As the FIBS Vice-President recalled Pierluigi Bissapresent on behalf of the Federation, the ‘prime mover’ of the initiative: “There could not be a better venue than Parma, reigning Italian champion, not surprisingly the author’s hometown and, more generally, one of the capitals of baseball Italian, to inaugurate the presentation to the public of the ‘Blue Diamond’ second edition, the revised and expanded account of the history of our disciplines created by Riccardo Schiroli almost twenty years after the premiere.”
In addition to the author, Bissa then mentioned in the acknowledgments from the Federation Davide Bertoncini for the statistical volume, which on this occasion will soon be downloadable for free from the fibs.it website, Ezio Ratti for the graphics, who is also the author of many of the photos that accompany the book, as well as Corrado Benedetti. Without forgetting the Federal Council previous, for having wanted to invest in the updating of this fundamental work in sports publishing and the Calzetti and Mariucci Editoriwho believed in this work by including it in their prestigious catalogue.
The Municipality of Parma, represented by the Delegate for Sport Davide Antonelliopened the doors of the Governor’s Palace, in the parlor of the historic center, to welcome the launch of the work and host a large number of famous people from our beat-and-run, athletes of yesterday and today, technicians, managers , journalists and enthusiasts who certainly contributed to the story described in the book.
Godmothers and godfathers, Italians who represent the present and future of our sport: the captain of the national team Giulia Longhi, Alessandra Rotondo, Cesare Astorri e Tommaso Battioni.
With the leadership of Gianluca Zurlinihistorical pen of the Gazzetta di Parma, and the presence of Stefano FrigeriPresident of Panathlon Parma, the start of the evening was dedicated to the memory of Giorgio Gandolfiwho can only be considered a father of baseball and softball information.
So, a passionate interview with Riccardo Schirolito touch, not without a pinch of ‘pepper’ here and there, as is characteristic of the character, the more particular and perhaps less well-known themes of what he discovered or achieved in the not short journey of creating this ‘Diamond 2.0’.
“We already knew about the imperfections – recalled the author – the moment the first edition came out. The whole part about Steno Borghese, for example, was based more on myths than facts, more memories than data. I was enormously pleased when Fraccari called me to ask that the first edition be created and the same was true with Marcon for this second, a project for which I asked him for complete responsibility.
One thing must be underlined, all this would not have been possible without the work and dedication of Roberto Buganè. He was a ‘maniac’ (a term he considered a compliment) who allowed us to recover so much information. Buganè made us discover that baseball was already being played in Italy during the First World War. With even Fiorello La Guardia, who would later become the famous mayor of New York, an instructor during his years as a soldier stationed in our country.”
A niche sport, but with often ‘cumbersome’ presidents, whose mandates are the temporal cadence chosen as the main thread of the book, urged Zurlini.
“Very true. All strong personalities: I didn’t know Steno, but from his name it wasn’t easy to reconstruct his story, given that, unbeknownst to many, his name was actually Stefano and therefore official documents with a ‘Steno Borghese’ cannot be found . He fell in love with baseball because it was the game of the American liberators. Ghillini was an innovator, in his own way.
I didn’t know Beneck personally, although I wrote a biography (‘Under the Sign of the Lion’ published by FIBS, ed.). The only time I met him, already over eighty, he greeted me by saying: ‘I dislike you’. He had truly done it all: basketball blue; inventor of film promotion; pioneer of television in Italy. He also invented that the Etruscans played baseball. He was a creative who, in Hollywood fashion, changed the endings of stories if he didn’t like them.
Notari, on the other hand, I got to know him well. It was enough to overcome the first impact, let him vent and maybe take insults, then we worked.
Together with all these first presidents, another great personality should not be forgotten: Giulio Glorioso, who had a hand in the fall of each one. In short, a true Anti-President.
I have worked and still work with Fraccari. If I have to lump them all together, I can only point out that a flaw of the former was that they wanted to erase what was there before them. Fraccari and Marcon instead wanted to bring out and preserve history.”
A story now available to everyone; ‘A Blue Diamond II’ is (or will soon be) distributed through the main online platforms, such as Amazon and IBS, and in bookstores, as well as on the publisher’s website Calzetti and Mariucci at the cover price of 35 euros.
In the cover photo: the Carlo Mattioli Auditorium of the Governor’s Palace during the event.
From Parma, Marco Landi
