Legendary Italian baseball player Giulio Glorioso died last night at the age of 84 in Rome, Italy. He was the symbol of a generation and the first true baseball star in Italy. Italian and European Baseball mourns his death. A moment of silence will be held at each ballpark in Italy this weekend.
Interview with Giulio Glorioso at Mister-Baseball.com
Career Stats in Italian Baseball
Glorioso went 166-61 with an ERA of 1.92 for Roma Baseball, Milano 1946, Nettuno BC, Parma Baseball and SS Lazio as pitcher in the Italian Serie A. He also batted .296 (OBP .395/SLG .421) in 399 games during his career.
Glorioso was nominated best pitcher of the season in 1959 (Roma, ERA 0.68), 1961 (Milano, ERA 0.46), 1962 (Milano, ERA 1.27), 1963 (Nettuno ERA 0.68), 1964 (Nettuno, ERA 0.81) and 1966 (Parma, ERA 1.65). Also at bat he was successful as best hitter in 1960 (Roma, average .423) and in 1961 (Milano, average .444).
Glorioso collected the following career records as a pitcher in Italian Serie A seasons: 2706 innings, 2884 strike-outs, 943 bases for balls, 1699 hits, ERA 1.90, 235 pitcher’s wins and 83 losses. For the Italian national team he took the mound in 68 games.
Born on January 4, 1931 in Udine, Italy, but as a softball and baseball player Glorioso grew up with Gilda and Lazio in Rome. According to the Italian Enciclopedia del Baseball 1985 by Giorgio Gandolfi and Enzo di Gesu, he at the age of 16 fell in love with the American hit and run sports, when he saw US army teams play on Italian west coast after liberation from World War II.
Glorioso started to play softball as a left fielder with Gilda and with a team of the national railroad company. As a baseball player in 1949 he was called by American coach Dick Leone from the outfield to the mound. In Italy’s first international game ever, on August 31 1951, he was the starting pitcher versus Spain. His first international no-hitter was in 1960 versus the Netherlands, however the Dutch beat Italy 1-0.
Rest in Peace, Glorio.
Photo by Joep van der Pal/Fotobureau Cor Vos