Carlo Passarotto

Carlo Passarotto (Chico)

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born October 13, 1943 in Cairo Montenotte Italy

Biographical Information

Carlo Passarotto was a top speedster in Serie A.

Born in Italy, he moved to Venezuela as a youth, then returned to Italy for his baseball career. He debuted in 1966 with CUS Genova, hitting .280/.385/.371 with 34 runs in 35 games and 37 steals in 42 tries. He fielded .858 at shortstop (his main position) and went 1-3 with a 7.98 ERA as a pitcher. He tied for second in Serie A in steals, 6 behind leader Dario Rossi. In 1967, he batted .283/.394/.469, stole 29 bases in 34 attempts and scored 31 runs in 30 games. He fielded .856 at short. His record on the hill was 4-7 with a 1.41 ERA (16 of the 56 runs he allowed were earned), walking 63 in 102 1/3 IP. He tied Osvaldo D'Odorico for the league lead in steals and tied Alfredo Meli for 8th in runs. He led the league in ERA, .04 ahead of Giuseppe Buschini.

He slumped in 1968 (.245/.368/.408, 27 R, 14 SB in 26 G; .827 FLD% at SS with 26 E in 22 G; 0-5, 4.03) for Genova. Moving to Lazio in 1969, he saw limited action, hitting .346/.477/.385 in 15 games, stealing 7 bases in 12 tries, making 12 errors at short, and losing his lone pitching appearance. He debuted for the Italian national team in the 1969 European Championship, going 7 for 17 with two walks, one steal in two tries, five runs and a RBI in four games. He fielded only .821 with five errors as their shortstop. He tied Giorgio Castelli for the team lead in hits and led in runs; Italy finished second.

Passarotto moved to Europhon Milano in 1970 and helped them win the Italian title, hitting .288/.394/.424 with 54 runs, 28 walks and 40 steals (in 46 tries) in 42 games. He fielded .879 at SS (28 E) and went 3-1 with a 1.63 ERA on the mound. He was third in the league in runs (behind Castelli and Gianni Gatti), tied Rossi for 6th in doubles (11) and led in steals, 6 ahead of Castelli. Europhon Milano also won the 1970 European Cup. He hit .229/.400/.229 with 3 runs and no RBI in 10 games for Italy in the 1970 Amateur World Series, with 12 errors, fielding only .821. He was one of Italy's better offensive performers, leading in OBP (.015 ahead of the great Castelli) and second to Castelli with 8 hits.

Carlo hit .273/.339/.393 with 40 runs, 25 RBI and 24 steals in 27 tries in 38 games in 1971. He was 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA on the mound and fielded .883 at shortstop. He tied for 5th in the league in steals and was 8th in runs. He hit .391/.417/.522 with 7 runs and 3 RBI in 6 games in the 1971 European Championship, fielding .818 at SS and tying Castelli for second on the team in runs behind Nanni. Italy won the Silver Medal. In the 1971 Amateur World Series, he was only 3 for 24 with 3 walks and a steal yet led Italy with four runs and had his best fielding performance on the international stage (.973).

In 1972, Passarotto hit .269/.402/.503 for Milano with 52 runs, 33 RBI, 9 home runs (more than double any other season's total for him), 35 walks and 29 steals (in 5 tries) in 43 games, fielded .884 at shortstop and posted a pitching record of 7-5, 2.98 with a save and 86 K in 99 2/3 IP. He was 6th in the league in runs, tied for 10th in walks and was second to Angelo Fontana in stolen bases (5 shy). He hit .205/.300/.225 in the 1972 Amateur World Series and made 11 errors at short (fielding .825). He also pitched one game, going 0-1 with 5 runs (4 earned), 7 hits and 4 walks in 5 1/3 IP while fanning four.

He hit .259/.369/.361 in 1973, scoring 44 runs in 39 games and stealing 18 bases in 22 attempts. He fielded .967 at shortstop and pitched very well (10-3, 2.36, 113 K in 122 IP). He tied for 6th in Serie A in wins, tied Dario Bazzarini for 4th in strikeouts and was 4th in steals as a good two-way threat. In 1974, he produced at a .282/.353/.404 line, stealing 15 bases in 16 tries, scoring 41 runs in 38 games, fielded .859 at shortstop and going 6-4 with a 2.68 ERA. He tied for third in steals, behind Fontana and Castelli.

Passarotto batted only .230/.322/.291 in 1975, moving to Bollate. He was 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA as a pitcher and fielded .901 at short. He still scored 46 runs and drew 30 walks in 52 games, while stealing 25 bases in 28 tries. He was third in the league in steals (behind Gianfranco Vandi and Pietro Monaco). He did not play in Italy's top league from 1976-1978. Returning to Milano in 1979, he hit .258/.333/.328, stole 14 bases (caught 3 times), fielded .833 at SS and posted a 2-4, 4.46 record. He tied David DiMarco and Dave Daniels for third in the loop in swipes, 3 behind leader Art Fischetti. That was his last season playing the field regularly.

Carlo was 1-0 with a 3.65 ERA in 1980, 1-2 with 4 saves and a 6.13 ERA in 1983 and 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 1984. In 1987, he went 7-3 with 3 saves and a 2.71 ERA, his most victories in 14 years. He had a 5-6, 3.64 record with two saves in 1988 and fell to 2-8, 6.72 in 1989, his last season as a player.

Overall, Carlo had hit .266/.367/.386 with 421 runs and 193 RBI in 564 games in Italy's top circuit, with 257 steals in 300 tries. He fielded .875 in 327 games at shortstop. He was 56-54 with 11 saves and a 3.52 ERA in 192 games as a pitcher, with an opponent batting line of .240/.321/.353. He struck out 759 and walked 482 in 1,017 1/3 IP. Through 2012, he was third in the Italian league's history in steals (behind David Rigoli and Monaco), tied for 48th in wins (with Riccardo Landucci and Roberto Corradini) and 33rd in strikeouts (between Mike Pagnozzi and Luis Lunar).

He also managed Milano for 290 games, third in team history behind Luigi Cameroni and Mauro Mazzotti.

In 2013, he was inducted into the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame in a class with manager Guido Pellacini, umpire Alessandro Cappuccini and writer Giorgio Gandolfi.

Italian Baseball Hall of Fame