After 27 years in the Italian Baseball League the 45-year-old catcher and outfielder Roberto De Francheschi officially has announced his retirement. He began his career with Nettuno in 1984. He stayed there until 2003. Afterwards he joined Montepaschi Grosseto (2004-2006) and De Angelis Godo (2007-2009) before returning to Danesi Nettuno last season.
Overall De Franceschi batted .302 in a whopping 1,369 games. He is the all-time leader not only in games played, but also innings (10,169), plate appearances (5,141), hits (1,548), doubles (322), sacrifice hits (80) and hit by pitches (123). He is second behind Roberto Bianchi with 1,070 runs scored. He also celebrated six league titles, three Italian cup titles and several European Cup trophies.
He also was a member of the Italian national team in 108 games with a European Championship title in 1997, a fourth-place finish at the Baseball World Cup in 1998 and two Olympic Games. He will continue to be involved in baseball, as De Franceschi will be the new hitting coach of Danesi Nettuno in the upcoming season in the IBL.