After the French Elite League and German Baseball-Bundesliga we’ll now continue with our ‘2008 in Review’ series with the Italian Baseball League and the Dutch Hoofdklasse.
Danesi Nettuno
Since their last Italian Baseball League title in 2001, DANESI NETTUNO has missed the playoffs only in 2003. In each of 2007 and 2008 the club needed just one more victory to clinch the championship. In 2007 they lost the Italian Series in seven games against MONTEPASCHI GROSSETO. Last season T&A SAN MARINO upset them in similar style.
After the regular season DANESI was ranked second in the standings with a 29-13 record, five games behind leader BOLOGNA. In the semi-final round NETTUNO started strong with four wins in the first five games en route to clinch a berth in the Italian Series with a 6-3 record. Against SAN MARINO it went back and forth with each team leading at some point in the best-of-seven championship series until T&A won its first title with a 7-1 victory in the decisive match.
NETTUNO was more successful in the European Cup. At the tournament in Regensburg, Germany, they only lost twice against the FC BARCELONA to finish in second place. In September they got revenge for the lost Italian Series, when they beat SAN MARINO to win the inaugural European Cup Final Four. In Mister Baseball’s European Top 50 DANESI NETTUNO was ranked second, just percentage points behind L&D AMSTERDAM (NED).
What the stats say
Besides FORTITUDO, NETTUNO was the only team in the IBL with an ERA (2.90) below the 3.00 mark. They scored 240 runs and allowed 156 (due to 55 errors, 31 of these were unearned). They ranked third in the league with a .278 batting average, but led all clubs in the more important on-base-percentage category (.380). They also were the most aggressive team on the base paths with 58 stolen bases in 82 attempts.
The Italian batting champion Giuseppe Mazzanti (AVG .392/OBP .516/SLG .574) led the offense with six homeruns, 33 runs scored and 28 RBIs. Igor Schiavetti (.339/.406/.409), Vincent Parisi (.311/.419/.418), Juan Camilo (.306/.421/.456) and Renato Imperiali (.304/.404/.464) were all above the .400 OBP line. Parisi led the club with 33 RBI. Carlos Duran (.233/.309/.366) was the stolen base leader with 18 in 23 attempts. The former Major League infielders Frank Menechino (.274/.372/.411) and Luis Ugueto (.289/.402/.337) split time on a foreign spot in 2008.
The pitching rotation probably featured the most balanced combination in the whole league. The three starters Carlos Richetti (9-1, ERA 2.22), Nelson Cruz (5-3, ERA 2.25) and Giovanni Carrara (8-2, ERA 2.35) started 39 of the 42 games last year. Richetti led the club with 96 strikeouts (29 walks) in 93 1/3 innings. Victor Arias (ERA 4.35, 39.1 IP, 26 SO, 23 BB) and Frailyn Florian (ERA 3.98, 43 IP, 39 SO, 20 BB), who shouldered most of the workload out of the bullpen, weren’t quite able to go the same pace.
NETTUNO already made a few moves this offseason to improve the ballclub for another pursuit of the Italian title. They introduced a new manager and pitching coach, brought in catchers Manuel Gasparri and Dewis Navarro, and Spanish national team pitcher Remigio Leal. The club also will host one of the two European Cups at the beginning of April.
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