Filippo Crociati

Filippo Crociati

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born November 19, 1974 in Rimini Italy

Filippo Crociati has had a long career in Italian baseball. He debuted at Italy's highest level at age 16, going 0 for 1 for Rimini that year. In 1993, he hit .227/.266/.253 in 24 games at age 18. During the 1995 campaign, Crociati batted .389/.431/.426 in 24 contests for San Marino.

Crociati returned to his hometown Rimini club in 1996 and produced at a .284/.348/.324 rate. In '97, he hit .302/.353/.367; he had 7 assists in 22 games in CF and also saw significant action at third base. In the 1998 campaign, the young Rimini player batted .344/.420/.460 and stole 14 bases in 19 tries; he scored 46 runs in 42 games.

In 1999, Filippo's batting line was .207/.273/.256 in a big decline year. He rebounded in 2000 to bat .291/.355/.364. 2001 was even better as Crociati hit .358/.420/.519 with 7 triples and 54 runs in 50 games. He was second in Serie A1 in triples, tied for sixth in average and was 4th in runs, 13 back of leader and former big leaguer Jim Vatcher.

His fine 2001 campaign won Crociati a spot on the Italian national team. He was just 2 for 11 in the 2001 European Championship and made two errors in three chances. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, Crociati was not any better, hitting .143/.136/.143 though he did play flawless defense as Italy's main center fielder.

In 2002, Crociati hit .207/.289/.248 for Rimini, continuing his roller-coaster career. During 2003, he batted .252/.314/.385. In 2004, he produced at a .247/.308/.326 rate. The next year, the veteran hit .283/.356/.335 for Rimini with 15 steals in 18 tries. He was 4th in Serie A1 in stolen bases.

Crociati batted .174/.278/.220 in 2006, his first year under the Mendoza Line after coming close a couple times. In 2007, he hit .291/.327/.358 and he batted .266/.345/.316 in 2008.

In 2009, Filippo hit .329/.370/.396 for his best season in eight years. He finished eighth in the circuit in average but second to Davide Dallospedale among native-born Italians. He was put on Italy's preliminary roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.