| Paul Lo Duca | |
|---|---|
 Lo Duca with the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: (1972-04-12)April 12, 1972 (age 53) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 21, 1998, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 2008, for the Florida Marlins | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .286 |
| Home runs | 80 |
| Runs batted in | 481 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American former professionalbaseball player andtelevision personality. He played inMajor League Baseball as acatcher for theLos Angeles Dodgers (1998–2004),Florida Marlins (2004–2005,2008),New York Mets (2006–2007), andWashington Nationals (2008). He later became ahorse racing analyst for theTVG Network and New York Racing Association. In November 2019, he agreed to a contract to work for Barstool Sports as a horse racing and gambling analyst.
Prior to his collegiate career, Lo Duca attendedApollo High School inGlendale, Arizona where he was named Co-Player of the Year in 1990.[1][2] As a result, hewalked on to thebaseball team atGlendale Community College in Arizona after he was not recruited or drafted out of high school. Hehit .449 and .461 in his two years at thecommunity college before transferring toArizona State University.[3] In 1993 (the one year he played at ASU), Lo Duca was namedThe Sporting News Player of the Year, setting school records with a .446 batting average and 129hits. He also was named a finalist for theGolden Spikes Award, and his 37-gamehitting streak is the second longest in school history. He was named ASU "On Deck Circle" Most Valuable Player; other winners includeDustin Pedroia,Willie Bloomquist,Ike Davis, andBarry Bonds.[4]
Despite his college success, Lo Duca spent many years in theminor leagues after being drafted in the 25th round of the 1993Major League Baseball Draft. After spending 1995 with theVero Beach Dodgers, Lo Duca was sent to theAustralian Baseball League to play with the Dodgers' Australian affiliate, theAdelaide Giants, during the 1995–96 off-season, to help with his development.[5] He finally achieved a breakthrough year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in2001 at age 29, recording career highs of 25 home runs, 90 RBIs and a .320 batting average. Lo Duca drew comparisons to Dodgers predecessorsMike Scioscia andMike Piazza; all three were capable and popular everyday catchers who were homegrown through the Dodgers' organization, and all three are ofItalian-American ancestry. Lo Duca's primary strength was as a contact hitter, like Scioscia, but unlike the power-hitting Piazza.
After becoming an everyday big league player, Lo Duca was named to fourAll-Star Games. In 2002, he was one of the best contact hitters in the majors — onlyJason Kendallstruck out less often, and no one had a better percentage of swings and misses.[6] In 2003, Lo Duca's 25-game hitting streak was the second longest in Dodgers history, and defensively, he ranked first in theNational League in throwing outbaserunners. In 2004, he ledNational League catchers inRBIs. In the field in 2004, he allowed 93 stolen bases, more than any other catcher in Major League Baseball.
Lo Duca was traded from Los Angeles along withJuan Encarnación andGuillermo Mota to the Marlins forHee-seop Choi,Brad Penny, andminor league pitching prospectBill Murphy at the 2004 trading deadline.
Later, Lo Duca was traded to the Mets for two minor league prospects:pitcher Gaby Hernandez andoutfielder Dante Brinkley. This was part of a Marlin "market correction" where most of their high-paid players were traded away after the 2005 season. Lo Duca was a member of the 2006 All-Star Team, and the Mets finished that year with a 97-65 record and made the postseason (his first playoff experience). Lo Duca hit .318, his highest average since 2001. He also had a .355on-base percentage, a career high. Lo Duca collected his 1,000th career hit on May 30, 2007, offBarry Zito. His batting average fell 48 points that year to .272, and he played only 119 games after making a trip to thedisabled list in August.
After the 2007 season, Lo Duca agreed to a $5 million, one-year deal with theWashington Nationals on December 10. He was released by the Nationals on July 31, 2008, after batting .230/.301/.281.
On August 8, 2008, Lo Duca signed a minor league deal to return to the Florida Marlins organization.[7] LoDuca was called up on August 16.[8]
Lo Duca became a free agent after the 2008 season and did not play in 2009. In June 2009, he joinedTVG Network as an analyst and began working on2009 Belmont Stakes day.
On January 19, 2010, Lo Duca signed with the Colorado Rockies and came out of retirement.[9][10] He only appeared in the minor leagues with theColorado Springs Sky Sox during his stint in the Rockies organization, batting .233/.292/.302.
On May 29, 2010, Lo Duca was released, and in June, he returned to work for TVG. He continues to work as a horse racing analyst for the network.
On October 22, 2019, MLB umpireJoe West filed adefamation lawsuit in New York against Lo Duca andAction Network over comments Lo Duca made on a podcast in April 2019, recalling his Mets teammateBilly Wagner telling him, "Joe loves antique cars so every time he comes into town I lend him my ’57 Chevy so he can drive it around so then he opens up the strike zone for me."[citation needed] In the complaint, West denied this and said he suffered unspecified damages as a result of Lo Duca's comments. Analysis of MLB records indicated that West was the home plate umpire for a single Mets game during the two seasons that Lo Duca and Wagner were teammates in New York, but Wagner did not pitch in that particular game. West was awarded a $500,000 judgment by the court.[11][12]
On December 13, 2007, Lo Duca was named in theMitchell Report in connection withhuman growth hormone use. Lo Duca allegedly received the hormone HGH from former Mets clubhouse attendant and steroids dealerKirk Radomski, who produced three checks from Lo Duca totaling $3,200. Federal investigators also seized handwritten notes from Lo Duca to Radomski during a search of Radomski's house. The report also claims that Lo Duca introduced several other baseball players to Radomski, includingAdam Riggs,Kevin Brown,Éric Gagné, andMatt Herges.[13]
TheMitchell Report cites an October 2003 meeting among Dodgers officials that included discussion of the possible use of steroids by some players. The notes of the meeting say:
Steroids aren't being used anymore on him. Big part of this. Might have some value to trade ... Florida might have interest. ... Got off the steroids ... Took away a lot of hard line drives. ... Can get comparable value back would consider trading. ... If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year. That's his makeup. Comes to play. Last year of contract, playing for 05.[14]
Six months later, the Dodgers traded Lo Duca to the Florida Marlins. Mitchell did not identify the Dodgers officials involved, nor if other players were traded because they stopped taking steroids.
On January 9, 2013, in response to theBaseball Hall of Fame announcement in which no players were elected, Lo Duca acknowledged his steroids use, tweeting "I took PEDs and I'm not proud of it...but people who think you can take a shot or a pill and play like the legends on that ballot need help."
Lo Duca was born in Brooklyn, New York, but was raised inGlendale, Arizona, and attendedApollo High School, after attending St Simon and Jude Middle School. On August 7, 2006, the New York media leaked a story about his divorce suit with his wife, Sonia (Flores) Lo Duca, a formerPlayboy model.[15] The leak by theNew York Post led Lo Duca to threaten to stop giving interviews to the media. Lo Duca had been "one of the most helpful and available players in the Mets clubhouse", and afterward resumed giving interviews, as long as they pertained to baseball.[16] Lo Duca has a daughter, Bella Lucia, with his ex-wife.[17]Lo Duca is a TV analyst and handicapper in the horseracing industry, currently working on the Saratoga Live telecast.
In February of 2025, the New York Post reported that Lo Duca had recently been in a “bad accident” resulting in “multiple fractures.” The injuries were so severe that Lo Duca was left unable to eat for a "couple weeks."[18]
· Baseball Almanac
