Overview

The Italian Baseball Softball Players Association (IBSPA) is the independent collective bargaining for all current baseball, softball, Baseball5 and blind baseball players in the Italian leagues and for all current players of Italian nationality in the leagues of the world. It is already known to most that the history of Italian baseball finds its origins back in 1884 in Livorno (Tuscany, ITALY) where between January 23rd and 27th the first baseball matches were regularly played and documented by the Gazzetta Livornese which reports as “Challenge between sailors of the American frigate Lancaster and the sailors of the corvette Guinnebaug”. 134 years later, the first Italian Association of Baseball, Softball and Blind Players is established in Livorno, giving thanks to the pioneers and visionaries of our sport like Marvin Miller, Branch Rickey, without forgetting the father of Italian baseball Mario Ottino (better known as Max Ott) and, of course, our dear Alfredo Sisi (founder of the Livorno Baseball in 1948), introduced in 2008 in the Italian Baseball Hall of Fame for his contribution to the birth and disclosure of our Game with the translation of the rules left in the 40s by the American soldiers arrived here during the World War II. In the historical moment in which we’re living, collaboration takes on a very important value bringing with it a message of sharing, commitment, peace and hope, underlying values of the civil society of yesterday and today and the pillars of our beloved Game. Collaboration, whether this is between nations, people, groups, ethnic groups or different realities, is the key to a common development and a shared growth, the essence of the team spirit that every athlete is required to learn during his career and his own life.