Luis de Camargo

Luis Ricardo Galavoti Serafin de Camargo

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 0", Weight 192 lb.

• Born September 20, 1976 in Tatui Brazil

Biographical Information

Luis Ricardo Serafin de Camargo has played in international competitions for both his native Brazil and Italy.

De Camargo grew up in Brazil and played professionally in Japan, never reaching NPB. He played for the Brazilian national team in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup (going 0 for 2), the 2002 Intercontinental Cup (1 for 2, a double), 2003 Baseball World Cup (.308/.438/.346 as Brazil's main catcher; opponents stole 5 bases in 9 tries), the 2005 Baseball World Cup (.208/.387/.208 as the starting catcher) and 2005 South American Championship (Gold Medal). de Camargo began his Italian career in Serie A2 in 2006. In 2007, he debuted in Serie A1 and hit .231/.289/.319 with 32 strikeouts in 160 AB. In the 2007 European Cup, he hit .294/.391/.353 for third-place Rimini. He still made the Italian national team for the 2007 Baseball World Cup and was used as their primary backstop. He batted only .133/.278/.267 in the event.

He hit .217/.294/.274 for Rimini in 2008 and .191/.333/.234 in 2009, but he showed off a strong defensive presence (.993 FLD%, opponents only stealing in 9 of 22 tries). In the semifinals, he was 3 for 17 with two doubles, 7 walks and 7 RBI in 7 games. With Italy for the 2009 Baseball World Cup, he was 0 for 4 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a run as the backup to fellow South American Juan Pablo Angrisano (of Argentina). He had 22 putouts and allowed four steals in four tries.

He batted .220/.327/.317 in 16 games for Rimini in 2010 as the backup to Giuseppe Spinelli, allowing two steals in five tries. He was 0 for 7 with 3 walks in the semifinals. He helped Brazil win Silver at the 2015 South American Championship. He returned to Italy's top level in 2016, when he hit .227/.266/.280 for Rimini. He was better in the postseason - 3 for 8 with 4 walks in the semifinals and 5 for 17 with a walk and 3 runs in the 2016 Italian Series but Rimini lost to Bologna.

In the 2016 European Champions Cup, he was 2 for 11 with a double, walk and a RBI. He was with Brazil for the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, going 0 for 5 with a walk while splitting catching with Luis Paz. The walk came off Inayat Khan. He was easily Brazil's oldest player in the 2016 South American Championship, five years older than Tiago Magalhães. He was a player-coach, one of two on the team (Andre Rienzo also filled both roles) He hit .438/.625/.500 with 7 walks, six runs and five RBI in six games. In the round-robin, he was 5th in OBP, between Rodrigo Kanashiro and James Sommerville then he did even better in the semifinals (1 for 2, 2 BB) and championship game (2 for 3, BB, 2 R). He was named the All-Star catcher for the event, beating out his former Italian national team teammate, Angrisano, who did well for Argentina. It was Brazil's first Gold in a South American Championship since their 2005 title.

Sources: Italian Baseball Federation, Baseball Italy, Old IBAF site, World Baseball Classic, 2016 European Cup, 2016 South American Championship Final Report