Stefano Manzini

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born May 5, 1959

Stefano Manzini was a star pitcher and a star hitter in Italy's Serie A1.

Manzini debuted in 1975 with Parma, hitting .235/.316/.333 but going 10-1 with two saves and a 1.62 ERA; opposing batters hit only .179/.275/.221. He had a 10-0, 1.33 record in 1976 (.169/.240/.207 for opposing hitters; he hit .314/.400/.457) as the team coasted to a title. He was six wins shy of the league lead and his ERA was over double the .64 posted by the leader. In 1977, Manzini went 2-1 with a save and a 1.44 ERA; he was 12 for 43 at the plate. Parma won another pennant. During 1978, the 19-year-old went 3 for 9 with two doubles and a walk. He had a 3-2, 3.54 record. In '79, Stefano sat out the year.

Manzini fell to 1-1, 5.64 in 1980 and did not bat. He went 7 for 21 in 1981 and was 1-0 with a 5.60 ERA for the champion Parma team. In 1982, Stefano hit .378/.423/.744 with 9 home runs, 24 runs and 27 RBI in 22 games; Parma won it all for the fourth time in his career. He hit 26 homers and drove in 72 in '83 but was well back of homer leader Giuseppe Carelli's 37. He also tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings. In 1984, he had a 1-0, 5.40 record and hit 19 homers, driving home 76. He played for Italy in the 1984 Olympics.

Parma won a 5th title with Manzini in 1985, when he hit .361/.401/.707 with 23 home runs, 70 runs and 87 RBI in 63 games. He also pitched his last inning, a scoreless one, having completed the transition from the mound to the plate. He was 10 homers shy of leader Donald Mazzilli. He dropped to .304/.365/.519 with 40 RBI in 44 games. He hit .275/.293/.450 as Italy's left fielder in the 1986 Amateur World Series, driving in 8 runs in 11 games.

Manzini posted a .331/.381/.663 line in 1987 with 16 doubles, 12 home runs and 42 RBI in 42 games. He was with Italy for the 1987 European Championship, when they won the Silver Medal. He hit .273/.304/.727 with 6 RBi in 6 games as their main left fielder. It apparently marked the end of his international career. In 1988, the right-handed batter hit .340/.423/.714 in his 13th and final season with Parma. He cracked 15 circuit clouts, scored 39 and drove home 46 in 35 games. He was four homers back of the league lead and 10 RBI behind pacesetter Carelli.

In 1989, Manzini moved to Grosseto for a year; he batted .299/.380/.554 with 11 dingers, 40 runs and 41 RBI in 41 games. He was 4 homers behind the leader once more (this time Roberto Bianchi led the way). The next year, with Milano, the veteran hit .320/.409/.593 with 77 RBI in 63 contests. Manzini's line for the 1991 Milano club was .250/.291/.412, but he rebounded to .296/.392/.526 with 30 RBI in 35 games in '92. He ended his career with Novara in 1993, hitting .341/.451/.512.

Manzini had an impressive career batting line of .312/.382/.582 with 164 homers, 547 runs and 735 RBI in 667 games. Never a frequent base-stealer, he was a highly efficient one (67 for 81). The pitcher-turned-outfielder also had very good career stats on the pitcher's mound - 33-7, 2.25 with an opponent batting line of .206/.294/.276.

Through 2009, Manzini ranked among Italy's all-time leaders in both home runs (4th, trailing only Bianchi, Carelli and Massimo Fochi) and ERA (8th), the only player to pull the Ruthian feat of making the top 10 in both.

Source: Italian Baseball and Softball Federation