Stefano Landuzzi

Stefano Landuzzi

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 183 lb.

• Born February 2, 1973 in Bologna, Bologna Italy

Olympics-Reference page

Stefano Landuzzi has caught in the Italian Baseball League and its predecessors for 18 seasons (through 2010). He also played in the Olympics.

Landuzzi debuted with Bologna in 1991 and went 7 for 41 with a double and three walks. After a year off, he returned in 1993 to bat .272/.331/.432 for Calze Verdi Casalecchio. He was back with Bologna in '94 and has been with them the rest of his career (through 2000). He hit .304/.386/.488 in 1994, .255/.356/.500 in 1995 and .284/.372/.432 in 1996. He missed 1997 then returned to bat .297/.372/.554 in '98. He was 1 for 2 in the 1998 Baseball World Cup as Italy's third-string catcher behind Luigi Carrozza and Pierpaolo Illuminati.

In 1999, Stefano fell to .211/.312/.299. He remained with the Italian national team, though, for the 1999 European Championship (0 for 5 as a third-stringer for the Silver Medalists) and 1999 Intercontinental Cup (1 for 6 with a homer as Illuminati's substitute). Landuzzi put up a .260/.339/.387 line in 2000. He made the Azzurri one more time, for the 2000 Olympics. He got into one game, replacing Christopher Madonna in a 13-0 win over South Africa. In his lone at-bat, he fanned against Vaughn Berriman.

Landuzzi hit .248/.318/.383 in 2001 and .285/.353/.396 in 2002. Backing up Nilson Antigua in '03, he hit .385/.478/.590 in 19 games, then went 2 for 4 with two runs in the finals as Bologna took its first title in 19 years. In 2004, Stefano batted .350/.443/.450 in 60 at-bats as Antigua's backup. He was 7 for 12 in even less action in '05, now backing up Kelly Ramos. He went 2 for 8 with a double and four RBI in the finals, won by Bologna.

The Bologna native hit .200/.258/.258 when he became his home team's starter in 2006, his first regular action in four years. Backing up Manuel Gasparri in 2007, Stefano went 10 for 34 with 7 walks and three doubles. He hit only .219/.285/.266 in 2008 and .132/.244/.160 in 2009. He again picked it up a notch in the finals, going 5 for 19 with a double, 3 runs, a walk and 3 RBI as Bologna won the Italian Series.

Through 2009, Landuzzi had hit .255/.335/.384 in 644 games. He had fielded .973, thrown out 30% of attempted base-stealers and had 73 passed balls. A starter once more in 2010, the old-timer hit .223/.252/.351. He batted .196/.272/.196 in the 2010 Italian Series and retired at year's end.