Luigi Carrozza

From BR Bullpen

Luigi Carrozza

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 209 lb.

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information[edit]

Luigi Carrozza played for the Italian national team from 1992 to 2000, playing in three Olympics, five Intercontinental Cups and two Baseball World Cups. The catcher's career in Serie A1 began in 1989 and he retired in 2009. Due to injuries, he stopped catching in 1999, moving primarily to right field and first base. His teams won four Serie A1 titles.

Carrozza hit .205/.278/.305 as a rookie in 1989. The next year, he batted .261/.344/.425 and threw out 39.1% of attempted basestealers. In 1991, Luigi hit .326/.385/.516 at age 22. He batted .333/.400/.333 in the 1992 Olympics. Carrozza batted .381/.476/.790 with 11 home runs, 36 runs and 29 RBI in 1992.

Carrozza hit .330/.425/.476 and scored 24 runs in 27 games in 1993. He was 3 for 12 with two walks in the 1993 Intercontinental Cup, backing up at both DH and catcher (behind Francesco Petruzzelli). In 1994, the catcher batted .333/.376/.490 and drove in 36 in 37 contests. He starred in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, hitting .391/.462/.565 with 8 runs in 7 games. He made the tournament All-Star team as the top catcher.

In 1995, Carrozza produced at a .351/.410/.586 rate with 52 runs, 10 home runs and 60 RBI in 50 games. He was only 1 for 12 with no walks or extra-base hits in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup. He made one error and had one passed ball in 3 games behind the plate. In the 1995 European Championship, he hit .500/.541/.912, finishing fifth in average and slugging. He tied for second with four home runs and tied for the lead with 17 RBI. He was 5 for 13 in the Gold Medal round against the Dutch national team, but went 0 for 4 in the final of the best-of-3 set.

Carrozza hit .335/.425/.634 in 1996 with 14 homers, 58 runs and 48 runs batted in during 49 contests in Serie A1. He batted an impressive .571/.571/.714 in the 1996 Olympics. He had the best average in the Olympics that year, topping Luis Ulacia by 16 points. Among those he outhit were Omar Linares, Orestes Kindelan, Kosuke Fukudome, Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Antonio Pacheco, Tadahito Iguchi, Travis Lee, Mark Kotsay and Jacque Jones. He was 3 for 4 with a double while getting half of his team's hits against Italy and went 2 for 2 with a run and a RBI in a loss to the US.

In 1997, Luigi hit .402/?/.676 in Serie A1 with 53 runs and 54 RBI in 47 games. He went 0 for 8 with a walk in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup. He hit .412 and slugged .519 in the round-robin of the 1997 European Championship, which produced a rare win for Italy over the Netherlands. In the 1998 Serie A1, Carrozza batted .350/.437/.578 with 55 runs and 53 RBI in 45 contests. In the 1998 Baseball World Cup, he hit only .211/.286/.368 as Italy finished fourth. Carrozza did not appear in the quarterfinals or semifinals and was 0 for 1 in the Bronze Medal game against Nicaragua.

In 1999, Carrozza batted .295/.371/.425 in Serie A1 and just .148/.148/.185 as the Italian team DH in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup. In 2000, his batting line in Italian competition was .353/.433/.487. He played in the 2000 Olympics, he batted .222/.250/.333 as a 1B/DH.

Carrozza hit .303/.358/.434 in 2001 and vanished from Serie A1 for two years. In 2004, Luigi batted .250/.341/.342, followed by a .268/.304/.407 campaign in 2005. In 2006, Carrozza hit .208/.269/.220. He batted .255/.304/.268 in 2007. In the 2007 European Cup, Luigi hit .319/.409/.526 for third-place Rimini.

He hit .275/.365/.341 in 2008 and .291/.355/.309 in 2009 and retired at the end of the latter season. He was inducted into the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Sources: Serie A1 stats, Story on Carrozza at baseball.it, 1995 Baseball Almanac, Defunct IBAF website, Harry Wedemeijer's international baseball stats