Giulio Glorioso

Giulio Glorioso

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born April 1, 1931 in Udine Italy
• Died June 19, 2015 in Rome Italy

Biographical Information

Giulio Glorioso is a member of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame. He won 6 ERA titles during his career. He also led the league 10 times in strikeouts and 10 times in wins. A two-way threat, he won two batting titles. His record was 235-88 with a 1.90 ERA and 2,884 strikeouts in 2,706 innings while playing for Lazio, Nettuno, Parma, Milano and Roma. He only allowed 1,354 hits in 2,038 IP from 1960-1974 while batting .308/.395/.421 during this period.

In 1952, Glorioso was named league MVP. That got him an athletic scholarship to Florida, where he made an appearance in the Cleveland Indians training camp. That year, the Italian national team played its first game, on August 31. They lost to the Spanish national team but Glorioso called it (in a 2008 interview) the baseball event he remembered with the most joy and pride. Italy won the 1954 European Championship but did not claim another Gold during Glorioso's career, though they had 7 Silver medals. Overall, he appeared in 68 contests as a member of the Italian national team.

Glorioso won 3 strikeouts titles in a row (1953-1955) and led in wins in both 1954 and 1955. He led in ERA in 1955 to complete the pitching Triple Crown. In 1957, he led in strikeouts and wins again.

He had a 0.68 ERA in 1959, leading Serie A1. Glorioso was 13-5 with a 1.24 ERA in 1960, the first season for which Serie A1 records are presently available online. He allowed only 74 hits in 159 1/3 IP while batting .423/.489/.513 with 22 RBI in 18 games. He won the batting crown despite not playing a game in the field other than at pitcher. He led the league in wins and strikeouts. He threw a no-hitter against the Dutch national team that year but lost 1-0.

In 1961, Giulio went an amazing 18-0 with a 0.46 ERA; in 156 innings, he allowed 55 hits (no home runs) and struck out 218 batters. He hit .444/.545/.583 with 19 runs and 18 RBI in 18 games, scoring more than he allowed as a pitcher. He also homered, giving him more than he surrendered on that front as well. Glorioso won both the batting and ERA titles and also led in wins and strikeouts and was named MVP. His ERA record would stand 50 years until Darwin Cubillan broke it.

Glorioso again was unbeaten in 1962, 16-0. He had the best ERA (1.27) and allowed 69 hits in 142 innings, striking out 164. He picked up his second pitching Triple Crown. The 32-year-old captured his 4th ERA crown in 1963 with a 0.68 mark. He was 15-3 for Nettuno, allowing 84 hits and 37 walks in 159 innings while whiffing 166. He hit .274/.286/.425. He won his second pitching Triple Crown in a row.

In 1964, Glorioso was 15-2 with a 0.81 ERA, his 5th ERA title. He walked 26 and allowed 81 hits in 145 frames. The next season, the great Italian hurler went 15-0 with a 2.03 ERA and hit .316/.389/.456 with 33 runs in 28 games. He led the league in wins. He appeared at all three outfield spots that year.

Glorioso claimed his final ERA title in 1966, with a 1.65 mark. He went 17-1, allowing 91 hits in 161 IP and K'ing 190. He won his 4th pitching Triple Crown. Through 2012, that was more than all other pitchers in Italy combined (Federico Corradini, Mike Romano and David Farina each winning one). He also batted .344/.471/.576 with 36 RBI in 36 games. He hit 7 home runs while allowing 10.

In 1967, Glorioso faded to 8-6, 2.57 with 90 hits in 119 IP, a steep decline for him. He still led the league in Ks. He hit .362/.461/.546 with 37 runs in 33 games. The next year, he batted .222/.327/.278 and was 5-3 with a save and a 2.64 ERA. 1969 produced a 3-2, Sv, 2.55 record on the mound and a batting line of .264/.347/.437. Still a good player, he was no longer a superstar. In 1968, Glorioso also helped get the Lazio baseball team safely home from Prague followed the Warsaw Pact invasion of August 20.

Glorioso bounced back a bit in 1970, with a 10-8, 2.05 record. He was 0-1 with a save and a 4.50 ERA in the 1970 Amateur World Series, saving Italy's only win in their first Amateur World Series for Giuseppe Silva. He led the team with six games pitched. In 1971, he was 9-8 with a 2.26 ERA, followed by a 10-13, 3.36 year as he had his first losing record, at the age of 42. The old-timer still had enough in him to throw a 11-inning no-hitter against the German national team (Bronze Medalists that year) in the 1971 European Championship. In the finals against the Netherlands, he was not nearly as sharp, giving up 4 runs and got an early hook to take a loss; he had a 2.61 ERA in the Euros. Italy got the Silver as the Dutch took the Gold.

The veteran was 6-7 with a 3.52 ERA in 1973 and 6-3 with a 2.77 ERA in 1974 to wrap up his career. When Italy won the Silver in the 1973 European Championship, he tossed six shutout innings of relief (3 H, 2 BB, 4 K) and walked in both plate appearances, scoring a run.

After retiring, Glorioso helped with baseball development in Germany and France as well as Italy.

Glorioso was part of the first class of the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Sources

• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• Mister Baseball