On the way to move from Amsterdam to Brussels, a nice player contacted me. It was the ‘Seminati’ of Italy.

Leonardo Seminarty, who represented Italy at the 2017 U-18 World Youth Baseball Championship (Baseball World Cup), showed off his strength by hitting a home run on national team pitcher Seong Dong-hyun (LG) with a cast arm. Not only that, while recording hits in all at-bats (4 hits), there is a bar that harassed the pitchers of the national team. The seminary contacted me after hearing about my visit to Europe. And while talking about Italian baseball, I was able to acquire quite a bit of information.

Italian baseball, known as Mike Piazza,
is actually quite high in Europe.

At the time, Seminarty was selected as an all-star (first baseman) by WBSC and signed an international amateur contract with the Cincinnati Reds. It was also quite rare for an Italian player. Unfortunately, I am currently taking a break from baseball. However, he also expressed his will to stand on the international stage like the WBC once again.

According to the seminary, Italy also has a baseball league. The name of the league is ‘Serie A’ just like football. However, it was called the ‘Italian Baseball League’ to distinguish it from football, but it was named Serie A from 2021. It has a long history as it was founded in 1948.

However, like other European teams, the league itself is not organized in detail, so the number of matches is not large. It is like operating in a semi-pro format. Every year from April to September, the 1st and 2nd teams with the most victories in 42 matches play the ‘Italian Series’. So far, Rome’s ‘Nettuno Baseball Club’ remains the team with the most championships (17).

By the way, it is said that there has been a change in the way it operates from 2021. Seminarity said, “I don’t remember exactly when, but the lower leagues were integrated as the number of clubs that were 8 teams decreased to 7. Now, I know that around 30 teams are playing the group stage.” conveyed about It is the same as before that the Italian series is held separately between the teams with the most wins in the league.

It was because of Corona 19 that I had no choice but to operate like this. Due to the pendemic, it is said that the requirement to operate baseball itself without doing the 1st and 2nd divisions is reduced, and there are cases in which the league is also canceled. 먹튀검증

Interestingly, it is the Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza who became famous for leading Italian baseball to the international stage. Piazza, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets and showed the best batting in the history of catchers, played as an Italian player in the 1st WBC and is currently coaching the Italian national team. The fact that a person who remains a legend in the major leagues is working hard to spread baseball in his home country is also a stepping stone for Italy to be reborn as a European baseball powerhouse.

In particular, Italy is the first champion of the European Baseball Championship and the second most successful team after the Netherlands. It is unknown how the geopolitical feature of being located on the same peninsula as Korea will affect baseball, but Italy is also a European country that is likely to have ‘greed’ to advance professionalism in the future.