One of the most decorated players in UNO baseball history, Johnny Giavotella, was the national honoree at the 35th Annual Louisiana American Italian Sports Hall of Fame Gala Saturday.
“It means a lot to my family,” Giavotella said. “Because I did grow up in a very deep and traditional Italian family and it means a lot to them. It means a lot to me. To be recognized for my craft and for my hard work was definitely gratifying."
Giavotella starred for the Privateers from 2006-08 racking up All-Sun Belt honors, All-Region recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association and being named a First Team All-American in 2007.
In his three seasons at UNO he hit .363 with 32 home runs, 46 doubles, and 13 triples. After an 11-year professional career with stops in Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Baltimore, he joined the Privateers staff as an assistant in 2019.
He took some time to talk about his journey, the honor and much more with WWL Radio.
Q. When you first began your baseball journey, was Hall-of-Fame of any kind something you even thought about?
A. When I first got drafted and I was playing professional baseball, yeah. Making it to the big leagues then getting to Cooperstown was the ultimate goal. Obviously, that was pretty lofty, and, you know, a big dream. But definitely a goal I had in mind. But that didn’t happen. So, being inducted into the American Italian Hall of Fame is definitely a tremendous accomplishment and a great alternative.
Q. How did you get your start in baseball?
A. So, I was introduced to baseball at a young age, you know, just being athletic and doing things outdoors. I picked up all different sports and baseball happened to be the one that was kind of most condusive to succeeding because of my body type and how tall and big I am. I played football in high school but playing football at the next level requires considerable size and that’s not something that I had (laughs) so baseball was kind of the sport that stuck the most.
Q. You went on to UNO had a great career there did it kind of make it more special knowing that a lot of your accomplishments and a lot of what got you into the hall of fame happened not to far from where you grew up?
A. Absolutely, I have a lot of appreciation for UNO for giving me a chance I didn’t really get many scholarship offers out of high school. So to do that in front of my family and for a school that gave me the opportunity definitely means a lot to me.
Q. What are some of your most fond memories about playing at UNO?
A. To me, the relationships that I was able to make there. Some of the friends that I made there are still some of my best friends today. So those are a lot of the things that stuck with me, the memories that I have with them and living with some of my friends and going on different road trips. A lot of things outside of baseball are the things that we talk about today.
Baseball-wise, winning the conference tournament kind of turning that program around and doing some things, individually, that I was kind of impressed with myself. We accomplished a lot and we kind of put UNO on the map so to speak.
Q. Now is there a favorite on-field memory for you while you where there?
A. I would say my sophomore year. I won conference tournament MVP. We won the Sun Belt Conference my sophomore year, had a really good tournament, did really well. We went to the regional right after that, had a really good regional so I would say that stretch of Sun Belt Conference and the Regional at Wichita State were my two favorite moments on the field.
Q. You got drafted, played professionally for a long time what do recall about that journey?
A. So that journey is mostly remembered just by the grind of things in the minor leagues. It’s a lot of traveling, a lot of being on a bus, a lot of uncomfortable trips where you just go tta grind through it. You put your body through a lot and you know to make it to the top you have to go through those things. It’s a tremendous filter for people who are dedicated to the craft.
Q. You came back to UNO after worked as a coach. What lessons did you learn in your journey that kind of helped you and maybe you were able to impart on some of the players that were under your tutelage?
A. Yeah just to be able to accept failure and not be too discouraged by it learn form it and keep moving on. Baseball sis a game of failure so not to be too hard on your self if you do fail because it happens to everybody but to accept it learn from those lessons and then get better and keep progressing in your career instead of only worrying about the results worrying more so about the process.
Q. So what are you up to now, and how are you still tied into the game?
A. So, I’m at Tulane right now getting my MBA, specializing in analytics which is kind of where the baseball realm is shifting toward. So, if I can combine my playing experience with being versed and being knowledgeable in the analytic field, I think that will be a valuable asset to a front office, for a college coaching staff. I think it just gives me a lot of avenues that I’ll be able to utilize it in whatever kind of presents itself when I graduate.
