Fortitudo Baseball Bologna

Fortitudo Baseball
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League	Serie A
Location	Bologna, Italy
Ballpark	Gianni Falchi Stadium
Established	1953; 71 years ago (1953)
Scudetti	14 (1969, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1984, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023)
Colors	Dark blue, sky blue and white
Uniforms
Home Away

Gianni Falchi Stadium (2011)

Fortitudo Baseball 1953, commonly referred to as Fortitudo Bologna, also known as Longbridge 2000 Bologna or UnipolSai Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a baseball club based in Bologna that competes in Serie A1, Italy's professional baseball league.

The team plays at Gianni Falchi Stadium and has won 13 national championships and 6 European Cups.

History

The club was founded in 1953 when the Società Ginnastica Fortitudo (Fortitudo Gimnastics Society) established its baseball section. In 1963, the team merges with ACLI Labor from the baseball Serie A and joins the top level of Italian baseball. That same year, the baseball section becomes autonomous under the presidency of Pietro Leoni and with Jimmy Strong as manager.^[1]

Fortitudo Baseball has won thirteen Italian championships in 1969, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1984, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and the European Championship six times (1973, 1985, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2019).^[2]

In 2013, Fortitudo was the first European team to be invited to participate in the Asia Series, placing sixth overall after losing to Samsung Lions (5–2) and Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions (10–0).^[3]

In 2019, Fortitudo hosted and won the 2019 European Champions Cup, defeating Amsterdam Pirates in the final.^[4]

Sponsors

• 1969–1975: Amaro Montenegro
• 1975–1976: Grappa Canonier
• 1979–1980: Biemme Giocattoli
• 1982: Del Monte
• 1983: Nordmende
• 1984–1985: Be. Ca. Carni
• 1986–1987: Biemme Giocattoli
• 1988–1989: Caffè Meseta
• 1990–1991: Poliedil
• 1992: Eurobuilding
• 1993: Gaudianello
• 1995–2008: Italeri
• 2009–present Unipol

Roster

Fortitudo Baseball roster - Serie A 2022
Players				Coaches
Pitchers 77 Maurizio Andretta 80 Alex Bassani 19 Filippo Crepaldi 18 Luis González 34 Murilo Gouvea 75 Raúl Rivero 35 Christian Scafidi		Catchers  9 Alessandro Deotto 30 Ernesto Liberatore Infielders 25 Filippo Agretti  1 Julian Dreni 22 Francesco Fuzzi 31 Kevin Josephina  6 Ricardo Paolini Outfielders 14 Riccardo Bertossi 39 Lorenzo Dobboletta 29 Alessandro Grimaudo 38 Gilmer Lampe 41 Renzo Martini		Manager -- Daniele Frignani Coaches -- Fabio Betto (pitching)

References

1. "La Storia". Fortitudo Baseball (in Italian). Retrieved 26 September 2022.
2. "Palmares e Record". Fortitudo Baseball (in Italian). Retrieved 26 September 2022.
3. "Asia Series 2013: Uni President Lions eliminate Fortitudo Bologna". Mister Baseball. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
4. Angotti, Roberto (9 June 2019). "UnipolSai Bologna wins European Champions Cup on home turf with 8-0 shutout over L&D Amsterdam". Federazione Italiana Baseball Softball. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

External links

• (in Italian) Official site