Alessandro Flisi

Alessandro Flisi

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born March 13, 1971

Biographical Information

Alessandro Flisi played for 11 seasons in Italy's highest level and spent two years with the Italian national team. He was noted primarily for his power. His son Riccardo Flisi has also played in Italy's top ranks.

In 1991, the 20-year-old debuted with Parma, hitting .201/.311/.338 with 26 runs in 36 games. He improved to .268/.348/.528 with 9 home runs, 27 runs and 28 RBI in 31 games in 1992. He tied for fifth in Serie A1 in dingers. His first two years, he played a fair bit of right field, but he spent the rest of his career at 1B. He batted .248/.341/.478 in 1993. In 1994, he was only 11 for 41 with 10 walks, 3 doubles, a triple and homer while backing up Roberto Bianchi and Paolo Ceccaroli at first. He played one game in the finals, which Parma won, but it came as a pitcher, working 1 2/3 shutout innings for a win. He would pitch only 14 games in his career.

In 1995, the Parma infielder produced at a .277/.396/.554 clip with 7 home runs in 34 games. He was 0 for 2 with a hit-by-pitch in the finals, again won by Parma. In 1996, he picked his game up a notch, hitting .351/.434/.557 with 24 runs in 34 games while splitting action with Ceccaroli. He was 4 for 11 with a homer and a walk in the finals but Parma fell to Nettuno.

Flisi got to be an everyday player for the first time with Juventus Torino in 1997 and fared very well. He hit .313/.423/.636 with 52 runs, 61 RBI and 17 dingers in 52 games. He was second in the league in home runs, 7 behind Luis Martinez and 6th in RBI (between Bianchi and Guglielmo Trinci). In the 1997 Intercontinental Cup, he hit .227/.292/.500 and fielded .931 with five errors in seven games at 1B. Four of his five hits went for extra bases; the rest of Italy's squad combined for six extra-base hits.

In the 1997 European Championship, Alessandro went 7 for 27 with 6 walks, 13 runs, 8 RBI and one error in eight games for the champions. In the round-robin phase, he tied Glenn Romney and Pavel Budský for third with 10 runs, one behind Juan Garcia and Lars Koehorst. Moving to Modena BC in 1998, he hit .328/.407/.601 with 13 home runs, 50 runs and 54 RBI in 46 games. He tied for 6th in the circuit in homers and was 10th in RBI. He put on a strong show for Italy in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, hitting .348/.400/1.000 with five home runs, six runs and nine RBI in six games, though he fielded only .940 with three errors at first. He tied Cuban legend Orestes Kindelan and future major leaguer Chin-Feng Chen for the tournament lead in home runs. He lost out the Cup All-Star honors at 1B to Cuban Loidel Chapellí. In the Bronze Medal game, he went 0 for 3 with two whiffs against Marvin Zelaya. With Italy in the hunt for its first Medal in a Baseball World Cup, Flisi made a crucial error in the 8th as Nicaragua scored four unearned runs off Diego Ricci to break a 1-1 tie. Flisi was yanked for pinch-hitter Luigi Carrozza in the 9th against Vicente Padilla.

Flisi fell to .228/.306/.423 in 1999, though some of the decline can be traced to Italy switching from aluminum bats to wooden ones. He had 7 home runs and 33 RBI in 41 games for Modena, tying for second in the league in homers, one shy of Cris Colon. He hit only .187/.235/.240 in 2000 and was 1 for 11 with two walks in 2001 to end his career.

Overall, Flisi had batted .273/.369/.501 with 271 runs, 296 RBI and 71 home runs in 379 games in Italy. He fielded .982 in 269 games at 1B and .961 in 47 in RF. In 14 games as a pitcher, he was 3-2 with a 6.23 ERA though he walked 24 in 26 innings. Through 2012, he ranked 29th in Italian annals in homers (between Salvatore Varriale and Francesco Petruzzelli) and 27th in slugging percentage (between Vincenzo Luciani and Carlos Duran.

Sources

• Old IBAF site
• Italian baseball federation