From the field to the desk, in his Verona, but always at the service of baseball. From the second base cushion to the most important chair of the club, William Manzotti has always given everything to his sport and his club, even if during his long career at La Scala he found a way to give himself, deservedly, two parentheses away from home: the first in Milan in ’98, the second in Rimini in 2005. Leaving a beautiful memory in both places. He played only one season in the rossoblù, but he deserves to be remembered among the protagonists of what, before this year, was Milan’s last Serie A championship: 46 games with 2 home runs and a good 261 average batting. Born in Verona on August 8, 1971, son of art, Willy Manzotti crosses the milestone of 50 years looking at half a century that has actually passed on diamonds.
So, should we call you president?
“No thanks. Call me William please, because it makes me feel younger ”.
But you have to tell us how it came to your mind to be president.
“It was a very simple step. After spending many years on the pitch with Verona, in 2011 Luciano Risi, who had been managing the club since 2004 after having inherited it from De Boni, came to me and told me he was tired and did not feel like going on anymore. Think about it, he told me, if you feel like it, I’ll leave you my place, otherwise I’ll be forced to close the company. I thought about it a lot and in the end my heart prevailed, I didn’t feel like seeing this team finish, and I accepted. So in 2012 I was appointed president and I am still here ”.
A path common to many other former players in many cities. In Milan we had some great examples and now it’s up to Alessandro Selmi. But with what spirit can a responsibility like this be assumed?
“You do it with a particular spirit, with the attachment you have to what has been your team for so many years. However, you must immediately shake off the player’s mentality, otherwise you risk not seeing the problems in their complexity. And then I immediately tried, first of all, to create a good working group, made up of guys from Verona who cared about the team like me and shared the project. Then here in Verona we were also able to create a farm system made up of three clubs which allowed us to have a team made up of 90% of Veronese players in Serie A today ”.
I’ll take you a step back: when did you get into baseball?
“Immediately”.
Meaning what?
“I was born on the 8th of August and on the 14th my dad had to play a game. So my mom, in order not to stay home alone, took me to the camp. In short, at 7 days of age I was already on a diamond. Of course, with my father as a player, destiny was sealed… Even if I must say that he pushed me to try other sports, such as tambourine and football ”.
Then let’s talk about your long career.
“A lot of Verona, with the debut in the A1 series in ’92. But luck, and I think my skills too, led me to two good experiences in other teams, the first in Milan in ’98 and then in Rimini. Milan, in particular, was a wonderful adventure. The first away from home and in an important company, if only for the years just passed by Mediolanum. I remember a good group, with good friendships. But also an important team quality, with players like Sheldon and Newman, but also many others who had been part of the great Milan of the early nineties. I remember that I already had the agreement to return also the following year, but then Milan had to give up the first series and in any case I would not be able to return because my father got sick at that time and I had to think more about the office, where I worked with him. But in addition to the good memory of the team, in Milan I also found valuable managers, high-level people. I think today it would be hard to find a company like the one I met in Milan ”.
And how did it go in Rimini?
“Another positive season, at least from my point of view. I got there after Verona’s relegation to Serie B and he brought me a friend like Alessandro Gaiardo. Rimini was a team at the top of Italian baseball, but fate would have it that, in the year I played there, it didn’t even make it to the playoffs. Too bad, but I remember that Pres Zangheri appreciated me a lot, so much so that towards the end of the season he asked me to move to Rimini to be able to train constantly with the team, because he was counting on me for the future. But even here fate got in the way, because the following weekend I tore my thigh and practically finished playing at a high level. I was already 34 years old and you know what Rino was like: he certainly couldn’t wait for my recovery … So I returned to Verona to finish my career in the minor leagues, even if we then returned to A2 and I was able to play a promotion playoff before to close with baseball played “.
And in all these years is there an unforgettable match?
“I would say two or three. The first is that of the debut in A1 against Parma: they made me play because John Cortese had suddenly returned to the United States for a family problem and I played at second base, also beating a valid one. The second was with the Milan shirt, when we won in Parma with my home run against Joel Lono. A match with a triple value because it was still played in a fantastic stadium like the European Championship. And finally I would tell you the 2009 A2 playoffs I lost against Anzio, but in which I put in a good streak of games. The last ones before leaving “.
Which coach do you owe the most to?
“I would say John Cortese: from a mental point of view he is what made me grow the most. But in those years I must say that I also had a coach on the pitch like Gaiardo. I owe a lot to the two of them. But another manager with whom I found myself very well was Gianfranco Vinco (another former Milanese, ed) with whom we spent 3-4 years together: he was at the beginning of his coaching career and I was almost at the end of that as a player. and we had a great time together ”.
The ideal companion?
“Alberto Valenti, known as Betu. A Ronchi pitcher who in 1998 moved to Verona where he met his current partner who played basketball with my wife. Thus a four-way partnership was formed that kept us connected all year round, because in the summer we played and in the winter we went to see our women at basketball. But always talking about baseball ”.
Which pitcher bothered you the most?
“What put me most in crisis was the Venezuelan Lunar, from Macerata and from Turin. I arrived at the end of the game that I hadn’t understood anything yet ”.
Did you have an idol as a boy?
“One in particular no. But I liked the Cortese, the Bianchi, the Manzini, the Romano, in short, the players who made the history of baseball in those years “.
Is there a foreigner in our baseball who particularly impressed you?
“I believe that the most beautiful to look at, the most charismatic, the most combative, the most emblematic was David Sheldon. And I also had the pleasure of playing with it. He was a complete player, he did everything: he played in diamonds, he went to the mountain, he made disasters with the club. He’s the biggest I’ve ever played with: on the pitch he transformed, he became a caiman ”.
The best Italian hitter?
“One I saw very closely: Alessandro Gaiardo. I tell you him because he is a player who has built himself, working hard and studying the theory of batting in books. And in fact he is one who has reached a thousand valid ”.
And the pitcher?
“You give me a hard time, I am sincere … Perhaps for longevity I would say Kabbalists, one who has always been able to remain at a high level”.
Shall we make the ideal team of your former teammates?
“Kinnunen pitcher: extraordinary, even if I’ve never faced him as an opponent. Catcher Vinco. First Guerci: it was fun to have him by your side. In second Gaiardo, in third Sheldon, shortstop Cortese. Left winger Alex Neri, in the center Dal Castello and on the right I would put Chiarini. Designated Newman, so can he make the relief. Even if Kinnunen has needed it very few times… ”.
The three symbolic characters of Italian baseball?
“Castles for fame, even though I’ve obviously never seen him play. Then Bianchi and in recent years Liverziani ”.
The sportsman you liked best?
“I was passionately passionate about Pantani. And then Valentino Rossi ”.
Do you support any teams in other sports?
“I don’t follow football a lot, but I had a passion for Chievo, unfortunately… Now who knows what will happen… Among other things, I know President Campedelli well, a man of depth, of great passion. He also often came to see our matches and also gave us a hand. Too bad, it didn’t deserve to end like this ”.
And in American baseball?
“No one in particular. For some time I liked the Kansas City Royals, in the days of George Brett ”.
The sporting event that thrilled you the most?
“When I was a child, the 1982 World Cup: at the age of ten those things remain with you, the first great emotions that sport gives you. Then I remember a stage of the Tour that Pantani won at Alpe d’Huez that I was able to follow live. I was very fond of cycling ”.
We close with a question to President Manzotti: how do you see our baseball?
“I must say that I am very sorry. I absolutely didn’t like how this championship was handled. Thus invented, at any moment. It didn’t make any sense for me to mix all these teams. My Verona immediately found Bologna in the first phase and the whole season no longer made any sense ”.
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