Paolo Passerini

Paolo Passerini

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 168 lb.

• Born May 5, 1970 in San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna Italy

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information

Paolo Passerini pitched in the Olympics.

Passerini only spent four seasons in Serie A1, Italy's highest level, all with Modena. He debuted in 1996, going 5-4 with a 4.85 ERA and .308 opponent average. Picked for the Italian squad in the 1996 Olympics, he only appeared against top powers Cuba and the USA. On July 24, he started against the USA and R.A. Dickey in an eventual 15-3, 7-inning mercy rule loss. He started by serving up homers to Jason Williams and Mark Kotsay to begin a rough outing. He walked two of the next four batters and retired two of them, then yielded a triple to Matt LeCroy to give him 5 runs allowed. Dante Carbini relieved. Three days later, he finished up a 20-6, 7-inning mercy rule loss to Cuba. Relieving Fabio Betto, he gave up 3 hits including a double and homer and two runs in 1 inning of work. His 37.80 ERA was the worst of the '96 Olympics, over 3 points worse than the next two hurlers, Simon Sheldon-Collins (Australia) and Eelco Jansen (Netherlands).

Passerini was 1-1 with a 12.21 ERA for Modena in 1997, allowing 35 runs in 24 1/3 innings. In '98, the little lefty had a 3-1, 4.93 record while walking 24 in 38 1/3 innings. He wrapped up in 1999 with a 1-5, 5.55 season. Overall, he was 10-11 with a 5.97 ERA in Italy's highest level. He was still active in Serie B as of 2001.

Sources

• Italian Baseball Federation
• Defunct IBAF site