Leonardo Mazzanti

Leonardo Mazzanti

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born August 19, 1973

Biographical Information

Leonardo Mazzanti has been a long-time outfielder in Italy who has played for the Italian national team. His cousin Giuseppe Mazzanti played in the US and in Italy.

Leonardo debuted in 1993 with Anzio, hitting .277/.328/.387 with 24 runs in 32 games while fielding .889 at second base. He returned in 1995, now with Nettuno, and hit .412/.496/.577 with 28 runs and 26 RBI in 32 games as a 2B-3B. In the finals, he was 2 for 5 with 3 errors as Nettuno fell to Parma. He was .017 shy of batting champion Jessie Reid. Given his infield defense, he was moved to the outfield in '96, a move that lasted. He produced at a .362/.447/.514 clip with 41 runs, 36 RBI and 26 walks in 50 games in 1996. In the finals, he was 11 for 22 with a double, home run, four walks, five runs and five RBI in six games as Nettuno won it all. He joined George Canale in leading Nettuno's offense in the finals as some of their other regular-season stars (Alberto D'Auria, Ruggero Bagialemani, Guglielmo Trinci) sputtered.

Mazzanti hit .364/.440/.597 with 48 runs, 45 RBI, 28 walks and 9 dingers in 47 games in 1997 then followed with a .360/.414/.560 line in the finals, but Nettuno lost out to Parma. He batted .382/.445/.704 with 10 home runs, 38 runs and 55 RBI in 43 contests in during the 1998 season. He was just 2 for 15 in the finals but Nettuno prevailed to win it. He was 9 RBI behind leader Massimo Fochi. In 1999, Mazzanti hit .277/.325/.406 for Nettuno as Italy switched to wooden bats, bringing down offensive levels. He was 1 for 18 with 4 walks and a double in the finals, as Nettuno lost out to Rimini.

Mazzanti eked out a .221/.318/.301 line with only 6 RBI in 34 games in 2000 then was 5 for 16 with a walk and two doubles in the finals, again won by Rimini. In 2001, Leonardo hit .238/.345/.325 with 21 runs in 39 games. He was 3 for 13 with a double and a walk in the finals as Nettuno won the title. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, he played for Italy, going 5 for 25 with a walk, double and triple. He split left field with Andrea Castri and also saw some action at DH. In 2002, the veteran hit at a .280/.351/.480 clip for Nettuno. In the finals, he was 3 for 10 with two walks and a double but Nettuno fell to Rimini for the third time in four years. He had appeared in the Italian finals every season from 1995-2002.

In 2003, Mazzanti hit .347/.418/.446 with 25 runs in 39 games. He was 11th in Serie A1 in average and 12th in OBP. The next year, he faded fast to .165/.271/.177 with only two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 158 at-bats. He did not play in A1 in 2005 but returned to Nettuno in 2006 and hit only .214/.308/.268 in a bench role. In 2007, he batted .208/.300/.260 in the regular season and .192/.222/.231 in the finals, when Nettuno lost to Grosseto.

Leonardo was at .239/.350/.330 for Nettuno in 2008. In the 2008 European Cup in Regensburg, he was 9 for 18 with a double, walk and 4 RBI in five games to join his cousin Giuseppe and Ramon Tavarez in powering Nettuno into the 2008 European Cup Final Four. He did not fare well in 2009, hitting .189/.250/.264 in 22 games. He was 4 for 24 with a double and 3 walks in the 2009 European Cup. After having played for Nettuno from 1995-2009 (minus 2005, the year he did not play in A1), he moved to Grosseto for 2010. He rebounded his first season there, to .281/.366/.328.

In 2011, Mazzanti hit .193/.311/.261 for Grosseto. He returned to Nettuno for 2012.

Through 2011, he had batted .279/.363/.403 with 390 runs and 360 RBI in 718 games.

Sources

• CEB
• Baseball.it
• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation