Andrea Evangelisti

From BR Bullpen

Andrea Evangelisti

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 8", Weight 159 lb.

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information[edit]

Andrea Evangelisti was a two-time Olympic infielder.

Evangelisti debuted in 1989 at age 16, going 2 for 6 with a homer for his hometown Rimini team. He would spend his entire career with Rimini. In 1990, he hit .300/.373/.400 and stole 6 bases in 8 tries. In the finals, he was 4 for 16 with a double as Rimini fell to Nettuno. The next year, the teenager hit .247/.361/.377 and was again 6-for-8 in swipes. In 1992, he batted .296/.396/.384 and went 9-for-12 in steal attempts. He was 2 for 10 with two walks in the finals as Rimini won their first title in 19 years. During 1993, he put up a .312/.417/.424 line and scored 28 runs in 31 games. In the finals, he was 7 for 20 with 4 walks, 2 steals and 6 runs but Rimini lost to Nettuno. In 1994, Evangelisti hit .259/.331/.373 with 48 runs and 6 triples in 48 games. He tied Steve Carter for second in Serie A1 in three-baggers. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he debuted for the Italian national team. He hit .381/.480/.524 as Italy's starting shortstop. His OPS was similar to the World Cup's All-Star shortstop, Germán Mesa (.344/.436/.594). Only Luigi Carrozza had a higher slugging percentage for Italy.

Andrea hit .291/.354/.357 for Rimini in 1995 with 38 runs in 46 games; he stole 15 bases and was caught 6 times. He starred in the 1995 European Championship, hitting .471/.500/.705 with 13 runs and 9 RBI in 8 games. In the finale against the Netherlands national team, he was 1 for 4 with a homer from the 9th slot of the batting order in a 7-4 loss. He was among the Euro leaders in runs (tied for 4th behind Johnny Balentina, Eddy Dix and Arnaud Fau), doubles (tied for 6th with 3), total bases (tied for 5th with Balentina at 24), hits (tied for 3rd with Enrico Vecchi, Fau and Pedro Baelemans at 16), average (7th, between Yevgeny Puchkov and David Meurant) and slugging (9th, between Roger de Saedeleer and Peter Schöön). He was named the All-Star shortstop. In the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, the youngster was 2 for 7 with a double and a walk, splitting the shortstop role for the Azzurri with Massimo Ciaramella.

Evangelisti's batting line in 1996 read .365/.393/.523. He stole 15 bases while only being gunned down once, scored 50 runs and rapped 21 doubles in 54 contests. He tied Marco Mazzieri for 4th in the circuit in two-baggers. In the 1996 Olympics, he hit .267/.267/.267 and had one error as Italy's starting shortstop. A highlight was a 2-for-3 day against the Gold Medal-bound Cuban entry. In 1997, the Rimini infielder hit .322/.400/.594 with 7 triples, 50 runs and 44 RBI in 52 games. He tied for second in the league in triples. In the 1997 Intercontinental Cup, he batted .278/.350/.389 and fielded .962. He hit .533 (tied for 7th with David Rigoli) and slugged .733 (tied for 10th with Sylvain Hervieux) as Italy took home the Gold.

At age 25, Evangelisti hit .359/.429/.550 for Rimini, stole 13 bases in 15 tries, drove in 39, scored 64 and hit a career-high 10 home runs in 48 games. He was 7 for 23 in the finals but Rimini lost to Nettuno. He was 8 runs behind leader Roberto De Franceschi. He batted .320/.393/.440 and fielded .944 in the 1998 Baseball World Cup. In '99, he fell to .313/.368/.363 with nothing further than a double. He was just 5 for 27 with two walks in the finals but Rimini won anyway. He was 6 for 16 with a double, walk and 2 steals in 3 tries in the 1999 European Championship and fielded .933; Italy took home the Silver. In the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, he bombed, going 2 for 22 (the hits were a double and a triple, at least) with one walk and three errors (fielding just .880).

Evangelisti batted .266/.313/.326 in 2000 and was 5 for 15 in the finals, which Rimini won. In the 2000 Olympics, his final appearance for the Azzurri, he easily outhit Italy's other shortstop, American-raised Seth La Fera. Evangelisti was 5 for 11 with a walk and two runs while handling 18 chances error-free at short. Against host Australia, he was 3 for 5. In 2001, Andrea hit .293/.349/.367 with 30 runs in 40 games. He moved from shortstop for the first and only time in his career, manning second base in 2002 and struggling big-time (.215/.284/.278). He rebounded to .299/.333/.348 in 2003 and ended his career in 2004 by going 2 for 8 with two doubles.

Overall, Evangelisti produced at a .293/.356/.402 rate with 489 runs in 664 games in Italy. He stole 118 bases in 163 tries and fielded .938. His 78 games played for the Italian national team were 21st in team history through 2010. He was also among the top 50 all-time in Italy in runs, steals and games played.

Sources[edit]

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