Italian Baseball League

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Italian Baseball League (IBL)
Italian Baseball League logo.jpg
Sport Baseball
Inaugural season 1948
President Riccardo Fraccari
No. of teams 8
Country  Italy
 San Marino
Most recent champion(s) Fortitudo Baseball Bologna
Official website http://www.fibs.it

The Italian Baseball League (IBL; Italian: Campionato italiano di baseball) is a professional baseball league that is governed by FIBS (Italian Baseball & Softball Federation), which has its headquarters in Rome. The IBL is a wood bat league in which both composite and aluminum bat are prohibited; the official ball of the IBL is the Wilson 1010 Italy. The overall level of the competition is considered the highest in Europe.

Until 2010, the IBL featured a league format that demoted and relegated the last place finisher to the minor leagues (Series A2), while the Series A2 champion would be promoted into the IBL. However, in late 2009 FIBS approved the decision to eliminate the promotion and relegation system starting with the 2010 season and thus will apply a fixed team franchise format similar to that found in Major League Baseball.

The current IBL consists of eight teams, each contesting 42 games; a team plays two 3-game series against every other team. The four teams that finish with the best regular season record qualify for a round-robin playoff. The first and second-place finishers of the round-robin are cast into the best of 7 Italian Baseball Series and compete for the championship, referred to as the Scudetto.

IBL players

For the 2010 season, FIBS maintained the number of sport visas granted to non-EU import foreign players at 4 per team. Per EU and Olympic Committee directive, EU citizens will have the same player rights of Italian passport holders. FIBS, however, will continue to enforce the regulation on the Italian School of Baseball that imposes 6 ASI players be on the field at all times of every game, including the pitcher in either game 2 or 3 of each series.

An Italian player is classified as Italian School of Baseball, or ASI, only if he has been developed in Italy or if has played 6 seasons in the Italian Leagues.

EU citizens have the same rights of the players who hold Italian citizenship but were not developed in Italy.

One particular case of the ASI rule would be a foreigner who developed as a baseball player in Italy (started playing as an U15). This is the case of a foreigner who is also an ASI, but will be able to play only respecting the limitation on import players.

3-game series format

Game 1 of each three-game series is classified as the Foreign Affair Game, with the pitcher's mound free to be occupied by any pitcher including foreign imports.

In either Game 2 or Game 3, an EU pitcher may be the starting pitcher; however, IBL rules require that an ASI be the starting pitcher for one of these two remaining games. Moreover, whichever game a manager selects the ASI as the starting pitcher, then all subsequent pitchers must be ASI. Therefore, there may be ASI vs EU match-ups for the first time beginning in 2010.

Half of the teams are based in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. A team from the Republic of San Marino also plays in the IBL. Like Japanese baseball, many of the official team names contain the name of the team's corporate sponsor.

