Milano BC 1946
| Milano BC 1946 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| League | Serie A (promoted 2024) |
| Location | Milan, Italy |
| Ballpark | Stadio J.F. Kennedy |
| Established | 1946 |
| Nickname | La rossoblù |
| European Cup championships | 3 (1969, 1970, 1971) |
| Scudetti | 8 (1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970) |
| Former name | Senators Milano (1950–1951) Cus Milano (1952–1959) Seven-Up Milano (1960) Europhon Milano (1961–1970) Ausonia Milano (1972–1973) Frendo Milano(1952–1959) Edilfonte Milano (1978–1980) Bkv Milano (1986–1989) Mediolanum Milano (1990–1993) Senago Milano United (2009–2016) |
| Colors | Blue, red and white |
The Milano Baseball Club 1946 is a professional baseball team that plays in the Italian Baseball League, based in the city of Milan. It is the oldest baseball club in Italy still in existence, and the only one to play in the country's first national championship in 1948.[1]
A successful team in the Serie A1, Milano won eight championship titles in a span of 13 seasons, 1958; from 1960 through 1962; from 1966 to 1968 and 1970, all under manager Luigi Cameroni. Besides, Milano won three straight European Cups from 1969 to 1971.[citation needed]
During their existence, the Milano club produced two of the four batting Triple Crown winners in Italian baseball history – Roberto Gandini in 1962 and Roberto Bianchi in 1991.[2]
History
[edit]Milano BC was one of the first baseball clubs founded after the introduction of baseball to Italy in the aftermath of World War II. The team partiicpated in the first official game of the nascent Italian Baseball League on June 27, 1948, a crosstown derby against the rival Yankees Inter; the game, played at the Giuriati Field in front of 3,000 spectators, was ended in a tie score of 21-21 tie. The team was first managed by Elliott Van Zandt, a former American serviceman who remained in Italy after the war.[3]
The team inaugurated its home ballpark, the Stadio J.F. Kennedy, in 1964; the stadium was nicknamed the "La Scala of baseball." Milano 46 dominated the Italian league in the late 1960s; playing under the name Europhon, the team won won three European Cups in a row in 1969, 1970 and 1971. This team was headliend by star Luigi "Gigi" Cameroni.[3]
The club then entered a period of struggle and suffered several "self-relegations" to lower tier divisions for financial reasons.[3] The club returned to glory in the early 1990s after merging with Polisportiva Mediolanum, winning two more Italian Cups (1990 and 1991), two Cup Winners' Cups (1991 and 1992), and a European Super Cup. After the Mediolanum era, the club fortunes again declined, and it fell out of the top division in 1998.[4]
In 2009, the club merged with Senago BC to form Senago Milano United, a team which itself served as the secondary farm team for Novara BC.[5] The goal was to secure a franchise in the abortive reorganization of Italian baseball by Major League Baseball in 2010, which briefly did away with promotion and relegation in favor of a closed league model.[6] The combined team reached the playoff semi-finals in 2010, a season in which they also won the Italian Cup in their category against Reggio Emilia. The combined team dissolved in 2016.[5]
Milano BC 1946 finally returned to top-flight baseball in 2021, after a promotion from third-division Serie B to second-division Serie A2 coincided with the expansion of Serie A. The team also made strides in its youth academy, one of the largest in Italy, with Nicolò Pinazzi becoming the first Milano prospect to sign with a Major League club (the Cincinnati Reds).[7] The team was relegated, but returned to the top-flight of Serie A in 2024.[8]
Seasons
[edit]| Milano BC 1946 top-flight record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Finish | Postseason | Manager | Ref |
| 1948 | 2nd | – | Max Ott | [9] |
| 1949 | 3rd | – | Ferdinando Zerbini | [9] |
| 1950 | 4th | – | Ferdinando Zerbini | [9] |
| 1951 | 7th | – | Ferdinando Zerbini | [9] |
| 1952 | 8th | – | Alfio D'Aprile | [9] |
| 1953 | 7th | – | Alfio D'Aprile | [9] |
| 1954 | 6th | – | Elliott Van Zandt | [9] |
| 1955 | 8th | Relegated to A2 | Elliott Van Zandt | [9] |
| 1958 | 1st | Won championship | Elliott Van Zandt / A.Balzani-Cameroni / Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1959 | 3rd | – | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1960 | 1st | Won championship | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1961 | 1st | Won championship | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1962 | 1st | Won championship | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1963 | 2nd | – | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1964 | 7th | – | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1965 | 2nd | – | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1966 | 1st | Won championship | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1967 | 1st | Won championship and Coppa Italia | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1968 | 1st | Won championship | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1969 | 4th | 4th in European Cup | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1970 | 1st | Won championship and European Cup | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1971 | 4th | 4th in European Cup | Luigi Cameroni | [9] |
| 1972 | 8th | – | Alberto Spinosa | [9] |
| 1973 | 4th | – | Dave Phares | [9] |
| 1974 | 3rd | – | Dave Phares | [9] |
| 1975 | 7th | Relegated to A2 | Dave Phares | [9] |
| 1979 | 7th | – | Luigi Cameroni / Ennio Paganelli /Carlo Passarotto ( | [9] |
| 1980 | 5th | Relegated to B | Carlo Passarotto / Giulio Sueri | [9] |
| 1983 | 7th | – | Carlo Passarotto | [9] |
| 1984 | 5th | Relegated to A2 | Carlo Passarotto | [9] |
| 1986 | 5th | – | Ciccio Roda | [9] |
| 1987 | 7th | – | Ciccio Roda / Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1988 | 7th | – | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1989 | 11th | – | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1990 | 4th | 4th in Coppa Italia | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1991 | 4th | 4th in Coppa Italia and Cup Winners' Cup | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1992 | 4th | 4th in Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1993 | 5th | Relegated to C2 | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 1998 | 7th | Relegated to B | Mauro Mazzotti | [9] |
| 2021 | 6th | Relegated to B | Marco Fraschetti | [9] |
| 2024 | 4th | – | Marco Fraschetti | [9] |
| 2025 | 2nd | Eliminated in round of 16 of playoffs | Marco Fraschetti | [9] |
References
[edit]- ↑ "Milano 1946". Baseball Jobs Overseas. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ Due campionissimi alla Festa dei 70 anni del Milano – Milano Baseball 1946. Facebook. (Italian).
- 1 2 3 "Baseball. Una storia di Milano" (in Italian). Sportmemory. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ "70 anni: "Buon compleanno Milano"". Baseball.it. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Lo "strano derby" Senago-Milano". Baseball.it. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ "Milano si inventa uno squadrone per puntare in alto". Il Giornale. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ "Il Milano 1946 festeggia il suo 75esimo anniversario con una ricca stagione". FIBS. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ "Milano da record: 77° campionato della sua storia". Baseball.it. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 "Albo d'oro". Milano Baseball e Softball 1946.