Marco Barboni

Marco Barboni

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 181 lb.

• Born October 12, 1967 in Nettuno Italy

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information

Marco Barboni caught for his hometown Nettuno club for 19 years. He was with the Italian national team for four years as well, including the Olympics.

Barboni debuted in 1985, going 8 for 43 with 2 walks as a backup to former major leaguer Darryl Cias. in '86, the teenager went 15 for 48 with a double and 3 walks, again backing up a former big leaguer, Jeff Ransom. In 1987, Barboni was 11 for 55 with two doubles and four walks as the backup to Timothy Wallace. During 1988, Marco was 12 for 51 with a double and four walks, again backing up Wallace. In the finals, he went 2 for 4 with two runs as Nettuno fell to Rimini. In '89, the 21-year-old backed up Ransom and was 10 for 35 with a double, triple and 3 walks. Becoming the starter in 1990, he hit .313/.392/.366 with 32 runs and 31 RBI in 44 games. He was 2 for 13 in the finals but Nettuno still won its first title in 17 years.

Barboni was back on the bench by 1991 (behind Fernando Ricci), though, going 13 for 58 with a double, two triples and six walks. In '92, he went 11 for 41 with a triple and five walks. During the 1993 campaign, he hit .292/.375/.389 and had his only career home run (in 1,822 career at-bats). He was 2 for 14 in the finals and Nettuno won another pennant. He played for the Italian squad (1 for 12) that won the Silver Medal in the 1993 European Championship, backing up Marco Fraschetti. In 1994, Marco's batting line was .259/.407/.294. He went 1 for 13 but drew 7 walks in the finals, which Nettuno dropped to Parma. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he was 1 for 3 with a double as the third-string catcher behind Luigi Carrozza and Pierpaolo Illuminati. He threw out one of two attempted base-stealers.

Marco hit .270/.376/.374 in 1995. In the finals, he was again 1 for 13, but with only one walk this time as Nettuno again lost out to Parma. He was 0 for 3 with a walk in the 1995 European Championship (Italy finished second to the Dutch national team, as in 1993). He was 0 for 6 backing up Carrozza in the 1995 Intercontinental Cup. In 1996, he hit .303/.396/.368 for Nettuno. In the finals, he went 5 for 20 with two walks as they won it all. In the 1996 Olympics, he played in two blowout losses to major powers. Against Team USA, he replaced Carrozza during a 15-3 loss and was retired by R.A. Dickey in his lone plate appearance. He started and hit 8th against Cuba, going 1 for 1 with a walk and a run against Jorge Fumero in a 20-6 loss before Illuminati replaced him behind the plate. In neither game did anyone try to steal against Barboni.

Barboni again hit .303 in 1997, this time with a .417 OBP and .349 slugging percentage. In the finals, he was 7 for 21 with four walks but Nettuno fell to Parma. By '98, he saw reduced playing time but was still performing well (29 for 70, 5 2B, 3B, 4 BB, 15 R in 19 G). He was 1 1for 14 with 3 walks in the finals, winning his 4th title with Nettuno. In 1999, he hit .319/.406/.418. Only Mauricio Gonzalez had a better OPS for the club (by 3 points). In the finals, he went 6 for 25 with 3 walks as Nettuno lost out to Rimini. The next season, the veteran put up a .287/.429/.307 line with 25 walks in 32 games. Rimini again beat Nettuno in the finals, with Barboni going 4 for 10 in the losing cause.

In 2001, Barboni batted .265/.380/.347 in his last season as a regular, though Carlos Petrone had become the starting backstop for Nettuno. Marco was 0 for 3 in the finals as Nettuno took home one last title during his career. The old-timer was 10 for 48 with 11 walks backing up Patrone in 2002. In the finals, he was 1 for 7 with a walk in a loss to Rimini. In 2003, he was 0 for 1 to end his playing career. He later coached for Nettuno.

Overall, Barboni had batted .276/.373/.329 with 327 runs and 275 RBI in 604 games. He fielded .986 in 553 games at catcher, with 122 passed balls and throwing out 29.5% of attempted base-stealers. He also saw limited action in the outfield and at first base.

Sources

• Italian Baseball and Softball Federation
• Defunct IBAF site