World Baseball Classic, seventeen years of blue emotions » Baseball.it

You call them if you want emotions. The World Baseball Classic, the professional world championship inaugurated in 2006 and which has been the only tournament that has awarded the world title since 2013, is a parade of stars, a container of emotions, which six years ago broke every attendance record in the stands, 1,086,720, over 300,000 compared to 2006.

Italy, 16th national team in the ranking, is one of the few to have played the fifth editions without having to resort to qualifying. The Azzurri, in their first four participations, have won at least one race, the minimum wage to guarantee access to the next edition.

In 2006, on the diamonds of Orlando, in the suggestive Disney World complex, they showed up with a roster made up of ten stars of the Italian Baseball League, some excellent players from the Minors, starting with Tony Giarratano and a group of Major League paisà from high-sounding name, Mike Piazza (the greatest offensive receiver of all time), Frank Catalanotto (for him two editions as a winger and two as a coach), Frank Menichino, Mike Fiore, Jason Grilli.

Italy, led on the bench by Matt Galante flanked by the then blue manager Giampiero Faraone and Mauro Mazzotti, went to the Classic with a clear victory, 10-0, at the expense of Australia, thanks also to Jason’s performances on the mountain Grilli and Riccardo De Santis. A success that did not qualify for the next round.

Since 2009, however, Italy has attracted the attention and sympathy of enthusiasts from all over the world. At the Rogers Center in Toronto, with Mago Bargnani cheering on the Azzurri in the stands, the formation entrusted to Marco Mazzieri (with coaches D’Auria, Gerali and Piazza) knocked out the Canadian hosts with a super performance. At the point in all the first four rounds, ours were dragged by Denorfia (4/4 with three doubles and two points hit at home). Two defeats against Venezuela forced our expedition, reinforced by Nick Punto, Valentino Pascucci and the aforementioned Chris Denorfia, to return home.

The most beautiful images of the album of memories are linked to the 2013 edition in Arizona: the formation of Marco Mazzieri, with Chris Colabello (2hr and 7pbc), Tony Granato and Nick Punto stars in the box and Ale Maestri almost unbeatable on the mount, defeated Mexico and Canada and flew to the second round, in which he went one step away from the semifinals. With Venezuela he showed up with 4 points in the 1st assault to surrender due to a couple of home runs, against Puerto Rico he started from 3-0 and saw the Final Four dream vanish due to some trivial mistakes. The best game ever was the opening one in 2017.

An incredible comeback from 5-9 to 10-9 in the last inning allowed Italy to debut at the World Baseball Classic with a victory over Mexico. Marco Mazzieri’s Azzurri, in the last act after ten extraordinary years, silenced the 20,000 fans who flocked to the Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara with an incredible ninth round, with seven batsmen in the box, without even one out, opened with three doubles and concluded with the two singles of the most beautiful “remuntada” ever. Two defeats against Venezuela, one in extra time and one heart-pounding in the play-off match, denied Colabello, Segedin, Andreoli, Butera, Nimmo, Cecchini and Cervelli from landing in San Diego for the second round.

From Thursday 9 March in Taichung, with Mike Piazza at the third Classic, the first as manager, a new and certainly unforgettable page will be written. The numbers from 2006 to 2013 remain: Alessandro Maestri was the only one to have taken part in the first four editions, Alex Liddi is the one with the most appearances (11), followed by Chris Colabello and Mario Chiarini at 9.

The matches played by Italy.

World Baseball Classic 2006. Orlando, Florida: Italy-Australia 10-0, Venezuela-Italy 6-0, Dominican Republic-Italy 8-3.

World Baseball Classic 2009. Toronto, Canada: Venezuela-Italy 7-0, Italy-Canada 6-2, Venezuela-Italy 10-1.

World Baseball Classic 2013. Scottdale, Arizona: Italy-Mexico 6-5; Phoenix, Arizona: Italy-Canada 14-4, United States-Italy 6-2.2nd phase, Miami, Florida: Dominica-Italy 5-4, Puerto Rico-Italy 4-3.

World Baseball Classic 2017. Guadajara, Mexico: Italy-Mexico 10-9, Italy-Venezuela 10-11 (10th), Puerto Rico-Italy 9-3. 1st round play-off: Venezuela-Italy 4-3