Gabriele Ermini

Gabriele Ermini

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born June 23, 1976 in Pelago, Firenze Italy

Biographical Information

Gabriele Ermini is a former Italian batting champion.

Ermini debuted in 1995 with Grosseto, hitting .347/.419/.427 as a part-timer. He fell to .261/.400/.333 in 1996, while fielding only .806 at third base. By 1997, he was a starter and batting .416/.476/.547 with 16 doubles and 17 steals (in 18 tries). He improved his fielding percentage at third to .880. During 1998, he hit .350/.400/.485 with 35 runs, 37 RBI and 15 steals (caught 7 times) in 47 contests. He fielded .935 at the hot corner. In '99, his batting line was .320/.376/.438 with 6 triples (tied for third in Serie A1) and 35 runs in 47 games. He played for the Italian national team in the 1999 European Championship, going 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBI as the backup to David Sheldon at third base. Italy won the Silver Medal.

Ermini hit .321/.368/.387 for Grosseto in 2000 and .320/.397/.414 in 2001. In 2002, he fell all the way to .239/.328/.294. In 2003, he rebounded to .302/.385/.385 while moving to the outfield. During 2004, he had a career performance at .401/.468/.475 with 34 RBI in 50 games. In the finals for the first time, he hit .296/.321/.370 as Grosseto won their first pennant in 15 years. He led the league in average (10 points ahead of Rafael Ozuna), tied Juan Carlos Bruzon for third in hits (71), was third in OBP (behind Claudio Liverziani and Ozuna) and 6th in OPS. He was named the All-Star left fielder. In the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week, he went 0 for 4 for Italy.

In 2005, Gabriele slumped back down to .284/.329/.341. He was 0 for 9 with a walk in the 2005 European Championship but Italy won Silver. He hit .301/.376/.399 with 29 runs in 46 games in 2006, then was 6 for 19 in the finals as Grosseto lost to Telemarket Rimini. He was named the Gold Glove left fielder in Italy that season. Ermini batted .257/.339/.283 in 2007 but surged (9 for 23) in the finals as the team won another pennant. In the 2008 European Cup, he was only 2 for 21, albeit with four walks and five runs, as Grosseto finished third. During the regular 2008 season in Italy, the veteran hit .309/.354/.345. He won a Gold Glove in left field.

Ermini produced at a .253/.301/.344 clip for Grosseto in 2009, his 15th season with them. He won another Gold Glove. The next year, he improved to .272/.390/.358 with 26 walks in 42 games. He tied Ramón Tavárez for 6th in the Italian Baseball League in walks. He moved to Bologna in 2011 after 16 years with Grosseto. He hit .262/.348/.377 in his first season with them. In the 2011 European Cup, he batted .207/.395/.241 with 8 walks and 8 runs in 7 games.

Sources

• Italian Baseball Federation
• Baseball.it
• CEB
• Harry Wedemeijer
• Wayback Archive of the 2005 European Championship site