Alfredo Meli

Alfredo Meli

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born December 31, 1944 in Bologna Italy
• Died July 31, 2010 in Bologna Italy

Biographical Information

Outfielder Alfredo Meli is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Meli hit .224/.292/.310 as a rookie for Fortitudo Bologna in 1965. He batted .286/.362/.346 in '66 with 29 swipes in 34 tries and 38 runs in 34 games. The speedster batted .267/.310/.378 in 1967, stole 23 bases in 30 attempts and scored 31 runs in 32 contests. Alfredo hit .328/.338/.453 in '68 and .318/.405/.495 in 1969, when he scored 27 runs in 27 games. He was 2 for 6 with two runs in the 1969 European Championship, splitting RF with Gianni Gatti was Italy won the Silver Medal. In 1970, the 25-year-old hit .289/.340/.461 with 22 steals (in 29 tries), 51 runs and 44 RBI in 44 games. In the 1970 Amateur World Series, Italy's first Amateur World Series, he was 1 for 12 with two walks and seven whiffs, backing up Giorgio Castelli at catcher and handling ten chances error-free. He put up a .329/.432/.479 line for Bologna in 1971 with 48 runs in 43 games and 25 steals in 30 attempts. He played for the Italian national team that won the Silver Medal at the 1971 European Championship.

Meli hit .326/.381/.458 with 49 runs in 44 contests in 1972, .343/.445/.471 with 41 runs and 44 RBI in 44 games in '73, .324/.417/.400 in 1974, .294/.405/.327 with 41 runs and 30 walks in 45 games in 1975 and .233/.320/.287 in his final season, 1976. Having spent his whole career with his hometown team, he had a career line of .302/.381/.412 with 400 runs in 431 games and 176 steals in 225 tries. He managed Bologna to a title in 1978. He became the first player to win Italian titles as a player, manager and general manager. He later founded the Italian Baseball Federation for the Blind.

In 2010, he was inducted to the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame shortly after his death.

Sources: Italian Baseball and Softball Federation, IBAF obituary