1992 Italian Series

From BR Bullpen

The 1992 Italian Series was won by Telemarket Rimini. They swept Eurobuilding Bologna in the final to become Serie A1 champions for the seventh time.

Rimini had tied for third in the regular season at 23-13 then beat Serie A2 champions Collecchio in the quarterfinals and upset regular-season leaders Parma in the semifinals. Their top offensive players were batting champion and RF Giuseppe Carelli (.442/.526/.752, 10 HR, 44 RBI in 36 G), 3B Gar Millay (.355/.509/.573, 39 BB, 35 R in 36 G) and C Elio Gambuti (.414/.485/.593, 10 SB, 43 R in 36 G). The staff included Maurizio De Sanctis (9-6, 4.03), Tim Meeks (5-4, 3.14), Tim Birtsas (3-1, 2.31) and Roberto Cabalisti (3-0, 4 Sv, 3.00).

Bologna had been 2nd in the regular season at 25-11, had a bye for the quarterfinals and swept Milano in the semifinals. SS David Sheldon (.314/.431/.679, 14 HR, 27 BB, 44 R, 55 RBI in 36 G) led the league in homers and RBI, LF Franco Collina hit .339/.406/.622, CF Marco Mazzieri batted .310/.448/.484 with 44 runs in 34 games, Walter Cossutta (13-3, Sv, 3.71) led the league in wins, Rolando Cretis was 8-4 with a save and a 4.50 ERA and Dave Eichhorn was 3-0 with a save and a 1.29 ERA. They also had former major leaguers Dale Mohorcic (0-1, 4.38 in 3 G) and Drew Hall (1-1, 4.15).

In the finals, Rimini pulled off another upset, sweeping things. They won 2-1 on September 25, 7-4 on September 26 and 2-0 on October 3. Birtsas was nearly untouchable (2-0, 0.50, 8 H in 18 IP) while Carelli was 4 for 10 with 3 walks, a double, 2 runs and 3 RBI and Millay 5 for 11 with a run and a RBI. For Bologna, Eichhorn had a 1.59 ERA but dropped both decisions (presumably outdueled by Birtsas) and Cossutta was roughed up for 4 runs (2 earned) in 1 2/3 IP in the other loss. 2B Fabrizio Russo was 4 for 9 with a homer, while 1B Riccardo Matteucci hit .385.

Playoffs[edit]

1st Round[edit]

Semi Finals[edit]

Championship Series[edit]