Frank Menechino

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name = Frank Menechino

|image = Frank Menechino Qatar crop.jpg

|position = Second baseman

|team =

|caption = Menechino at As Sayliyah Army Base in 2007

|number =

|bats = Right

|throws = Right

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|1|7}}

|birth_place = Staten Island, New York, U.S.

|death_date =

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate = September 6

|debutyear = 1999

|debutteam = Oakland Athletics

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate = October 2

|finalyear = 2005

|finalteam = Toronto Blue Jays

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label = Batting average

|stat1value = .240

|stat2label = Home runs

|stat2value = 36

|stat3label = Runs batted in

|stat3value = 149

|teams =

As player

Oakland Athletics ({{mlby|1999}}–{{mlby|2004}})
Toronto Blue Jays ({{mlby|2004}}–{{mlby|2005}})

As coach

Miami Marlins ({{mlby|2014}}–{{mlby|2018}})
Chicago White Sox ({{mlby|2020}}–{{mlby|2022}})

}}

Frank Menechino (born January 7, 1971) is an American former professional baseball infielder and most recently the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays from 1999 through 2005.

Playing career

Menechino played baseball at Susan E. Wagner High School in New York. He played college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida, before transferring to the University of Alabama.

Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 45th round of the 1993 draft, Menechino played five years for their minor league teams. Notably, he was one of the players who crossed the picket lines to be a replacement player during the 1995 season, if the strike had not ended. Due to this, he was ineligible to join the MLBPA.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/replacement_players.shtml|title = MLB Replacement Players | Baseball Almanac}}{{cite web| url = https://www.espn.com/magazine/kurkjian_20020829.html| title = ESPNMAG.com - The replacements}}

He played for the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays of the American League. He played second base, shortstop, third base, designated hitter, and also made two pitching appearances. When he pitched for the A's in 2000, it was the last time the A's had a position player pitch until first baseman Ike Davis in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2015/04/22/ike-davis-may-have-missed-his-major-league-calling/|title=Ike Davis may have missed his major-league calling|work=New York Post|date=22 April 2015}} Hitting 12 home runs and driving in 60 runs, his best year came in 2001 with the Oakland Athletics,

In early {{mlby|2006}}, Menechino signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, but did not make the Major League team out of spring training. On August 17, 2006, Menechino signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees and was sent to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers where he was a utility man. On February 10, 2007, Menechino signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies released him June 1, 2007, followed by his contract being picked up by the San Diego Padres and being assigned to the Triple-A Portland Beavers on June 9, 2007. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

He played in Italy for Danesi Nettuno for two months in {{mlby|2008}}, before retiring after hurting his back.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Coaching career

On December 22, 2008, Menechino was hired to become the new hitting coach for the New York Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder.{{cite web |url=https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-489821 |title=Franklin returns to lead Thunder in 2009 |access-date=2008-12-23 |date=2008-12-22 |work=MiLB.com |archive-date=2019-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215162018/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081222&content_id=489821&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp |url-status=live }} Menechino coached for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/yankees/?p=7573 |title=Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog » Yankees coaching staff announced |access-date=2010-12-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306135603/http://blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/yankees/?p=7573 |archive-date=2012-03-06 }}

Menechino was hired by the Miami Marlins as their hitting coach on October 11, 2013.[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mia/marlins-finalize-14-coaching-staff-with-two-new-faces-brett-butler-and-frank-menechino?ymd=20131011&content_id=62840280&vkey=news_mia Marlins finalize '14 coaching staff with two new faces] The Marlins fired him after the 2018 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/10/marlins-fire-juan-nieves-pitching-coach.html|title=Marlins To Make Several Coaching Changes|work=MLB trade rumors|first=Steve|last=Adams|date=October 8, 2018}}

The Chicago White Sox hired Menechino to be the hitting coach of their Triple-A Affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, for the 2019 season. Following the 2019 season, he was promoted to the position of hitting coach for the White Sox.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-chicago-white-sox-hitting-coach-20191010-chsonijbe5fa7ln425oi7kxurm-story.html|title=White Sox promote Frank Menechino, the team's Triple-A hitting coach: 'I train these guys to win'|website=Chicago Tribune|author=Lamond Pope|date=October 10, 2019|access-date=October 11, 2019}} Following the 2022 season, Menechino was fired.