Daniele Frignani

Daniele Frignani

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.

• Born June 29, 1977 in Bologna, Bologna Italy

Daniele Frignani was a two-time Olympic player.

Frignani hit .292/.354/.375 in 1993, his debut in Italy, while playing primarily catcher. Moving to center field and third base in 1994, Daniele batted .272/.344/.370 for his hometown Fortitudo Bologna club. He scored 42 runs in 39 games that season and stole 14 bases in 15 tries. In '95, he hit .269/.316/.333. In the 1995 World Junior Championship, he hit .368, second-best on Italy after Davide Dallospedale.

By the 1996 campaign, Frignani was a full-time outfielder. He hit .300/.363/.408 and scored 45 runs in 51 games. He did not play in 1997, then returned in 1998 at age 20/21 and hit .282/.381/.365. In 1999, Daniele batted .257/.352/.380. He was 5 for 12 with four doubles in the 1999 European Championship to help Italy win the Silver Medal.

For Bologna in 2000, the veteran put up a line of .327/.408/.464. He was 1 for 8 in the 2000 Haarlem Baseball Week but still made Italy's roster for the 2000 Olympics. In the Sydney Games, he started in left field for Italy and went 2 for 14 with a double and a homer. His long ball came in a 3-2 loss to the Dutch national team off Rob Cordemans with Luigi Carrozza aboard to give Italy all of its offense in the defeat.

Frignani batted .308/.395/.427 in the 2001 season and scored 42 times in 50 games. In the 2001 European Championship, he hit .286/.323/.393 for Italy as they took home the Bronze Medal. The next year, he hit .357/.418/.500 for Bologna with 41 runs in 48 contests. He also drove in 47, fourth in the league after Claudio Liverziani, Jairo Ramos Gizzi and James Buccheri.

Starting his second decade, Daniele's batting line was .358/.404/.569 in 2003 with seven homers and 46 RBI in 51 games. He tied Francesco Casolari for 6th in Serie A1 in RBI, was 6th in homers (all the players with more had US pro experience, including two former major leaguers), ranked 9th in average and tied Mario Chiarini for fifth in slugging. He also hit .318 in the finals as Bologna won its first pennant in 19 years. In the 2003 European Championship, Frignani hit .259/.310/.259.

In 2004, Daniele faded a bit, to .302/.374/.425. His 41 RBI were good for sixth in the circuit. During the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week, he was 0 for 5 with a walk. In the 2004 Olympics, he was 0 for 3 as Buccheri's backup in left field for the Azzurri.

Frignani batted .267/.365/.354 in 2005; he hit only .154 in the finals as Bologna won another title. In 2006, he hit .246/.350/.261 then batted .261/.344/.312 in '07. A bench player by 2008, the 30/31-year-old hit .216/.293/.255. In his 17th season for Bologna, 2009, Daniele batted .283/.367/.415 then was 2 for 11 in the Italian Series as Bologna took its third pennant of the decade. Through 2009, he had hit .290/.366/.396 in 711 games in Italy, with 81 steals in 103 tries.

In the 2009 European Cup, Frignani was 4 for 16 with two walks, two runs and 3 RBI but made three errors at first base.