Correia played baseball, basketball and football at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School in North Dighton, Massachusetts. As a senior baseball player, he hit over .500. Correia played college baseball in NCAA Division III at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for three seasons. As a junior, he was named to the Division III All-American First Team. He tied a NCAA record with four home runs in a single game. In 1998, only two years after leaving the school, he was inducted into its athletics hall of fame.
Correia was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 15th round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft and assigned to the Southern Oregon A's to begin his professional career. He played in the Oakland farm system until January 1992 when he was traded to the California Angels for a fellow minor leaguer.
He was called up to the minors for the first time on June 20, 1993 when Angels infielder Damion Easley was placed on the disabled list. He made his Major League debut that afternoon against the Chicago White Sox as a defensive replacement at shortstop for Gary DiSarcina. Correia continued as a backup middle infielder for the Angels until DiSarcina suffered a season-ending injury in August. For the remainder of the season, Correia served as the starting shortstop.

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