New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was born in Venezuela to Italian parents, is currently visiting Italy as a guest of national team head coach Marco Mazzieri. He arrived on Thursday and will stay until November 30. According to the report on Baseball.it the big soccer fan also is going to attend practice of Juventus Turin next Tuesday and has asked to meet with Alessandro Del Piero. He is accompanied by his father, who hasn’t been to Italy in 40 years.
Cervelli and Mazzieri will be at the academy in Tirrenia on November 25th. Cervelli played for Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and probably would have been on the 2009 World Cup roster too, if he hadn’t been called up to the big leagues. He made his debut in the MLB for the Yankees as a backup to Jorge Posada in September of 2008. Since then he has appeared in 138 games batting .274 (OBP .343/SLG .340).