© Lauro Bassani (PhotoBass)
President, here we are. A new competitive season begins and the spotlight on Serie A is rekindled. Are you satisfied with this formula and what benefits do you think it has brought?
“I think that, like any very profound change, the merger of A1 and A2 Baseball also needs the right settling times and a certain number of ‘flying hours’ to fully understand the effects. Surely what we can already see is the return of very important realities for the movement in the greatest showcase, I am talking about Rimini and Grosseto, and the consolidation of projects that, in the medium term and with the right adjustments, will guarantee a presence to the most important series in baseball. and a coverage of truly national interest, or almost. While understanding the commendable work of some top clubs and their commitment to technical and organizational excellence, what was no longer sustainable, in my opinion and the Federal Council, was the progressive shrinkage to a tournament of a few teams and a few areas of the territory. Last year, Fortitudo in Castelfranco Veneto or San Marino in Lastra a Signa brought, and were able to experience, great enthusiasm and this feeling can only be good for the whole movement. I am sure that they will also export their “doing” in this way and all together in this way we will grow ”.
However, this year too Serie A has lost two clubs. Are you worried about this trend? The risk that other teams decide to leave is there, however, even in a championship that is theoretically cheaper …
“It is a real shame to have lost Sicily with the Paternò retreat and a tradition like that of Montefiascone. It is possible that there are situations that require more time and planning to tackle a step that, although scalable and at different speeds, takes the technical needs to a little higher level. I repeat, I repeat, that it is physiological, but also that the final result brings new energy and interest to top-level baseball, as well as the opportunity for many more athletes to show and develop their skills. There are economic difficulties, it cannot be denied, as is the very important effort we have made to support the movement, especially in the last two years of Covid. All activities, not just sports, which do not embody the great mainstream interests, find it very difficult to gather interest, resources, practitioners, the public. Certain pauses would probably have been necessary even in lower categories. The new Serie A was created precisely to increase the potential of everyone’s product, because it is very difficult to propose an activity largely reduced in a few kilometers to the public, media and sponsors. Then it is clear that every club must think and modulate its own project on the basis of resources, which cannot be reduced only to putting the team on the field, but is much more complex, today more than ever, if you want to capture interest and participation “.
The public crisis is there for all to see. Are you resigned or what do you plan to do to change this situation?
“As I said, the trend of the last few years tends to exclude many businesses that do not offer a whole range of features that potential ‘customers’ expect. I am speaking, once again, of spectators, practitioners, families, media, businesses. It seems to me that what is under everyone’s eyes is precisely the concentration of attention towards a few super-subjects, leaving really crumbs for alternative proposals. However, it is true that niches can count on the new opportunities that digital makes available to involve new and old enthusiasts and entice them to live different experiences, even ‘analog’ ones, which must however be qualitatively positive and pleasant. This is exactly the path we are taking, I must say with a lot of interest from the clubs ”.
We are also talking about expansion of the base and promotions: what initiatives do you have in mind to launch, could Baseball5 be useful?
“There are various programs underway, conducted also and above all through the Regional Committees and Delegates and with the indispensable support of the clubs. These are then integrated by national projects, above all I mention, specifically for youth recruitment, Prime Basi, which we launched in full pandemic and which we will resume this year. But the training of educators and technicians with particular teaching skills, as well as the increasingly important activities of social inclusion represent a not small share of our commitment on an ongoing basis. Of course, Baseball5 is a great opportunity, in which we immediately believed, with the CONI Trophy. It is a road traced and I would say obligatory, easily organized even where baseball, softball and dedicated facilities are not present. Here, however, I want to mention a fact: 4,810 new athletes in 2021 and a large overcoming of the psychological threshold of 22,000 members. These new boys and girls are worth 20% of new members of the Italian baseball and softball family and arrive after the pandemic, surpassing even the numbers before Covid. Can we do better? Absolutely yes. But every now and then we should look at things with objective and not subjective action “.
The games are often too long: could the adoption of the 7 innings formula be extended to the whole season in the future?
“It’s another one of those aspects that need some time to be metabolized, but personally I think so. The excessive duration of the matches is a deeply felt problem even for those who do business and not sports promotion in baseball, such as MLB, which for some years has been experimenting with new and revolutionary solutions in this sense in the Minor.
National theme: after the European flop, did you foresee a recovery plan for the blue team? Speaking of Mike Piazza, how do you rate his work so far? Doesn’t he think he should be exploited more as an image man?
“A bronze with a decidedly new and young team I wouldn’t call it a flop. The experimentation will continue this year, with no official commitments, in view of the European 2023, while obviously the blue construction site for the World Baseball Classic has already been open for some time and with the aim, also immediately declared by Mike Piazza, to do converge programs as much as possible. Mike has very clear ideas, which are also mine, on what needs to be done: his concentration is total on the development of a long-term Italian school. Obviously we need results, God forbid, but the victories pass from a solid and coherent technical project over time. Mike has made himself available, with his name and his person, for the Italian cause and the next Classic, with the worldwide attention that he attracts, will be an important step towards affirmation for Italy of baseball at an international level “.
Youth activities, in Europe all the other countries are growing, but we are struggling … what idea is there?
“Exactly what I have already said: since last year there are no blue staff, there is a blue staff that works in synergy, with the coordination of specialists, I quote Gianmarco Faraone and Bobby Cramer, who have put themselves full time at the service of project and coaches who guide all our selections. All the watchful eye of Mike, with the aim that his footprint is sensitive and crucial in the ‘Italian way to baseball’. All this, of course, without forgetting that, fortunately, there are several other countries that are growing: we are no longer in the years of the Italy-Holland dichotomy; we have not been there for some time, those who have not yet noticed it are at least distracted. And he is distracted even when he does not see (or pretends not to see) that the growth of some realities has occurred because a private individual has made huge investments that the individual federations certainly cannot make ”.
Remaining in Europe, the MLB confirms the interest in the Old Continent and after London also opens in Paris. But nothing comes to Italy. Why?
“In the meantime, it is good to distinguish between business programs, such as the European Series, and technical development ones. For MLB Italy, Rome has been a dream and a goal for almost 20 years. Unfortunately, at the moment, in our capital, and in our country, there is no facility that can host such an event. Building a baseball stadium in Italy is an almost impossible undertaking, unfortunately converting other systems is not feasible. And Wembley or the Stade de France are certainly not baseball stadiums. The situation is different for development programs which, I repeat, are not the business purpose of MLB. In this sense, the arrival of Jim Small at the helm of the international department has reopened a dialogue that had been interrupted for too long and, at the same time, new, very solid opportunities ”.
