Roberto Mari

Roberto Mari

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born March 21, 1960

Biographical Information

Roberto Mari pitched for the Italian national team for most of the 1980s.

Mari debuted with Parma in 1979 and would spend his whole career with them; he was 1-0 with a 5.09 ERA as a teenager. In 1980, he had a 6-4, 5.03 record and walked 40 in 78 1/3 IP. He improved to 11-1, 3.12 in '81. He was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in his debut for Italy, in the 1981 European Championship; Italy won the Silver Medal. He was second on the team in ERA among hurlers with 2+ games pitched, behind Roberto Radaelli. He was 12-4 with a 3.75 in 1982. He had a 6.35 ERA in the 1982 Amateur World Series. In 1983, he fell to 5-4, 4.99 for Parma with 44 walks in 74 IP and was left off the Italian national team that year. During 1984, he was 7-5 with a 4.19 ERA for Parma. He was 0-1 with a 11.36 ERA and 10 walks in 6 1/3 IP in the 1984 Amateur World Series, the loss coming in a near-upset 6-5 defeat at the hands of Cuba. His 4 games pitched were second on the team, one behind Paolo Cherubini and he had the second-worst ERA after Fulvio Valle. He also played in the 1984 Olympics.

In 1985, Roberto was 5-2 with 3 saves and a 5.40 ERA, issuing 51 walks in 73 1/3 IP. He gave up 2 runs in 7 innings for Italy in the 1985 European Championship and they got a Silver Medal. In 1986, he was 5-2 with 6 saves and a 3.83 ERA. He led the league in saves and pitching appearances (21). He was 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in six games for Italy in the 1986 Amateur World Series; they finished 5th, a strong showing for the Azzurri in a global event. He led the team in games pitched and tied Claudio Taglienti for the most wins. He got the victories over Team USA (5-3; the US included Steve Finley, Terry Shumpert and Bob Zupcic) and the Venezuelan national team (10-8) but took a 9-6 loss against Puerto Rico.

Mari was 1-2 with 5 saves and a 4.53 ERA for Parma in 1987. He led in saves again. In the 1987 European Championship, he allowed two runs in one inning while Italy finished second. He also appeared in the 1987 Intercontinental Cup. He was 1-0 with a save and a 1.69 ERA in 1988. In the 1988 Baseball World Cup, he was 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, walking 8 in 7 IP. He tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief to get the win over Nicaragua but allowed 6 runs in 2 2/3 IP in a loss to Team Canada and gave up an unearned run in one inning in a 11th-inning loss to South Korea. It was his final event with the national team.

Roberto was 5-4 with a 3.19 ERA in 1989. In 1990, he was 8-1 with 4 saves and a 3.36 ERA in 25 games. He tied for third in saves and tied Paolo Re for third in games pitched. He did not appear again until 1993, when he allowed 10 runs in 10 innings to end his career.

Overall, Mari had gone 76-33 with 25 saves and a 4.01 ERA in 240 games, allowing a .255/.337/.369 batting line. He walked 480 and striking out 644 in 980 IP. Through 2013, he was 36th in Serie A1 history in wins (between Luca Spadoni and Massimo Fochi), 23rd in games pitched (between Giovanni Lercker and Enzo Lauri), tied Fochi for 9th in saves and was 47th in whiffs (between Mark Talarico and Romano Lachi).

Source: Italian Baseball and Softball Federation