University of Vermont Athletics

John Tartera 1965 - Baseball

An all-star first baseman on the baseball team who turned down an offer of a professional contract to go to dental school, John Tartera, inducted into the UVM Hall of Fame in 1996, lettered in the sport three years.

After playing freshman baseball in 1962, Tartera joined the varsity as a sophomore and held down the first-base job for three years. During that time, he won numerous awards. He was first-team All-State, first-team All-Yankee Conference and first-team All-New England as both a junior and senior, and he was a pre-season All-America pick in 1965. The Yankee Conference batting champion in 1964, when he hit .367, Tartera had an outstanding senior season, batting .375 while cracking 21 hits, four doubles, three home runs and knocking in 18 runs.

He won the Stroh Runs-Batted-In Trophy as both a junior and senior, and was featured prominently in the Burlington Free Press in 1965. His last two seasons, when he hit .367 and .375, still remain among the top 15 single-season batting averages in UVM history. And, his slugging percentage of .635 as a senior is still second all-time at Vermont after 31 years.

In his final appearance in front of the Centennial Field fans, Tartera clubbed two long home runs and a single and knocked in six runs to lead the Catamounts to a 13-5 win over defending state champion Middlebury. That game was on May 5, 1965, almost 31 years ago to the day.

Legendary UVM baseball coach Ralph Lapointe, a former big leaguer, said this about Tartera: "He was the finest natural left-handed hitter I've had in my 14 years coaching here."

Following his graduation from UVM at the age of 20, Tartera was drafted in a free-agent draft by the Minnesota Twins. Tartera had wanted to attend dental school, and when the Twins representative was asked if he could play professionally and attend school, he said no. So, Tartera chose dental school. "No more baseball," he told the Burlington Free Press. "I'm hanging up my spikes. Dentistry comes first." The headline of the story was: ".375 hitter to drill teeth, not fastballs." Tartera attended dental school at Temple University, and has been a practicing dentist in Williamsport, PA for over 25 years.

A past president of the Williamsport Country Club and the Williamsport Wheel Club, he is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry and the county Dental Society. Also an avid golfer, he has won several local golf tournaments and qualified for the state amateur tournament in Pennsylvania.