Professional Career
Despite his college success, Lo Duca spent many years in the minor leagues after being drafted in the 25th round of the 1993 Amateur Draft. He spent the 1995 off-season abroad with the Adelaide Giants in the Australian Baseball League, but finally achieved a breakthrough year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001 at age 29. Lo Duca drew comparisons to Dodgers predecessors Mike Scioscia and Mike Piazza -- all three were capable and popular everyday catchers who were homegrown through the Dodgers' organization, and all three are of Italian-American ancestry. Lo Duca's primary strength is as a contact hitter, like Scioscia, but unlike the power-hitting Piazza.
After becoming an everyday big league player, Lo Duca was named to four All-Star Games. In 2002 he was one of the best contact hitters in the majors – only Jason Kendall struck out less often and no one had a better percentage of swings and misses. In 2003, Lo Duca's 25-game hitting streak was the second longest in Dodgers history and defensively he ranked first in the National League in throwing out baserunners. In 2004 he led National League catchers in RBI. In the field in 2004 he allowed 93 stolen bases, more than any other catcher in Major League Baseball. He was traded from Los Angeles along with Juan Encarnacion and Guillermo Mota to the Marlins for Hee Seop Choi, Brad Penny, and minor league pitching prospect Bill Murphy at the 2004 trading deadline and was later traded to the Mets for two minor league prospects, pitcher Gaby Hernandez and outfielder Dante Brinkley. This was part of a Marlins "market correction" where most of their large salaries were traded away after the 2005 season.
Lo Duca was a member of the 2006 All-Star Team; 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 .355 on-base percentage, a career high.
Lo Duca collected his 1,000th career hit on May 30, 2007 off Barry Zito. His batting average fell 48 points that year to .272, and he played only 119 games after making a trip to the disabled list in August.
After the 2007 season Lo Duca agreed to a $5 million, one-year deal with the Washington Nationals on December 10. He was released by the Nationals on July 31, 2008, and on August 8, he signed a minor league deal to return to the Florida Marlins organization. LoDuca was called up on August 16.
He became a free agent after the 2008 season and did not play in 2009. In June 2009 he joined TVG Network as an analyst, and began working on 2009 Belmont Stakes day.
On January 19, 2010, Lo Duca signed with the Colorado Rockies. His role with the club was as a backup catcher, and occasionally to play first base and the outfield.
On May 29, 2010, he was released, and in June he returned to work for TVG as he's on-site daily at Monmouth Park during its 50-day elite meet where he also serves as an on-site analyst.
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