Matteo Baldacci

Matteo Baldacci

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 179 lb.

• Born May 24, 1973 in Rimini, Rimini Italy

Olympics-Reference page

Matteo Baldacci is a former Olympic catcher.

Baldacci debuted in 1991 with Rimini, going 0 for 3 with a walk. He went 1 for 7 in 1992 and hit .276/.287/.357 in 1993. He missed '94 then returned in 1995 to bat .270/.323/.292. He stepped it up a notch in 1996, hitting .316/.393/.382. He fell to .289/.327/.367 in 1997 but threw out 50% of opposing base-stealers for the only time. In 1998, he hit .362/.387/.524. He still failed to make the Italian national team as Luigi Carrozza and Pierpaolo Illuminati were picked at catcher.

Baldacci hit .205/.263/.227 in an off-year in 1999 and was 0 for 2 in the finals, which Rimini won. In 2000, he improved to .302/.342/.387. He played one game in the 2000 Haarlem Baseball Week but did not bat. In the 2000 Olympics, backing up Christopher Madonna, he got into two games. He got one at-bat and was retired by Cuba's José Ibar. He went 1 for 12 in Italy's finals, but Rimini again won the title.

Matteo put up a line of .250/.299/.279 in 2001 and was 4 for 20 in the finals, which Rimini lost to Nettuno. Baldacci still remained with the national team, going 1 for 12 with a walk, time hit by pitch, three runs and two RBI in the 2001 European Championship and allowing one steal in one try. In the Bronze Medal game, he was 0 for 4 with a run and a RBI in a rout of the French national team.

The Rimini native hit .172/.257/.219 for his hometown club in 2002, then was 2 for 7 in the finals, which they won. He rebounded to .277/.340/.404 in 2003, while moving into a backup role. He hit .236/.284/.235 in 2004, did not play in 2005 and ended up in 2006 by going only 8 for 86 with 7 walks. He was then 0 for 11 in the finals, but Rimini won its fourth title of his career.

Overall, Baldacci batted .245/.297/.303 in 416 games in Italy, fielding .987 and throwing out 33.9% of attempted base thieves.