Thomas G. Raffo (born December 22, 1967) 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

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Raffo is the former head coach of the Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball team.

Amateur career

Raffo attended

Bishop Kenny High School Bishop Kenny High School (commonly referred to as Bishop Kenny or BKHS) is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational Catholic high school in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located in and administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augu ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. He was named a First Team All-Florida Class AAA. He was drafted in the 34th round of the

1986 Major League Baseball draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Pal ...

by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, but he decided not to sign. Raffo then accepted a scholarship to play at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

, to play

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing Mississippi State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are curre ...

team. As a sophomore in 1988, Raffo was named Second Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). As a junior in 1989, Raffo batted .383 with a 22 home runs and 80 RBIs. He was named First Team All-SEC. As a senior in 1990, he batted .358 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs. He was again named First Team All-SEC.

Professional career

Raffo was drafted in the 8th round (209th overall) by the Miami Miracle in the 1990 Major League Baseball draft. Raffo began his professional career with the Miracle of the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

, where he batted .258 with three home runs. Raffo played 1991 season with the Charleston Wheelers of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

as a member of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

organization. He batted .277 with 13 home runs and 68 RBIs in 133 games. In 1992, he played with the Cedar Rapids Reds of the

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 ...

. He batted .302 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs during the season. He signed with the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

to play the 1993 season. He hit .321 with 20 RBIs in 48 games.

Coaching career

In 1994, Raffo was named a volunteer assistant at Mississippi State. In the fall of 1997, he was promoted to a full-time assistant. In 2008, Raffo was being considered for the head coaching position at Mississippi State, but when the team decided to go with John Cohen, he was named the head coach for the Arkansas State Red Wolves baseball program. Raffo lead the Red Wolves to their best finish in

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

history going 19–9 finishing 2nd. As a result, he was named the 2012 Sun Belt Coach of the Year. On May 29, 2024, Arkansas State Athletics and Vice Chancelor for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Purinton announced there would be a change in leadership for the Arkansas State baseball program and that Raffo would not return.

Head coaching record

References

External links