Touring the Bases (Again) With…Jack Perconte

After batting .334, .322 and .326 in three of his first five minor league seasons, second baseman Jack Perconte made his major league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 13, 1980.  He was back in the minors in 1981 where he batted .346 for Albuquerque, then was traded to the Cleveland Indians, with whom he played in 1982, batting .237 and fielding at a .976 clip.  Perconte found himself back in the minors again in 1983 where he batted .346 for Charleston.  He was traded again, this time to the Seattle Mariners, and enjoyed his two best seasons, batting .281 with 60 stolen bases and 153 runs from 1984-1985.

He ended his big league career in 1986 with the Chicago White Sox and played another season in the minors before calling it a career.  He batted .311 with a .382 on-base percentage in 10 minor league seasons, and hit .270 in seven major league seasons, and finished with a very good career fielding percentage of .982.

Since his playing days, Perconte has served as a baseball instructor in Illinois and has written two books, The Making of a Hitter: A Proven and Practical Step-by-Step Baseball Guide and Raising an Athlete: How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport .

Here’s a video of an interview I conducted with Jack Perconte .

Bob Lazzari is an award-winning sports columnist for both Connecticut’s Valley Times and NY Sports Day , where his “Sports Roundup” column is featured weekly. He is a member of the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance and host of “ Monday Night Sports Talk ,” a cable television show on CTV/Channel 14 in Connecticut.