39 RBIs in 88 games with Lansing. Hallmark returned to Wilmington for the 1998 season. He batted .272, drove in 35 runs and stole 33 bases. Hallmark spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons with the

Wichita Wranglers The Wichita Wranglers were a minor league baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team, which played in the Texas League, was the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1994 and the Kansas City Royals fro ...

, having a breakout season in 2000, hitting .326 with 10 home runs, 79 RBIs and stole 41 bases. His outstanding 2000 season lead to a promotion to the Omaha Golden Spikes for the 2001 season. After just 34 games, Hallmark was injured and missed the remainder of the season. He returned to Wichita in 2002, where his production saw a decline from his past Wichita seasons. He then played the 2003 season for the

Norwich Navigators Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization, where he batted a career low, .235. He then retired from professional baseball at the conclusion of the season.

Coaching career

Hallmark spent one season at St. Thomas High School in Houston. Hallmark was hired by his former coach,

Wayne Graham Wayne Leon Graham (April 6, 1936 – September 3, 2024) was an American college baseball head coach. He is known for being the head baseball coach for the Rice Owls in Houston, Texas. He coached one College World Series championship team and fi ...

, as an assistant at Rice. On June 28, 2011, Hallmark was promoted to a full-time assistant by Graham. When assistant Mike Taylor left the program in the fall of 2012, Hallmark assumed the duties of pitching coach. On July 12, 2016, Hallmark was named the pitching coach for the

Missouri Tigers baseball The Missouri Tigers baseball team represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I college baseball. The Missouri Tigers have an all-time record of 2426-1701-20 following the 2025 season. Head coaches Year-by-year record CB=''Collegia ...

program. On July 17, 2017, Hallmark left Missouri to become the head coach of the

program. On June 16, 2019, Hallmark agreed to become the head coach of the

UTSA Roadrunners baseball The UTSA Roadrunners baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing University of Texas at San Antonio in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member the West Division of the American Athletic Conference (The ...

team.

Head coaching record

References

External links