2014 IBL teams

Champions

Pre-Playoff Era

Year Winning Team Runner Up MVP
1948 Libertas Bologna
Milano -
1949 Mamoli Grosseto (LIB)
Lazio (FIBS)
Ambrosiana Milano (LIB)
Ferrovieri Roma (FIBS)
-
1950 Libertas Roma USCM Nettuno -
1951 Nettuno B.C. Libertas Roma -
1952 Nettuno B.C. Libertas Roma -
1953 Nettuno B.C. Lazio -
1954 Nettuno B.C. A.S. Roma -
1955 Lazio Nettuno -
1956 Chlorodont Nettuno A.S. Roma -
1957 Chlorodont Nettuno Lazio -
1958 Algida Nettuno B.C. Rome -
1958 C.U.S. Milano Libertas Inter Milano -
1959 Coca Cola Roma Algida Nettuno -
1960 Seven Up Milano Roma S.C. -
1961 Europhon Milano Pirelli Milano -
1962 Europhon Milano Simmenthal Nettuno/
ACLI Bologna
-
1963 Simmenthal Nettuno Libertas Milano/
Europhon Milano
-
1964 Simmenthal Nettuno UGF Fortitudo Bologna -
1965 Simmenthal Nettuno Europhon Milano -
1966 Europhon Milano Tanara Parma -
1967 Europhon Milano Nettuno -
1968 Europhon Milano Nettuno -
1969 Montenegro Bologna Noalex Milano -
1970 Europhon Milano Montenegro Bologna -
1971 Glen Grant Nettuno Bernazzoli Parma -
1972 Montenegro Bologna Bernazzoli Parma -
1973 Glen Grant Nettuno Montenegro Bologna -
1974 Montenegro Bologna Colombo Nettuno -
1975 Cercosti Rimini Bernazzoli Parma -
1976 Germal Parma Colombo Nettuno -
1977 Germal Parma Derbigum Rimini Mike Romano
1978 Biemme Bologna Cercosti Rimini Carlos Guzman
1979 Derbigum Rimini Germal Parma /
Colombo Nettuno
John Long
1980 Derbigum Rimini Glen Grant Nettuno Ed Oliveros
1981 Parmalat Parma Papà Barzetti Rimini John Guggiana
1982 Parmalat Parma Sicma Nettuno Giuseppe Carelli
1983 Papà Barzetti Rimini Nordmende Bologna -
1984 BE. CA. Bologna World Vision Parma -
1985 World Vision Parma BE. CA. Bologna -

Playoff Era

Year Winning Team Runner Up Result MVP
1986 Grohe Grosseto Trevi Rimini 4–3 -
1987 Trevi Rimini Mamoli Grosseto 4–1 -
1988 Ronson Lenoir Rimini SCAC Nettuno 4–0 -
1989 Mamoli Grosseto Ronson Lenoir Rimini 4–2 -
1990 SCAC Nettuno Ronson Lenoir Rimini 4–3 -
1991 Parma Angels Flower Gloves Verona 3-0 -
1992 Telemarket Rimini Eurobuilding Bologna 3-0 -
1993 C.F.C. Nettuno Telemarket Rimini 3–2 -
1994 Cariparma Angels Danesi Nettuno 4–1 -
1995 Cariparma Angels Danesi Nettuno 4–1 -
1996 Caffè Danesi Nettuno Cariparma Angels 4–2 -
1997 Cariparma Parma Danesi Nettuno 4–3 -
1998 Danesi Nettuno Semenzato Rimini 4–1 -
1999 Semenzato Rimini Danesi Nettuno 4–3 -
2000 Semenzato Rimini Danesi Nettuno 4–0 Claudio Liverziani (Rimini)
2001 Caffè Danesi Nettuno Semenzato Rimini 4–2 -
2002 Semenzato Rimini Danesi Nettuno 4–1 Orlando Muñoz (Modena)
2003 Italeri Bologna GB Ricambi Modena 4–1 Claudio Liverziani (Bologna)
2004 Prink Grosseto Italeri Bologna 4–2 Jaime Navarro (Grosseto)
2005 Italeri Bologna T&A San Marino 4–3 Jesús Matos (Bologna)
2006 Telemarket Rimini Colonie Maremma Grosseto 4–1 Mario Chiarini (Rimini)
2007 Montepaschi Grosseto Danesi Nettuno 4–3 Giuseppe Mazzanti (Nettuno)
2008 T&A San Marino Danesi Nettuno 4–3 Giuseppe Mazzanti (Nettuno)
2009 UGF Banca Bologna T&A San Marino 4–1 Eddie Garabito (Bologna)
2010 Cariparma Parma Fortitudo Bologna 4–2 Orlando Muñoz (Parma)
2011 T&A San Marino Danesi Nettuno 4–3 Martin Vasquez (San Marino)
2012 T&A San Marino Rimini Baseball 4–2 Danilo Sanchez (Godo)
2013 T&A San Marino Rimini Baseball 3–2
2014 UGF Banca Bologna Rimini Baseball 4–3

Notable Former Players

  • Jason Simontacchi - Pitcher for Novara Baseball and retired Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Chuck Carr - Centerfielder for Rimini and retired Major League Baseball outfielder

See also

External links