Outfielder Johnny Balentina, who signed with KONICA MINOLTA in the Dutch Hoofdklasse a few weeks ago, is coming to Italy. According to Baseball.it he joins CARIPARMA of the Italian Baseball League (IBL). Apparently he knew about the PARMA offer already, when he came to Hoofddorp at the end of October. However he and the PIONIERS had an agreement that he can go to Italy, if he comes to terms with the IBL club.
The 37-year-old Balentina from Curacao is a former member of the Netherlands Baseball National Team, having played in 146 games in numerous tournaments, including three Olympic Games. He made his Hoofdklasse debut for NETUNUS (eleven seasons) in 1990 and appeared in a total of 645 games since then, last in 2007. He also played for SPARTA (one season) , ADO (four seasons) and KINHEIM (two seasons). He has a career batting average in the Dutch major league of .343 with 35 homeruns, 560 runs scored and 483 RBIs. In 2008 he played in Curacao for the ROYAL SCORPIONS.
After a few Dutch players rejected offers from Italian teams in the last couple of weeks, Balentina is the second former national teamer to come to Italy. Ivanon Coffie signed with TELEMARKET RIMINI last week. Balentina is also the second player from the Netherlands to sign with PARMA in team history. The former BOSTON RED SOX pitcher Win Remmerswaal wore the jersey of the IBL club in the 1980ies.
CARIPARMA finished the 2008 season with a 22-20 record in fifth place. General Manager Massimo Fochi said, Balentina is not coming to take away playing time from young catcher Riccardo Bertagnon (.257/.364/.368). He is supposed to learn from the international proven veteran.
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November 30, 2008 | 11:04 am
[...] Johnny Balentina next Dutch player to join Italian Baseball League … Balentina is also the second player from the Netherlands to sign with PARMA in team history. The former BOSTON RED SOX pitcher Win Remmerswaal wore the jersey of the IBL club in the 1980ies. CARIPARMA finished the 2008 season with a 22-20 record in fifth place. General Manager Massimo Fochi said, Balentina … [...]