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.
Telemarket Rimini
After winning the league title in 2006, TELEMARKET RIMINI had to settle for sixth place in the Italian Baseball League for a second consecutive year. They won 19 of 42 games this season and missed a spot in the playoffs by six games. Especially the second half of the year didn’t go well, as they lost eleven of the last 15 matches.
What the stats say
RIMINI scored a total of 200 runs during the regular season and allowed 189. Both numbers were good enough for fifth in the league. Their offense batted a fifth-best .251 (OBP .326/SLG .349), about 26 percentage points below the mark of the third and fourth ranked teams from NETTUNO and SAN MARINO. Their pitching staff had a combined ERA of 3.70 (5th in the league) with 327 strikeouts (2nd) and 168 walks (6th) in 381.2 innings pitched.
The former Major League Manny Alexander was the only batter with a batting average higher than .300 (.331/.399/.423). He led the team with 30 runs scored and was in third with 20 RBIs. Mario Chiarini batted .253 (.333/.440) with a team-best five homeruns, 14 doubles and 33 RBI. Amaury Garcia (.291/.337/.423) scored 27 runs and drove in 24.
Gustavo Martinez’ performance in 2008 helped him to receive the best pitcher award. He had a 4-4 record with an ERA of 1.17 in 14 games (six starts). He struck out 88 (24 walks) in 76 2/3 innings. Starter Buddy Bengel (2-2, ERA 3.11) and the relievers Ilo Bartolucci (ERA 3.07) and Michele Quattrini (ERA 3.29) were the only other hurlers on the staff with an ERA below 4.00. Matt Beech (2-2, ERA 4.66), Sandy Patrone (5-2, ERA 4.98) and Chris Di Roma (2-5, ERA 6.26) never found their rhythm and struggled to stabilize the rotation.
TELEMARKET already started to revamp the roster for the 2009 season. Taking advantage of the opening to EU-players by the IBL, they signed infielder Ivanon Coffie and pitchers Jorge Balboa and Fernando Gutierrez. In addition they brought in another infielder with former Kent State player Phil LoCascio. They still are looking for more help on the foreign sector and hope to move up in the standings next year.
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