Luca Martignoni

Luca Martignoni

• Bats Left, Throws Left

• Born May 18, 1975 in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Emilia-Romagna Italy

BR register page

Biographical Information

Luca Martignoni pitched 23 seasons in Italy and also was on the Italian national team.

He debuted in 1992? with his hometown Santacangelo but unfortunately, the historical section of the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation site has been down over a year (as of November 2020, with the earliest stats available being from 1999. He was 6-7 with a 4.40 ERA for T&A San Marino in 1999, finishing 10th with 84 K. In 2000, he improved to 5-7, 3.64. He was again 10th in whiffs (86, between Fabio Betto and Don August.

Martignoni fell to 5-8, 4.71 in 2001 and allowed a league-high nine homers; only Guillermo Larreal pitched more innings. He allowed one run in three innings in the 2001 Baseball World Cup. San Marino did not play in the 2002 Serie A1. They returned in 2003 and he was 3-8 with a 3.89 ERA. He appeared for Italy in the 2003 European Championship, going 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA (5 H in 10 IP). His 4.50 BB+H/9 was 4th in the event, behind Roger Kops, Petr Pacas and Eelco Jansen.

He had a 5-8, 3.03 record in 2004. He was 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in the 2005 European Cup. He was 4-0 with a 6.79 ERA in the 2005 Serie A1 and 0-1, 5.06 in the 2005 Italian Series. He helped San Marino win the 2006 European Cup. In the 2006 Serie A1, his ERA was 4.48 and he went 5-7.

Luca was 5-6 with a 3.41 ERA in the 2007 Serie A1. He was 9th in ERA (between Betto and Riccardo De Santis), 5th in IP (59, between Roberto Corradini and Matteo D'Angelo), 4th in K (37), 3rd in wins (behind Sandy Patrone and D'Angelo), tied De Santis for 2nd in losses and tied Daniel Newman and Corradini for 4th in games pitched. In the 2008 European Cup, he was roughed up for six hits and three runs in 1 2/3 IP in the first round. In the 2008 European Cup Final Four, he relieved Tiago Da Silva in the 8th of the finale with a 2-1 lead against Danesi Nettuno. He walked Luis Ugueto and Juan Camilo then gave up the game-losing double to Ramón Tavárez. He was 5-2 with a 7.03 ERA in the 2008 Italian Baseball League. He tied Nelson Cruz, Mike Natale, Patrone and Josmir Romero for 9th in the IBL in wins as San Marino won their first title.

The veteran fell to 2-5, 6.08 in the 2009 IBL, tying for 8th in losses. In 2010, he had a 1-0, 3.46 record, now pretty much full-time in relief. In the 2010 European Cup, he was 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA in round one, beating the Savigny Lions. He allowed one run in five innings in the finals, turning in a solid outing against Telemarket Rimini but the bullpen could not hold on.

He was 2-0 with two saves and a 2.11 ERA for San Marino in the 2011 IBL. In the 2011 European Cup, he allowed one run in 4 2/3 IP in the first round. He did not pitch in the Cup finals as San Marino won the European title. They also won the 2011 Italian Series; he allowed seven hits and five runs in 3 2/3 IP. He saw limited action in the 2012 IBL (Sv, 9 R in 5 IP) and pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings in the semifinals (1-0, Sv) but did not appear when San Marino won the 2012 Italian Series.

Martignoni was 1-0 with two saves and a 4.91 ERA in the 2013 IBL and pitched one shutout inning in the semifinals, getting a save, but did not pitch in the 2013 Italian Series as San Marino won another title to "three-peat". He was 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA in the 2013 European Cup, beating the Bern Cardinals. Only teammate Da Silva had a better ERA and only Patrick Lawson pitched more innings than Luca's 10 1/3.

In his last season as a player, he saw little work in the 2014 IBL season (Sv, 0 R in 5 2/3 IP) and struggled in the semifinals (0-1, Sv, 7 R in 2 1/3 IP). He did very well in the 2014 European Cup, dazzling against Italian rival Nettuno with a one-hitter as Carlos Pezzullo deprived him of a perfect game. Only Rodney Rodriguez worked more innings without an earned run in the Cup. He did not appear in the finals as San Marino won its third European title of his career. He had gone 51-69 with 10 saves and a 4.41 ERA in the Serie A1/IBL.

He became the team's pitching coach in 2015-2016.