Gianluca Cibati

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born August 30, 1974 in Anzio, Roma Italy

BR register page

Biographical Information

Gianluco Cibati played in Serie A1 and for the Italian national team.

He was with Italy for the 1992 World Junior Championship then won a Triple Crown in Serie A2 in 1994 but did not get the award because a homer was accidentally attributed to his brother. He made it to Serie A1 the next year, hitting .386/.426/.544 for Caserta. He played mainly left field but also pitched (0-1, Sv, 7.97 G) and played third and right on occasion. Offensive stats were high as Italy was still aluminum bats.

Cibati batted .342/.391/.458 in 1996 and had a save and a 8.44 ERA in six mound appearances. In '97, he moved to Nettuno and produced at a .364/.414/.572 clip with 28 doubles and 70 runs in 64 games; he split time between left, third and DH. Nettuno won the 1997 European Cup and made it to the 1997 Italian Series only to fall to Parma in seven games. Cibati was second on the team in two-baggers, two behind Todd Trafton. In 1998, he slipped to .290/.341/.461 as the left fielder for Nettuno, which won the 1998 Italian Series. He also appeared for Italy in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, hitting .242/.359/.515 with three triples and six runs in nine games. He also went deep off Japan's Eiji Yano. He led the event in three-baggers, hitting more than several other teams. He was 2-for-2 with two walks against Marvin Zelaya in the 5-1 Bronze Medal Game loss to Nicaragua, having done his share.

Gianluco helped Nettuno finish second in the 1999 European Cup. He batted .263/.321/.386 in 1999 when Italy switched to wood bats and offensive levels fell; Nettuno again went to the Italian Series, but they lost in seven to Rimini. After not playing in 2000, he returned to his native Anzio and had a batting line of .310/.370/.455 in 2001, with 8 triples in 49 games. He played at least ten games in each outfield slot. He tied Filippo Crociati for the league lead in triples.

In the 2002 Serie A1, he was only 4 for 27 with a double and two walks in a major drop-off. He made a comeback with Nettuno in 2014, hitting .222/.288/.222 as their main DH. In 2015, he was 6 for 31 with two walks and three doubles to end his career. He had hit .317/.369/.438 in 357 games in Italy, with 245 runs and 190 RBI. He was 0-1 with 3 saves and a 7.56 ERA in 16 pitching appearances and fielded .923.