Mister Baseball

The Italian Baseball League started on Thursday into the new season. The team manager of last year’s seventh-ranked club De Angelis Godo Gigi Mignola was so kind to answer a few questions about the new campaign and Italian Baseball.

Mister-Baseball: First of all, I hope everything is alright after the earthquake. How is the feel in the Italian Baseball community after the catastrophe?

Gigi Mignola: We are very concerned about the situation of Abruzzo’s population and immediately talked with federation to give the cash of the first game of each team of IBL to the victims of the earthquake and we postponed the games on Friday to respect the national mourning day.

MRBB: You’re the team manager of De Angelis Godo since last fall. Are you satisfied with the first few months, though there weren’t any real games to play?

GM: Yes, i work very hard to create the new team and help the society to find sponsors and all the things that you need for attend the new season. We are a small team in a small town and it is more difficult for us to find heavy partnership than the other franchises as Nettuno, Rimini or Parma. All the work of the people around the society is for free and every one of us gives a little part of the free time for this great passion called baseball. I came from a team of a lower league and I think that being even minded can help you also in the Majors. This year is very hard due to the world economic crisis but anyone in the team made sacrifices to keep alive the dream of this team: stay in Italian baseball league.

MRBB: You acquired several new players for the new season, including well-known names like Lino Connell and Felix Escalona. Did you get all the players you want?

GM: No, of course not. During the market I had many talks with Italian and foreign players. Two or three players were interested to play with us, but unluckily going to play in Taiwan or signed Minor League Contracts. The crisis lowers the payroll here and Italy and I understand that is a big risk to come here to Italy if you don’t have a job in the motherland. But I get all the players with the characteristics that the society and manager wants for attend the team. For me that is a well done work and I’m happy about that. Of course Felix is a big incoming and in the spring training games we already saw his class.

MRBB: Without giving away too much, what would you consider a strength of Godo right now and where might are needs to do some additional work?

GM: During the spring training games I saw a very good offense, line drives and homeruns, that is good for a team that in the last two season finished last in AVG and SLG percentage. Maybe the infielders need a bit more time to find the right harmony, we changed many position players and there are three new prospects that work with Escalona, Connell and Sanchez in the infield. We weren’t getting help from the weather in the month of March. It’s rained a lot and you know: in the gym you can swing but defense you can only train on the field.

MRBB: Is the lineup already set and who is going to start the three games each week?
GM: Manager Zoli tried different lineups during the spring training but the starting lineup against Nettuno could be this:

RF MENDEZ
CF TANESINI
1B CONNELL
SS ESCALONA
C  SANCHEZ
LF DE FRANCESCHI
DH TONIAZZI
3B FUZZI
2B CAMPANINI

ASI GAME: LUCIANI  FOREIGNS GAME: ULLOA “ORIUNDOS” GAME: CAMARDESE

MRBB: With an overall stronger roster than last year, do you aim for the playoffs and where would you rank your team right before the start of the season?

GM: For us the objective is again to keep alive and stay in 2010 in IBL. The dream is to be one of the team of the pro league.

MRBB: Which teams would you consider as favorites in the IBL in 2009? Are you among these clubs?

GM: We played against Rimini and we saw the team is in a good condition. Nettuno made a team to win not only in Italy but also in the Euro Cup, Leal and Farnsworth are very classy pitchers… Then I say Rimini and Nettuno could be the two teams to reach the Italian baseball league final series.

MRBB: You’re involved in Italian Baseball for a long time. If you had the chance, what would you change to make Baseball better?

GM: If I had a chance I would change the organization. The model is MLB, you know here in Italy we are trying to become a pro league but I see economics problems but also cultural and behavior problems. We need new people in baseball not only to play or fans that became volunteers. We need new advisors in the organization of the teams with specific competences (media, marketing, scouting, finances). Young people that studied these competences at universities. We need to get professional volunteers and hope that someone can help the European baseball to be professional also by economics. But the first thing that MLB asked us was to be solid and wise and without organization you can’t.

MRBB: The Baseball World Cup in September will also stop in Godo. Are there any renovations planned before and how is the preparation moving forward?

GM: Yes of course. We have already built the warning track and made the field longer. We’ll wait for the new dugouts, fence protections, stands and media facilities. We are sure that the work will finish early and leave us to concentrate on the organization of the event.

Mister-Baseball thanks Gigi for answering the questions