Dante Carbini

Dante Carbini

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 190 lb.

• Born August 9, 1973 in Vinovo, Torino Italy

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information

Dante Carbini was an Olympic pitcher.

Carbini debuted in 1990 with his hometown Juventus Torino club, tossing one inning. In 1991, the 17-year-old was 0-7 with a 7.80 ERA and .361/.454/.489 opponent batting line. Moving to Calze Verdi Casalecchio in 1992, he was 1-2 with a save and a 6.66 ERA while opponents hit .298/.410/.431. He joined Milano in 1993 and improved to 2-3, 3.53. In 1994, he had a 7-8, 6.20 record for Verona. He debuted for the Italian national team in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, going 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA; only Paolo Ceccaroli and Rolando Cretis had lower ERAs for Italy. He got their win over Colombia.

In 1995, Carbini went 4-2 with a save and a 6.22 ERA for Parma. In the finals, he had a 1-0, 4.00 record as Parma won the Serie A1 title. In the 1995 European Championship, he was the top pitcher for Silver Medal-winning Italy at 2-0, 2.84 with one walk in 12 2/3 IP, yet teammate Massimiliano Masin made the All-Star team as the top hurler instead. One of his victories was relatively easier as he beat Tine Zaletel and European Championship newcomer Slovenia, but he was the only Italian hurler to beat the champion Dutch national team in their four games, defeating Patrick Klerx. He tied for second in the event in wins (one behind Frank Mathijs), was 10th in ERA (between Samuel Meurant and Roberto Cabalisti) and 3rd in WHIP, trailing Erik Lommerde and Guillaume Coste. In '96, Dante had his best record at 9-2, 4.97 for Parma (leading the team in victories). He bombed in the finals, allowing 19 hits, 11 walks and a 9.69 ERA in 13 innings as Parma fell to Nettuno.

Carbini pitched for Italy three times in the 1996 Olympics, each contest against a major power. He relieved Paolo Passerini in the first inning of a blowout loss to Team USA. He allowed 5 runs (3 earned), 3 hits and 4 walks in 1 2/3 IP, including a homer to Brian Loyd, before Fabio Betto relieved him. Against Cuba, he relieved Masin in the third of another blowout loss. He was bombed for six hits in eight batters and surrendered five runs; Betto again replaced him on the hill. In his last outing, against Japan, he relieved Ceccaroli in the 7th. He retired Tomoaki Sato, but plunked Masahiro Nojima then served up a homer to Yoshitomo Tani that made it 12-1 and ended the contest due to the mercy rule. For the Atlanta Games, he allowed 14 baserunners and 12 runs (10 earned) in 2 2/3 IP. Only Passerini had a worse ERA for Italy. Carbini was Italy's second-youngest player in the tournament; only Claudio Liverziani was younger.

Carbini returned to Torino in 1997 and went 6-6 with a save and a 5.38 ERA. He allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup, losing his only start but rebounded to go 2-0 with a 5.17 ERA in the 1997 European Championship, tying Betto and Masin for the team lead in wins. Italy won the Gold Medal. In 1998, Carbini was 3-2 with four saves and a 7.43 ERA for Modena, with 45 walks in 59 1/3 innings. After that, he pitched in Serie A2. He resurfaced in A1 in 2001, going 4-9 with a 5.18 ERA for the Catania Warriors Paternò. He tied for third in the league in losses, led in runs allowed (91, 2 ahead of Luca Martignoni) and walked the most batters (75 in 116 1/3 IP).

Overall, Dante was 39-41 with 9 saves and a 5.82 ERA in 168 games in Italy's highest level. Originally a part-time first baseman, he hit .176/.210/.209 with no homers in 153 at-bats.

Sources

• Italian Baseball Federation
• Baseball.it
• Defunct IBAF site